HELP! Cloudy water!

[Maryrox247]

Okay so i just completed a 25% water change a few days ago and my tank is about a week and a half old ( I cycled it by adding nutrifin cycle.) My betta is happy and healthy blowin a bubblenest (i think!) But i just noticed today that the water is a little cloudy and if i put my nose to it smells. I looked at the how to guide that came with the 2.5 gallon and it says to complete a water change up to 25% then reduce feeding to once every other day until you see positive results. And one more thing, i dont think im overfeeding midnight i give 4 or 5 pellets a day. ( if i am overfeeding please let me know and tell me the appropriate amount to feed.) And he fasts on saturdays. So please help! oh yeah and i think he has finrot the medicine i have is melafix and it says 1 teaspoon per ten u.s gallons and he lives in a 2.5 gallon tank! Please help!

[Kim]

Sounds like ammonia is building up. Most of that liquid cycle stuff doesn't work...and even if it does it is not enough to completely cycle the tank. You need a complete test kit and test the ammonia every day and do water changes as necessary to keep ammonia below .25 ppm. Once ammonia goes down to 0, do the same thing with nitrites.

If you test and there is no ammonia the only other thing that this could be is a bacterial bloom. I'd do a 50% water change (don't disturb gravel in a new tank) and add an air bubbler if he seems to be hanging out at the surface (bacteria deplete oxygen levels). If it still isn't resolved then you can do another 50% change either later on or the next day. Because your good bacteria don't reside in the water, you can change as much water as you want (as long as the parameters are the same) without worry about your cycle...just don't touch the gravel or the filter and it will be fine.

Hope this helps!

[neenjar]

First off, 2.5 gallon tanks never fully cycle, the cycle chemicals are pretty useless, unless bottles of nitrifying bacteria are kept refrigerated the whole time the good bacteria dies off quickly sitting on a store shelf.

For a 2.5 gallon tank I would do a 50% change mid week and a 75%-100% change on the weekends.

Don't worry about cycling it, just do the frequent changes. Nothing under 5 gallons ever cycles.

[Maryrox247]

THANK YOU! Thank you SO much. I just completed a 50% water change and am going to get his water tested A.S.A.P. His water is not cloudy anymore but it still smells when i out my nose to it... ( It smells like fish pee?! Weird i know but thats how it smells.) I am gonna try do keep doing 50% water changes 1 or 2 times a week.