Emergency question - water change then cloudiness?

[TokyoBetta]

Hi

I have a cycled tank, its a dome filter, wool media and gravel substrate. Its a 5 gallon tank with real plants. Today I did a really thorough cleaning. I rinsed the filter media (in tank water NOT tap water), cleaned the filter housing and tubes, decorations, even the plants got rinsed lightly, vacuumed the gravel, replanted the plants and changed 50% of the water with treated temperature adjusted water.

A fairly big cleaning but everything was done carefully and I used only warm water and my usual set of sponges and tools which have never seen soap.

But now the water is slightly cloudy. I looked this up and apparently it appears in the late stages of cycling, so maybe I cleaned a bit too thoroughly? Do I need to change the water again or can I leave the tank and let nature take its course? Its not horrifically cloudy, just a bit, but enough to notice. Maybe the good bacteria went down a little bit in numbers?

Please let me know if Im missing anything critical here. Sam seems fine and aside from a little cloudiness all seems okay in the tank otherwise.

Thanks

[Oldfishlady]

Sounds like a bacterial bloom and maybe a mini-cycling going on-I would make a water only change and monitor the water prams-you may need to make an extra water change mid week for a couple of weeks until the good bacteria catches up

In cycled tanks especially with live rooted plants-I would only vacuum lightly in areas that can be reached without moving anything or disruption of plant roots...some of that mulm is needed to feed the good bacteria and plants

[Omega3]

Do you put salt in your water? I have salt in my fish's water and it's always cloudy the first few days. Gee, I hope it's OK for my water to be doing that!

[Oldfishlady]

Originally Posted by Omega3

Do you put salt in your water? I have salt in my fish's water and it's always cloudy the first few days. Gee, I hope it's OK for my water to be doing that!

Why are you using salt?

[Omega3]

Originally Posted by Oldfishlady

Why are you using salt?

He's been a sickly fish since I got him and I wanted to keep bacteria and things out. I think, once he gets over his current condition, that he'll be OK without it. His health has been up and down and I thought it might be better to just keep with the salt until he stabilizes. Is that bad?

[Oldfishlady]

Sodium chloride (aquarium salt) is a great product for short term treatment in salt tolerant fish when used for the right reason, dosage and duration...otherwise you can create resistant pathogen/parasites and long term can cause kidney damage.

[TokyoBetta]

hi Oldfishlady :)

thanks for the quick reply!

Yes I did a pretty invasive cleaning, a habit leftover from my old no-filter once-a-week-100% change days.

Yesterday I uprooted all the plants, vacuumed the gravel thoroughly, cleaned off all the ornaments, rinsed all the green poopy stuff out of the air tubes for my filter system,.. the place was sparking clean but yeah maybe I went a bit overboard and killed off some of the good bacteria.

I was very careful to preserve the filter media in tank water throughout the whole process, however the gravel I vacuumed quite thoroughly, until I couldnt get any more 'dust' out of it.

i changed around 50-60% of the water too thinking that would get the rest of the haze and junk outta there.. think i threw too many babies out with the bath water :(

I do 50% changes twice a week, or every 4-5 days I should say. Max 5 days usually every 4 days. Usually I have no issues but once in a while I get fed up with the gunk and do what I did yesterday, maybe a little too far.

The bloom already seems better this morning and Sam seems happy so assuming my mini-cycle is sorting itself out do you have any advice on how to prevent this?

Unfortunately I cannot measure anything except pH I only have pH strips :(

Omega, no salt here! I used to use it a lot but i stopped, I save it for when hes sick only which hasnt happened recently knock on wood!

[Oldfishlady]

Just an extra water only change as needed....you, the hobbyist- are the best water test kit....the power of observation.....lol....changes in behavior...make a water only change, cloudy water...make a water only change....etc....this is usually the same treatment you will do based on the water pram numbers too....water change.....

[TokyoBetta]

Thanks a lot OFL I really like your advice because its so quick and so natural, I hate the idea of playing God and bombarding my tank environment with chems, unless its a last resort to save the fish of course.

So I did the water change yesterday.. the cloudyness is clearing up, maybe a tiny 10-15% change tonight? Or should I leave it alone to let the bacteria continue to flourish and do their thing?

Sam just gobbled up 3 pellets for breakfast (its morning here) as he usually does so he seems okay. I will check on him again tonight, if I should do a water change then I will do it soon as I get home.

Cheers!

[Oldfishlady]

In a 5gal tank with one fish it may or may not be safe....I always err on the side of caution......a water only change never hurts.....