[seemsligit]

So i've had a tank set up for roughly a month now, roughly 5 weeks, but for 4 of those weeks i have had cloudy water. it doesn't seem to be hurting the fish any, they're active and eating and even the sensitive ghost shrimp seem to be doing absolutely fine. it just looks awful. (and of course doesn't smell the best)

i just got the water tested, but i've tried doing 50% water changes, using water clearifiers to help the filter catch things... i spot clean every two days and do a water changes at least once a week (though recently more to try to clear up the water). Changing the water does very little, it's back within an hour.

Housing:
How many gallons is your tank? 10gal
Does it have a filter? yes
Does it have a heater? yes
What temperature is your tank? 72
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no, the filter is plenty strong enough
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind? no betta in this tank; 7 White cloud mountain minnows, 2 oto catfish, misc number of Malaysian trumpet snails, 4 ghost shrimp.

Food:
What food brand do you use? top fin mainly.
Do you feed flakes or pellets? sinking algae pellets and floating tropical pellets
Freeze-dried? freeze dried blood worms
How often do you feed your Betta? How much? every 12 hours they get roughly 20 floating pellets, every 2 days they get one sinking pellet. every few days i replace one meal with the bloodworms (roughly 4-6 worms)

Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? once a week
What percentage of water did you change? 20-50%
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water? spot clean with aquarium only turkey baster, then dip out water
What additives do you use? just the water conditioner

Water Parameters:
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 30
Nitrate: 10
pH: 7.8
Hardness (GH): 290
Alkalinity (KH): 180

Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms? about a week after fish was added to tank
How has your Betta’s appearance changed? fish seem perfectly fine
How has your Betta’s behavior changed? n/a
Is your Betta still eating? yes
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how? water clearifier and more frequent water change
Does your Betta have any history of being ill? no
How long have you owned your Betta? Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased? only mentionable thing is i lost 6 out of 10 ghost shrimp within a week of adding them to the tank, but i have not seen any other losses in about 4 weeks.

 

[ThatFishThough]

Have you read about the Nitrogen Cycle? It's most likely a bacterial bloom.

http://www.bettafish.com/101-betta-fish-bowls-habitats-accessories/47838-beginners-guide-freshwater-aquarium-cycle.html

http://www.bettafish.com/101-betta-fish-bowls-habitats-accessories/555434-cycling-two-sentence-tutorial.html

http://www.bettafish.com/101-betta-fish-bowls-habitats-accessories/111960-step-step-nitrogen-cycle-guide.html

 

[seemsligit]

from what im understanding reading those, it seems i've managed to do that without really intending to looking at the numbers given to me where i got the water tested, or at least part way.

though it seems i got the nitrate and nitrite mixed up there (why are they so similar??) nitrate is at 30 and nitrite is at 10 @[email protected]

the only thing i understand from those that i should be doing mid-cycling is just more water changes, which is what ive been doing. Im i mis understanding something?

 

[ThatFishThough]

XD I'm no expert on cycling.

@RusselTheShihtzu knows loads. Maybe she can help.

 

[kanped]

Yes, you should do a water change if the ammonia is 0.5, nitrite is 0.5 or nitrates are 20. Could you post a picture of the tank? While bacterial bloom is the most common cause, there are others and if we could see it we might be able to work it out.

 

[seemsligit]

i have been doing very frequent water changes.

here's a video of what it looks like right now:

i did a 50% water change last night before bed. i added water conditioner, a water clearifier (which even the pet store person says don't really work) and a little bit of bacteria starter. (all topfin brand) i was also able to get the heater to heat the tank to 76 instead of 72 (it seems to have been set wrong)

this morning this is what it looks like. it's /much/ clearer, but it's still not gone.

i've attached pictures of my other tanks, which do not have the cloudy water.