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    Help my fish! We got a new fish tank and added conditioned water to it and overnight….

    …the water turned cloudy. We were told that it was due to ammonia in the tap water and that out treatments didn’t work. We bought spring water to use. Do we still add the conditioner?

    +4  Views: 1612 Answers: 5 Posted: 10 years ago
    FISH-O

    Finally! Thank you. A question close to my heart :)
    Bob/PKB

    J: Get hold of Fish about the habitat for your catfish and betas.
    Bob/PKB

    J: Get hold of Fish about the habitat for your catfish and betas.

    5 Answers

    It is a bacteria bloom. Bacteria blooms and dies due to the lack of balance in "new water". It is normal. It will clear up in few days. 


     You have to go through THE CYCLE.... 6 weeks.  

    No doubt Fisho will pick this one up & save your fish Julie but I am pretty sure you still need to condition the water because it has a de- clhorinator in it.

    jhharlan

    I’ve contacted the Fish and am waiting for an answer. Our question is do we still need to condition the spring water? Austin’s water has ammonia in it…….
    Tommyh

    I'm saying yes.Condition the spring water.It can't hurt.
    FISH-O

    Don't mess with the water Julie, don't panic and don't add spring water. It is a bacteria bloom. My computer is in for servicing at the moment. My robot vacuum murdered it last week.

    Filtered or sping water won't do one darn thing to change a bacteria bloom.
    Tommyh

    Bacteria bloom? Who woulda thought?.I have learned something today.What can you do about it?
    FISH-O

    It is natural and it does pass. It is just a visual thing. Always buy the toughest fish that can survive the nitrate/ nitrate cycle.
    jhharlan

    Mine are 3 catfish (little Hazel passed) and one beta - they all get along.

    When I had a fresh water aquarium, the filters, charcoal, etc. took care of the stuff in the water that was not good. I remember having something I could add to the water, but couldn't begin to tell you what it was.  My aquarium had a heater, too. The catfish I had thrived in the aquarium.  I have always kept betas separate, as they aren't considered community fish.  I would go with what FISH-O has referred you to, but would also call the local pet store to get information from that source as well.  They deal with it on a daily basis!  
    Sorry to hear about Hazel. :(

    FISH-O

    My family, by firtst marriage, owned large aquarium stores. We dealt with fresh water, salt water, live reefs, Africans, brackish water, toads , frogs, creepy crawlies and birds. We imported from around the globe.
    Fish was the subject of the day seven days a week .
    It really is a bacteria bloom. New tank syndrome.
    Bob/PKB

    Does Julie have an aquarium or the basic bowl? Does it matter?
    FISH-O

    If she has a bowl she should not own catfish... If that in fact is the case, then the person who sold her the fish knows nothing about fish. I have my computer back. I wiil Skype with her if she likes. This is what I did for a living for a very long time.

    It does matter. The bigger the body of water one can afford, the better your fish will feel ... Even a Betta. They get those fancy fins with water current.
    jhharlan

    The fish are devided between two hexagonal tanks complete with pump and lights, no heater. The beta protects John, the catfish…...
    Bob/PKB

    Very cool. Those are two of my favorite fishies. We had lunch today where there was a koi "moat" that had goldfish and turtles too.
    FISH-O

    I love turtles. I have re- habituated many fine turtles. I love them as much as fish.
    Bob/PKB

    Turtles are cool, for sure. My sister had one in her front yard for years (Tommy the Turtle). He'd hibernate during cold months. One of the truck drivers had found him out in the tomato fields on the "west side". :D

    We always began a new tank with a goldfish living in it temporarily, so he could establish the nitrates in it. 

    jhharlan

    Sharp! Catfish won’t do it????
    mycatsmom

    jh- - -- try using distilled water. Let it sit for 24 hours before you put the fish in it.

    Julie, Put  a tiny pinch of baking soda in the water. Works for my fish .

    FISH-O

    Baking soda is a buffer which won't make a difference for a bacteria bloom. Also carbonate hardness is dependent upon, first which water basin the fish one is keeping live best in and second, the carbonate hardness of the water the aquarium keeper is putting the fish into. For example: I live in a place that has very soft water with a low carbonate hardness and ph. Because of this the water is buffered, however the elements added to the tap by the city result in water shifting constantly on an elemental level. By adding baking soda an aquarist could experience large bounces in 'ph' which is extremely stressful on fish.

    Sorry if this seems a bit clunky. I am on my phone.

    More to the point, water is different all over the world and not every fish has the same needs. One should never keep a goldfish with a discus. They come from different water systems, have different needs ... Within the aquarium the aquarist is simulating a specific body of water.



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