HELP!!! cloud water

emperor angel

emperor angel

New Member
Hi every one
I had my tank set up about 2 weeks ago. And now the water is turning very cloudy and brown alge are every where in the tank.
I asked my LFS. He said that is normal for a new set up tank.
Is it true?
I have 4 damsel in the tank and they eat normally.
Thanks for the response
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Well, the brown "algae" is diatoms, and, yes, this is normal for a new tank. Ugly though. You can clean this up as much as you want. Diatoms eat silica and phosphates. In a new tank there is, of course, lots of silica due to the new substrate. Phosphate, on the other hand is usually added to the tank via the type of water you are using. Test your water and see what the phosphate level is. If you are using tab water, you may want to find RO or DI bottled water that tests zero for phosphates. Once your silica and phosphates in tank are reduced, then the brown will die down to be replaced by the more desirable green microalgae.
Now, the cloudy water issue: Many hobbyst claim that the cloudy water that comes with a new tank will go away. This has not been my experience. If your water was clear up until now, I think you may be dealing with a bacterial bloom in the water. Test water quality. You are probably in the middle of a cycle. Give it a month, or until the cycle is over, and see if the cloudy water goes away. If not, post back.
 
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