Cloudy water in my 10 gal. tropical aquarium.?

That's not too unusual when the tank is cycling. 21 days is still within the time frame that things are not working up to speed as of yet. The cloudiness is caused by a bacterial bloom in the tank and will clear with time. The suffering molly is reacting to the high ammonia levels. You will probably need to change 50% or more of the water each day for the next week or so to keep the ammonia levels in check. Check it daily and change as often and as much as you need to to keep some, but just a little, ammonia in the tank. Don't use any chemicals for the ammonia level at this point. That will only slow the growth of the beneficial bacteria you need for a proper cycle. The best thing to do now is to keep the levels high enough to grow bacteria and low enough not to kill the fish. Doing this through water changes is the safest and most stable route in the long run.

Once the cycle is settled in, the ammonia will drop to 0 without the water changes.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

MM

The cloudiness is probably a bacteria bloom. If you still had high ammonia levels at 21 days your tank was definitely not cycling well. At three weeks you should have seen low ammonia and high nitrites. Also instead of doing a large water change,try 10% changes once or twice a day,until the ammonia gets down to a non-toxic level. When your tank truly does cycle the nutrients that are fueling the cloudiness will balance out and the water will clear. I'd bet that the entire problem originates in over-feeding(something has to rot to create the ammonia),so cut back on the feedings,both the frequency and the amount. I promise your fish won't starve. Next time you set up a tank,look into fishless cycling,it's much less cruel than trying to cycle a tank with fish in it. Oh yeah, the guys at the pet store sell more fish when people try to cycle tanks with fish in them,so their advice is often not the best, and the people at the big box stores just don't know at all.---------PeeTee

First off how many fish do you have in the tank? Your only supposed to have one fish per every 3 gallons of water. Also, Adding more then two fish at a time will cause your water to cloud. And working at a pet store and being a fish specialist i feel the wost you can do is add chemicals (besides water conditioner) to your tank. Its just going to mess up the levels and the natural cycling to the tank, I suggest that you dont do any water changes, or filter changes at that for three months (the time that it takes a new tank to fully cycle) your molly is mostlikley going into shock. Try adding carbon to your filter, that should clear up your water within 24 hours, and try not to add anymore fish for a while.

I have similar problem with one of my 12 tanks,although the tank was set up two years ago. Sometimes doing water changes helps,and many times it makes it worse.The cloudiness is most likely caused by a bacteria bloom which will continue if you feed too much,overcrowd your tank or do too mny water changes.When you start a tank,it is advisable to just put in 1 or2 cheap fish to start the natural cycling. Adding chemicals may even add to the cloudiness unless it is dirt-related. I find that the answerers with the good ratings,especially MM's reply are pretty good.

is it white and cloudy? if so thats a bacterial bloom that all tanks get when they're new.

as you're cycling with fish you need to do DAILY 20% water changes really to keep on top of the spiking ammonia. how often were you doing water changes? do another water change and leave it for an hour or so to settle then test the water again, and do the same tomorrow, and the day after. hopefully it'll start to fix itself slowly.

when you cycle with fish you have to expect some fish to not last the cycle. and if they do they may suffer in future from being burnt with the ammonia levels they experienced during the cycle. it is possible to do it fishless for future reference!

did you add bacteria to the filter when you started the cycle?

edit: just re-read what you have written in your edit, the product cycle i've heard does bugger all! and i believe biospira is the one to use. and don't change your filter! don't touch your filter, thats where the good bacteria are growing, changing it, cleaning it in fresh water, putting in new sponges, are going to put your tank into a new cycle over and over again!

There is stuff you can buy at a pet store. It will take the cloudiness out of the water almost instantly. However make sure the water parameters are OK.

They is many differnt chemicals to use I would go to the pet store and tell them what you have explained here.If it was my tank and my fish I would try some stuff called ick it will help if your fish have ick and that is common.They also have some stuff to clear the cloudy water they your should use when you have a new tank and new fish.When you clean your tank or in your case get a new tank and new fish you need to use the water that comes with them fish in the bag in the tank and just add spring water to it to fill the tank.Also you should sit the bag of fish into the tank of fresh water for about fifteen min.s to let your new fish get used to the new tempeture for the new tank and water.Make sure your tank is not too hot or cold as well.

You are over feeding your fish,this WILL kill your fish within a few days

You need to get a chemical water stabilizer from a pet store. It is a conditioner that neutralizes the ammonia, chlorine, fluoride, etc. in the tap or well water.

Any pet store (or box store: Walmart, etc.) should have it.

Sounds like you're feeding too much.