how do i stop my goldfish tank from going cloudy so quick?

It is not the food, it is because you change all of the water and clean the gravel. You are in effect removing all of the beneficial bacteria you need to keep the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates in check. The tank is continually going through the "new tank" nitrogen cycle. A "decent size" tank for 2 average sized goldfish is about 20 gallons.

You should only change 40% of the water each week and siphon (buy one at the store-$10) one half of the gravel (left side then right side) every two weeks.

I have tanks that have been set up for over 6 years, using this method, without a teardown. The water is clear and the fish are healthy and spawning.

Personally, unless the fish are very large, I do not use pellets. They are very hard and IMHO they can cause digestive blockage problems in smaller fish like bettas and small goldfish. Goldfish are prone to digestive problems too, so stick with the flakes and only feed once a day. Just put in as much as they will eat in 3-4 minutes. If there is food left over after that length of time, you are feeding too much.

tata

I have a goldfish tank with 3 fish in it, the best way I found is to buy a filter for them. Change the filter sponge once a month and rinse the sponge once a week. Feed them on fish food flakes rather than pellets.

that is distinctive issues. by way of fact it incredibly is an extremely new tank, my first theory would be that it is the recent gravel. it may take in to 6 months for the cloudiness to sparkling with a sparkling tank, by way of new gravel. After 4-6 syphonings, it would sparkling.. yet, if not,is your tank close to a window? it would desire to be algae improve, by way of sunlight. If the sunlight frequently shines on your tank, this would take place. the proper answer then, is to bypass the tank, this is a soreness, yet would be your basically answer. additionally, mixing tropical fish and goldfish, would additionally be the priority. Goldfish on my own are VERY messy. in fact, they produce 5 cases as plenty waste as tropical fish. mixing the two kinds does reason a rigidity point nevertheless. Fish additionally produce extra waste while in stressful circumstances, and your ammonia and nitrate stages would be extreme. you ought to purchase drops to put in your water to cut back that. final, yet not least, in case you're overfeeding, it would desire to reason your water to be cloudy. exceedingly in case you're utilising frozen meals or stay nutrition. yet even with the dry nutrition, in case you notice plenty sink to the backside, shrink your feeding. Your fish ought to basically take a minute to consume, and maximum experts will feed smaller quantities, extra frequently, as much as ten cases an afternoon!! So please attempt to stay away from that. in case you notice flakes, or any nutrition, touchdown on the backside, maximum probable you're overfeeding. desire i replaced into powerful!!

Best things to do. Increase frequency and amounts of water changes, better filtration system (higher gph turnover), proper feeding (amount the eat in 2-3 min. twice a day, can skip a day a week). Remove uneaten food after 2-3 minutes. Bigger tank.

A decent sized tank for two smaller goldfish (8" adult size) would be 20 gallons. 30 being better. Most goldfish get to 12"+. Goldfish are wasteful fish, so the bigger they grow the worse they get. Most goldfish live more than 20 years if properly cared for, so you want them to live comfortably. Even the shorter lived ones should get at least 10-15 years in. Koi live over 200 years as an example.

are you changing the tank all at once?

are you changing the filter during your regular water changes?

you only want to to a 25% water change every week, if you have anything less than a 20 gallon id actually do it every five days.

also when you change your filter cartridges wait about 3 days after you do a water change, this will reduce cloudiness.

but remember water quality not clarity!! there are products you can buy that help like bright and clear by mardel, but there are costly, the cloudy white is debris from the water and will settle in a couple days, its safe for your fish. flakes or pellets, pellets have a little more nutrition, you could just cut back on the flakes.

I totally Agree with DanielleZ on this one. There could be a number of reasons. Overfeeding isn't really one of them. Do not add chemicals to your tank. It will clear on its own. Also doing too many water changes or too much will also lead to cloudy water.

Once the tank has cycled and settles, it will clear.

There could be a number of reasons the tank is getting cloudy. What are your water quality readings? Although overfeeding can lead to cloudy water, it takes a lot of food to do this. Pellets are good however your gold fish need a Rounded diet not just pellet or flake foods. They need a high protein (48% or better) low fat diet (less than 5%)

Here are a few other foods good for your fish You can supplement their diet with things like Lettuce, mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens, spinach, peas, endive, seaweed, cukes, kale, chard, broccoli, lima beans, green beans, etc. and feed aquatic plants (e.g. duckweed, azolla, salvenia, etc) or hair algae daily.

For their Carotenoids which are a family of pigments the fish can't make themselves and are obtained as part of the diet. These pigments result in red, yellow and orange colors. Fish have cells called chromataphores. Those cells convert lutein and carotenes into astaxanthin which is the red pigment.

sources include, brine shrimp, krill, spirulina, marigold flowers, paprika, sweet red peppers, yams, carrots, pumpkin

Watermellons and oranges are also good as well as proteins like chicken (chicken livers) beef (livers and parts) and pork as well as worms and bugs.

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All too often too many new fish owners make the same common mistakes. Did you wash your tank out properly prior to installing? Did you wash your gravel thru a strainer (and I don't mean just rinse it off)? These are the two leading cause for cloudy water.

Your tank is not cycled properly. See web page.

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biologicalcycle/...

Your biggest issue now isn't the cloudy water; it's the ammonia spike that will soon occur (if it hasn't already), followed by elevated nitrites. Both could result in the loss of some or all of your fish. I'd strongly recommend that you become familiar with the Nitrogen cycle, so you are aware of what will be happening in the upcoming weeks.

You should begin testing your water right away for ammonia and take appropriate steps to keep it below lethal levels. Hang in there; once you get your tank through the initial cycle the cloudy water problem will clear up

Do you or are you using a gravel siphon to clean the bottom when doing water changes? Did you rinse out your filter and pads prior to installing them?

If you did not rinse the gravel well enough you can do one of two things, stir up the gravel in the tank really well. This will cause all the "dirt" particles to float in your tank. Keep the filter running and do a 20% water change. As long as your water "quality" is fine, do this every other day until the water is clear. Each time, be sure to rinse your filter out as well.

Adding an air your bubble want does nothing for the fish or the water. Dissolved O2 comes from the water itself moving. Bubblers move very little water there for add very little to no Dissolved O2 to your tank.

Do your water change every other day (I know pain in the butt) but if the tank would have been cycled properly in the beginning, this would not be happening now.

Good Luck

I had the same problem you need a filter and change from 10 to 25% of the water every week, clean the filter every two weeks, Oh an you also need an air pump. I clean the tank with a stick with a sponge at the end. I do that and never have to empty the tank. It keeps very clean.

Sound like a bacterial bloom - this is because the balance has been upset

How do you clean it, and do you use water treatments?

Do about a 20 - 25% water change using a gravel syphon.

Before refilling the tank add to the fresh water some "tap safe" to remove the chlorine. For bacterial blooms "safe water", "b clear" and "cycle" are all good options. They will replace the benificial bacteria your fish need more quickly and clear the water.

Don't feed them for at least 12 hours after changing the water.

Hmm, it is always a constant problem.

There is no perfect solution, but here are some tings that help.

Good tank filters, with cotton and charcoal as a filter which is replaced often.

Some real plants.

Snails to clean the sides of the tanks.

Bottom feeding fish (catfish) to eat anything that falls to the bottom of the tank.

Don't over feed.