Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We are setting up our new tank and after 12 hours we noticed the water was a bit cloudy already. We did not even add any animals yet. We used tap water and some Reptisafe drops.

I asked around and our tap water should be safe as there were several other turtle and fish people who also use it in our area.

We pre-rinsed ALL itmes before adding them to the tank so i dont think it is dust from the rocks.

Any ideas??

Could still be dust from the rocks. Even when pre-rinsed, you'll often get little particles that wash free after a little time submersed under water.

It may also just be a bacteria bloom (not usually harmful), but generally that doesn't happen until you add something living to the water. A water test wouldn't hurt.
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1.0.0 Thoroughbred
1.0.0 Mali Uromastyx
0.1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.1.0 Crested Gecko
1.2.0 German Shepherds
1.2.0 Cats
0.1.1 Birds (Cockatiel and Conure)
1.1.0 Rabbits
0.0.2 Yellow bellied sliders
3 Fish tanks (SW and FW)

This will frequently happen when you conduct complete water changes as well, just allow the aquarium to cycle for a day or two and all should be fine.
As was mentioned earlier, this could be fine particulate from the aquaria substrate, beneficial bacteria bloom or simply residue run-off from any activated carbon within your filter.

Good luck,

Jeff
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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947

Thank you for the replies. Also, after speaking with the aquatic store here in town, we think it might just be our water. We have a well and even thought it is filtered there are still a lot of minerals in the water.

Hi, I've actually seen this happen in my tank also after adding the reptisafe. I thought it was the drops that turned the water cloudy.

Your water will be cloudy for a week or two more than likely. It happens when people set up tanks for fish. The water has to cycle and the ph, nitrites, nitrates, hardness, and alkalinity have to level off. All the tanks that I have running right now had cloudy water for at least a week or more and then it gradually started getting clearer.
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1.0.0 Chelydra Serpentina Serpentina --- Snappy
0.0.1 Clemmys Guttatta --- Speck
1.0.0 Graptemys Pseudogeographica Pseudogeographica --- Chomper

0.1.0 Eublepharis Macularius --- Sabrina

0.1.0 American Staffordshire mix --- Daisy

..doesn't make the water cloudy.

I use that product myself.
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1.0.0 Thoroughbred
1.0.0 Mali Uromastyx
0.1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.1.0 Crested Gecko
1.2.0 German Shepherds
1.2.0 Cats
0.1.1 Birds (Cockatiel and Conure)
1.1.0 Rabbits
0.0.2 Yellow bellied sliders
3 Fish tanks (SW and FW)

Thanks to all who replied. We still have no idea why the tank was cloudy.

We have had it set up for about 3 weeks now and changed the water
50% on day 4
50% on day 8
90% on day 12 (thanks to the python!)& added some live plants
90% on day 18

Suddenly yesterday I noticed it was almost crystal clear! Everyone thought I had cleaned it out again.
I dont know why but it looks great!
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