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329 Posts
My new 55g has been set up for exactly one week. The day after I filled it, the water started getting cloudy, and it seems like it's been getting worse every day. Now it's so bad that if I look through the tank lengthwise, I can't see to the other end. The cloudiness has a slight greenish tint. Sorry I don't have a picture, but all my specs are below.
I know it's normal for newly set up tanks to experience algae blooms and cloudy water; but in my experience I've never had it last a whole week with no signs of improvement. So, do you think this is just a symptom of the new tank going through its phases and I should be patient and give it a chance to balance out? Or do you think there's something fundamentally wrong with my setup (for example, too much light)?
I know it's normal for newly set up tanks to experience algae blooms and cloudy water; but in my experience I've never had it last a whole week with no signs of improvement. So, do you think this is just a symptom of the new tank going through its phases and I should be patient and give it a chance to balance out? Or do you think there's something fundamentally wrong with my setup (for example, too much light)?
- 55 gallon (48x13x21)
- Eheim 2217 canister
- Pressurized CO2 with inline diffuser
- 48" Finnex Ray2 + MonsterRay (9 hr. photoperiod)
- 100 lbs. of Eco-Complete
- 30 lbs. of rock hardscape (mica schist)
- Moderately planted (glosso, cabomba, giant hygro, red melon sword, Italian vals, nesaea sp. red, didplis diandra)
- No fauna except tiny snails that hitched a ride on the plants
- Water temp = 76*F
- pH = somewhere in the 7.4 ~ 7.6 range (best I can figure with the API kit)
- Ammonia = 3ppm (added ammonia from Ace Hardware to start fishless cycle)
- Nitrite = above 1ppm (again, with the API kit anything >1ppm looks pretty much the same)
- Nitrate = somewhere between 5ppm and 20ppm
- KH = 7.5
- GH = 13 (!)
- Phosphate = 0
- CO2 drop checker = green