[tronmakes]

I have a 30g tank that has been virtually lifeless (meaning I have been waiting to add live stock) for nearly 8 months. For the last few months (5) I have just had some Damsels and everything was going fine. However, I just added new livestock today (coral beauty, 9 snails, 2 sea stars) and the water became extremely cloudy. I don't believe that I disturbed the substrate too much, and I tried my best to keep the "shipping water" separate, but for some reason things got very murky. I have been watching it closely for the last 3 or four hours and it seems to be getting worse. Is this normal when adding new livestock, or is this something else all together? Any help or suggestions would be huge.

(I do not have a skimmer, I have been trying to buy one for two months but the fella at my local pet store never has any available.)

[NATIVEVAMAN]

It may just be that you have an amonia spike.The bacteria that eat the amonia increase in numbers very rapidly(they can double every thirty minutes).This will appear as cloudiness.Its not dangerous.

[tronmakes]

Thank you. Should I wait it out, or are there some steps I should be taking to treat the amonia or the bacteria? I tested the water and the amonia levels are slightly high (not yet dangerous).

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I would just keep testing.I believe when you see the cloud the amonia is on the way down.

[dhboyd1]

The real question is how are your nitrites? If your nitrites are ok then it is just an ammonia spike. When your nitrites are 0 and stay 0 then your system just needs time to catch up to the new bio-load. If your nitrites are spiking too then hold your breath and cross your fingers. I know you shouldn't add anything you can't test for but a small amount of Prime in the water should hold you until the bacteria in your tank catches up. Nitrite levels are the best indicator of tank health and bio-filtration.

[tronmakes]

nitrate levels are perfect thusfar, I have been checking every six hours or so. Although, in the meantime... A some of the snails I got were Red Foot Algea Snails, (They came WAAAYY bigger than I thought they would. As you may have guessed, my eyes have been glues to my tank for hours now, watching for signs of stress, checkng levels, etc. And I noticed that one of the large snails shot out a ton of cloudy waste/reproductive matter/something now I have 6 of these guys in the tank right now. If they all have been doing that... I can see where the cloud is coming from. Does anyone know what this is? And could it be the reason my water is getting cloudy? If so should I remove the snails?

[dhboyd1]

Not "NITRATES" but NITRITES.

What are your NH2 levels?

[tronmakes]

both are good. Hold on... I'll test them now to geive an accurate report.....Nitrite level is zero... everything else is still looking good.

[dhboyd1]

Tomorrow check everything again and then do a 10-20% water change. Check again in 24hrs. Most likely you just stirred up a bunch of sediment or the bacteria is on the rebound to cope with the new nutrients in the tank. Either way what livestock you have in the tank is pretty hardy so should be OK. If the damsel looks like it is having a hard time breathing then you might want to move it to a QT tank and let it recover from the stress. A tank a year old is pretty mature and the bacteria level is pretty stable but you just changed the balance so the bacteria is probably trying to catch up.

[tronmakes]

Update:
The cloudiness is gone!!! Thank you for your help everyone!!
I'm thankful there is a place like RB to help a newb like me out. This is great, and makes the hobby that much more enjoyable.
Thanks Again.

[dori9941]

thank that bacteria too, lol
cloudiness scares me, I'm glad things r better