KittenFishMom Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 (edited) @Streetwise and anyone else doing dirt tanks, please take a look at this. My new 55 gallon, mostly Walstad tank style, was built about a week ago. It has slowly been getting cloudier, I would say the color is whitish, like a like fog. Is this normal and I just wait it out, or is this something that needs treating? (I will add a photo.) Water Parms: Nitrate = 10 ppm Nitrite = 0 ppm Hardness = 25 ppm Buffer (KH) = 100 ppm pH = 7.2 Lots of plants, some still planted, some replanted (due to corys and loaches), others still floating or in pots. I put mesh bags of organic soil on the left, and loose soil on the right side and capped with larger black sand. I added 1 large Wonder shell after the pH got close to 7.0 The tank is stocked with peppered corys (2 adult, 9 small), 9 adult neon tetras, 1 male betta, snails and a few scuds and 6 black kuhli loaches (loaches added over the last 3 days as I could catch them from the other tanks) The fish seem happy and normal. The betta is sitting on the bottom hunting scuds under the java moss. I moved the moss and the betta followed, twice. He also swims near the top a lot when I get close to the tank. I have been feeding lightly: sinking pellets for the corys and Xtreme nano for the neon tetras, and Bug Bites pellets for the betta There is a heater set at 75f, an air stone, a large sponge filter and an HOB (The betta will move to a warning tank as soon as I can.) What do you think? Does it just need to sit and cycle some more? Does it need something added? On my shelf I have: Equilibrium, Easy Green, ACO root tabs, Turbo Start 700 (in fridge), Complete, Ultimate, Stress Coat, Acid buffer, Alkaline Buffer, and probably a few other things I can not bring to mind. I haven't added these things, but I do have them on hand. What should I do at this point? Edited December 3, 2022 by KittenFishMom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbit Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 I think the tank just needs to cycle some more. There are probably lots of random tasty things for bacteria to eat right now, stuff that’s coming out of the soil. But once they eat it all, the cloudiness will go away. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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