New to the hobby with New 20 gallon tank

[alcidmr]

I put together and started my aquarium on the 27th of March. I  added Fritz complete, plus the fritz zyme 7 for starting the good bacteria. my

My water reading GH 240 -

No3 0.

No2 0-  CL2 0.

KH 40 to 80 now is 120.

PH 7.2.

So now I have real cloudy water is that normal, I started worrying, is it part of the cycle? Or do I need to add fish please help 🤯

[Jungle Fan]

Cloudiness when you first set up a tank is fairly normal. Did you rinse your substrate beforehand? If not, then it can take up to a week sometimes to clear up, also depending on what type of filtration you are using.

[alcidmr]

Yeah I rinse with hot water, also all my Ornament fake plants, and I'm using Aqueon quite flow 20 led pro, five stage advanced filtration. Also a sponge filter with an air stone like Cory suggested to use 

[Charose]

Be prepared for your tank to not be habitable for fish or look as you expect it to for at least the first month. You can add fish once your water tests show stable parameters: no ammonia or nitrite in the water and some accumulation of nitrate, your pH should be stable as well as the temperature.

[alcidmr]

Oh ok,  thank you!!! I appreciate your input 

[JoeM]

Just give it time your water will clear. Bacteria are growing and blooming.  Dont add fish until your ammonia and nitrites are 0 and nitrate 40ppm or less. If your nitrates are higher than 40 at the end of the cycle do a partial water change.  The cycle process could be done in two weeks or a month from now. Just keep testing water every Other day. Other wise your fish will start dying, or getting sick, and you'll start doing a bunch of crazy stuff thats unnecessary to fix it. Get really sad because you killed your fish and sell all your stuff lol. When all you had to do was wait for the water to be ready. Patience is a requirement in this hobby,especially in the beginning. Good luck

[Jungle Fan]

One thing I do during the dark start cycle to prevent cloudy water when I place aquatic soil in a new tank is to run a Marineland Magnum internal polishing filter with the Micron cartridge charged with diatomaceous earth powder, I have yet to see any new tank cloudiness that would last longer than two days when it is run. However I only use the Magnum when it is needed because it is huge and stands out like a sore thumb but it sure works.

Here is a picture of it in my 75 gallon the day after I had finished the hardscape I turned the light back on only to check to see how the Magnum had cleared it up over night, the afternoon before the water had looked like light brown milk from the soil, and a thin layer of Fluval Stratum underneath. After that day the only things running were the canister, the heater, and the air wand for four weeks, then I planted, one week later came the inverts, and the week following the fish.

The Magnum is the contraption on the left with the big red stripe.

[Patrick_G]

I’ve found that running some filter floss is a great, cheap way to clear up your water fast. 

[FriendlyLoach]

Yeah that cloudiness is normal. 

[alcidmr]

On 3/31/2021 at 12:29 PM, Jungle Fan said:

One thing I do during the dark start cycle to prevent cloudy water when I place aquatic soil in a new tank is to run a Marineland Magnum internal polishing filter with the Micron cartridge charged with diatomaceous earth powder, I have yet to see any new tank cloudiness that would last longer than two days when it is run. However I only use the Magnum when it is needed because it is huge and stands out like a sore thumb but it sure works.

Here is a picture of it in my 75 gallon the day after I had finished the hardscape I turned the light back on only to check to see how the Magnum had cleared it up over night, the afternoon before the water had looked like light brown milk from the soil, and a thin layer of Fluval Stratum underneath. After that day the only things running were the canister, the heater, and the air wand for four weeks, then I planted, one week later came the inverts, and the week following the fish.

The Magnum is the contraption on the left with the big red stripe.

nice tank

[Jungle Fan]

11 minutes ago, alcidmr said:

nice tank

Looks much better now.

[alcidmr]

55 minutes ago, Jungle Fan said:

Looks much better now.

oh wow! it sure does 👍 

 

[alcidmr]

can someone please give me suggestion on what is wrong with this picture or is that normal. I'm wondering if I need to do water change or not. I'm still waiting for the tank to cycle since march 27 so I'm going on almost 3 weeks and I used fritz zyme 7.almost 2 bottles, by the way and I'm not getting no reading on ammonia or nitrite or nitrate or GH 0

only PH 7.6 and KH 80  oh ill post a picture if the bubbles.  

I appreciate your help, thank you.  

[Schwack]

Are you just concerned about the bubbles at the top? I'm guessing it has to do with the amount of air running through your sponge. It's hard to tell based on a still, but it looks like the air flow through that sponge is on the high end.

What is the ammonia source for the tank? If you're just dumping in bottled bacteria without any source of ammonia, you're not going to see any cycling begin. Snails, rotting fish food, chunks of shrimp, or pure ammonium chloride are all options, but some will take longer than others.

[RockMongler]

What tool are you using to measure your water parameters?  

Remember, when cycling, your goal is to put in ammonia/ammonium (NH3/NH4+), and have the bacteria living in the tank convert it to nitrite (NO2-) to nitrate (NO3-).  If you can put in nitrogenous waste (a good way is putting in food, and allowing it to rot), and that waste gets eventually converted to nitrate, leaving you with no ammonia or nitrite, that means you are cycled!

[alcidmr]

yeah concern about the bubbles because imp using the nano air pump that is on low flow.

and I been putting fish flakes' for the ammonia to raise up and nothin.

so I'm worried that something might be wrong with the water because no riding and lots of bubbles  

[alcidmr]

1 minute ago, alcidmr said:

yeah concern about the bubbles because imp using the nano air pump that is on low flow.

and I been putting fish flakes' for the ammonia to raise up and nothin.

so I'm worried that something might be wrong with the water because no reading and lots of bubbles  

 

[alcidmr]

oh and I'm using the api master kit

[alcidmr]

I couldn't download the video sorry only picture