Super cloudy water. This is one of those things that triggers new people in the hobby to "clean" their tanks.

They'll do a biiiig water change to clear up the water, only to find that the cloudiness returns even WORSE by the next day. Which means something must be wrong with the substrate or the wood, right? Water that is this foggy can't possibly be a good sign for the health of the tanks, right???

Well...

The white cloudiness in these cases is caused by a sudden increase of bacteria [as opposed to green cloudiness, which would indicate an algea bloom]. These bacterial populations are not the same as the bacteria you grow when establishing the nitrogen cycle, but they are a sign that the process is underway! They boom in numbers when there is a sudden excess of nutrients. You actually don't want to mess around with your tank at all when the water looks like this. Replacing the water may only bring in a new wealth of nutrients, prolonging or intensifying the cloudiness (the water may look more clear immediately after a water change, but will become cloudy again as the bacteria repopulate the water column).

What will happen is, if you leave it alone, the denitrifying bacteria that you actually want in your tank will outcompete this cloudy bacteria once the cloudy bacteria runs out of excess nutrients to consume. At which point, your tank water will clear up, and your nitrogen cycle will be well under way of establishing itself♡

So once again, the best course of action wrt to this cloudiness in a new [and fishless] tank is to do nothing😁

On the other hand, if you DO you have fish during this stage, you'll need to make sure the water column well oxygenated at night after the lights go out, because this murky bacteria uses up a lot of oxygen, and the plants don't produce much oxygen at night while the lights are off

Also check your perameters [ammonia, nitrite, nitrate] daily. If your ammonia is spiking, ideally, you'll want to move the fish into a different holding tank [which I will likely need to do for my temporary guppy residents here in a day or two--I have a plant holding tub with an established cycle that I'll be moving them to]. But if you don't have that option, then you'll have no choice but to do some water changes--which will prolong the cloudiness but is absolutely required for the health of your fish😔

If your tank was previously cycled already and suddenly becomes cloudy like this, test your perameters [ammonia, nitrite, nitrate]. This cloudiness may be an indication that your cycle has crashed and the bacteria are needing to repopulate your tank again (and are in the process of doing so). There are excess nutrients causing the bacteria to bloom and produce this cloudiness, and the denitrifying bacteria needs time to catch up in numbers and outcompete them.

okee, that's all for now.

As tax, here's a picture of Hugh's tank today!

Best cure for algae is prevention. Your tank will most likely ALWAYS have some algae in it, even if you can't physically see it. But once you start noticing it growing on your plants or on the glass of your aquarium, it's your cue to reduce the amount of light you tank gets and make sure you're not feeding your fish excessively. It's usually the combination of high lighting over too many hours and excessive nutrients that produce an algae bloom. This is one if a few reasons why putting tanks infront of widows is generally regarded as a bad idea♡ You want to have full control over the amount of light your aquarium receives.

Let’s all be little blue shrimp and hang out in the vibrant greenery together

Do you want your very own suckermouth catfish?

Don't have space in your aquarium?

Don't have an aquarium?

I've got the very thing for you!

Handmade plushie plecos!!

I've been dreaming about a dwarf gourami for 3 years and just now I find out that 70% of them in the market die from a virus they are susceptible to?

It's so hard to imagine little fishes as a cog in the capitalistic machine that doesn't care about the health of those fish when they are just little guys. They are just so little..

But sites that were recommended to me, which I have found some helpful info on, were The Spruce Pets and Aquarium CoOp. i also try asking other keepers on here, discord, facebook, etc for personal advice, but those are often contradictory :'))

Hello, friends! I’m returning from my hiatus to let people know about something very important. As of today, 2/4/2022, HR 4521 along with the COMPETES Act has been passed (mostly along party lines) through the House of Representatives and is making its way to the senate.

This matters to the fish, herp, bird, and invert communities for one big reason: there’s an amendment in Division H from the Committee of Natural Resources that modifies the Lacey Act. According to this amendment, all non-native species would be classified as injurious by default until later review. There would be an import ban on non-native fish, reptiles, amphibians, and the like unless they are reviewed by the Secretary of the Interior and found to not be an “imminent threat to human beings, to the interests of agriculture, horticulture, forestry, or to wildlife or the wildlife resources of the United States.” They must also be verifiably imported or transported between state lines in “more than minimal quantities” in a 1-year period before the COMPETES Act is passed. Those quantities have not been decided yet.

We’re talking a devastating blanket ban on any species that isn’t well-known and studied enough to be proven non-threatening.

Help show Aqueon that there is a demand for them to stop manufacturing betta fish aquariums 1 gallon and under.

Their betta tanks are some of the smallest tanks on the market. Most lack a filter and heater, and they don’t have enough room to create a stimulating environment.

Aqueon claims its goal has always been: “Doing what is best for the health and well-being of fish and aquatic life,” but by manufacturing these betta kits, Aqueon misleads consumers and exploits the resilient nature of bettas in order to maximize their own opportunities for profit. Bettas in these tanks endure low-quality conditions their entire lives. Here are the betta tanks 1 gal and under we are asking Aqueon to stop manufacturing: Betta Bowl Kit (0.5 gal total or 0.25 gal per fish) Betta Castle Kit (0.5 gal) Betta Princess Castle Kit (0.5 gal) Betta Puzzle Kit (0.5 gal) Betta Falls Kit (0.7 gal) BettaBow 1 Aquarium Kit (1 gal) LED MiniBow 1 Kit (1 gal) A lot of people have already been raising awareness about how unhealthy these Aqueon tanks are. As consumers continue to learn about proper betta fish aquarium needs (5+ gal, heater, filtration, enrichment, etc.), the demand for these kits will decline. For a company that claims “it’s all about the fish,” should Aqueon be proud to have its name and brand associated with these betta tanks?

Ways to contact Aqueon:

Fill out the “contact us” form on the Aqueon website:

https://www.aqueon.com/about-us/contact-us

Send a DM/Comment on Instagram: @aqueonproducts

blue shrimpy