EauRouge- psttt, over here.

[Marne]

Thank you for your advice last week, the gupppies seem happy in the new tank.

Last week it went cloudy and then cleared, today it has gone very milky/cloudy, is this normal for week 2 of the cycle? also should i do 10% water change when the tank is on its cycle of do i just leave it?

I will test the water in a bit to make sure all is ok, the guppies seem happy, they were at the top of the tank yesterday so i moved the filter up so the water was rippling more and they now seem happy. Just worried about how cloudy it has gone .

Have you added any more fish? Was there any food left hanging around in the tank? Or it's possible that the filter bacteria has taken a knock, did this cloudiness happen right after a water change?

Yes, you should be doing water changes if you have fish in there during a cycle. 10% a week is not enough, I would be doing about 30% probably. If you do a water test then you'll be able to figure out how much to change.

I have just done a water change and tested the water (all was ok), dd has been feeding them twice a day with a small pinch of flakes, there doesn't seem to be much left over and they seem to eat what is left on the bottom in the evening. We havn't added any more fish (even though dd keeps nagging me), a few days ago it was just cloudy on the top half of the dank and clear at the bottom but now it seems to all be cloudy .

What were the water test results?

N0,3 -10
NO,2 - 5 (SLIGHTLY HIGH)
GH - 8
kh- 15
ph-8.0
CL,2 -0

It seems to have cleared a little sinse doing the water change, and i have only fed them once today as they seem to be finding crumbs on the bottom.

Yes, the NO2 is a little high- since you're cycling with fish in, you need to do extra water changes to keep it as low as possible. You can probably cut back on the feeding a bit as well and just feed once a day. Whatever they don't eat in 2-3 mins you can scoop out with a net or suck out with a syphon.

Thanks Eau, i took a bit more water out today (changed) and tested again NO2 has gone down slightly.

I took dd2 to pets at home this morning and asked them for advice, they were quite helpful when we asked 'what fish we could keep with guppies?' but he seemed a bit unsure how many fish we could keep in our tank (he eventually said we could have 4 or 5 more plus the 3 guppies that are already in there). Dd1 (and i) liked the look of the 'fighting fish', would they be ok with guppies or would they nip them? The man in the shop suggested more guppies and/or tetras.

The water is still cloudy today but again its testing ok, i am now feeding them once a day and will do another water change in a few days andd hopfully it will clear.

Please never ever mix a betta (fighting fish) with guppies. The guppies will nip their fins and it will harm them. Bettas prefer being on their own. And never put two males together, they will fight til death. If you want a betta, put him in a separate tank (5 gallon plus) and you can add one of the following www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/382234-betta-fish-compatibility/.

Yes, bettas and guppies not a good combination. Bettas are very territorial and are often best off in their own tank. 5 gallons is a bit on the small side though, I'd go for at least 8.

Not sure I agree with many of the fish on that list either, a lot of those fish could end up nipping the betta's fins. Is that a US site? They tend to have, um.... different ideas about fish welfare over there.

It is US and UK site, but originally US I think. I'm thinking that bottom feeders like corys would go best?

Thank you, i wont be getting one (have no room for another tank), there was a couple of them in pets at home, one was on its own and another was in a tank with some other fish (not sure what they all were but there were some corys in there). So are tetra's ok to be with guppies (the man in the shop said so even though we have hard water)?

Yes, corys are usually a good choice although I have heard of one betta that was such a total bastard it even went for corys. Otos should be safe too but they need a mature tank.

Hmm, tetras and guppies.... your water is quite hard so not ideal for tetras. Some of the farm-bred ones might be OK but wouldn't really thrive. Some tetra species can get a bit nippy too. I think I would stick to guppies.

The tank has now cleared, water is testing fine so we now have 2 more guppies and a couple of pretty tetras (ones with orange faces and spotty tails), we got them from pets at home as the man in the shop said that the tetras had been brought up in hard water so should be ok for our tank, going to get them 2 more friends next week.

They all seem happy but one of the guppies seems to prefer his own company (whilst the others stay together) he is slightly different from the others as he is a tellow sptty one (the others are not as pretty), the other guppy we got has a huge black tale. I'm having great fun watching them, the tetras zoom up and down the tank and the guppies dance around and go mad when i feed them.

If the waters clear do i hold back on a water change? i dont want it going misty again?

Rummynose tetras! They are pretty little fish.

What do you mean by hold back on the water changes? You need to keep up with them on a regular basis, at least once a week. The water might look clear, but so does sulphuric acid- the only way to tell is by testing it.

Thats the ones (they are very pretty)

I did a water change last weekend, the water went a bit cloudy and has taken all week to clear, was worried if i did a water change now it would go cloudy again, will a 10% change be ok? i will test it now and see how it is (havn't tested sinse it cleared)

It's not the water changes that are causing the cloudiness, unless you are not dechlorinating the water. It's an ammonia spike that causes the bacterial bloom. What are the water test results now?

N03-25
N02-1
GH-16
KH-10
ph-10
Cl-0

pH 10?! That can't be right, all your fish would be dead. NO2 should be zero, that might be part of the problem with cloudy water. Have you got an ammonia test kit?

PH- 8 (sorrry was looking at the wrong line

I havn't got a amonia test (just this one), what causes amonia in the water (is it waste?), i will do a water change tomorrow and test agian.

Yes, ammonia is peed and breathed out by the fish. The nitrifying bacteria turn the ammonia into nitrIte and then nitrAte. If you've got a nitrIte reading then it shows that there aren't enough bacteria in the filter. Without an ammonia test kit it's hard to say what's going on.

Ok, i understand now (not enough bacteria in filter), should'nt the filter be almost ok by now (on 3rd week of cycle plus added some of the pellets from the old tank)? is there anything i can do other than a water change?

It can take up to 6 weeks, should be a bit quicker with the filter media from the old tank. Water changes are the best course of action, there are various potions on sale but unless your ammonia is very high then you should be OK.