# Urgent: Fish OK in cloudy water?



## jbarone (May 31, 2004)

I planned my transition this time,
but am getting anxious to put my fish in their newly remodeled home.

Here's the scoop:

I replaced my gravel/aquatic plant soil with 30lbs of Onyx Sand in a 20g Long
I took the water down more than halfway, put all my fish into the bucket that I transferred the water to. The bucket is being oxygenated by a battery
powered air pump. I scooped out the Gravel/Soil into a bucket until it was all gone (but a few sand like pieces) and added the Onyx Sand. Albeit the fact that I washed the sand it clouded some, so I added about 7 or 8 Gallons of warm tapwater to it so I could turn my filter on (I dechlorinated it). The water is still cloudy, and I don't want to have to leave my fish in that noisy bucket. Is it OK if I put my fish in that cloudy water? I have:

4 Cardinal Tetras (one died today before I did anything. First death from the batch, and it's been a little over a week.)
3 Robertsi Tetras
2 Otos
1 Borneo Sucker
1 Whiptail Catfish
1 Flying Fox

I can't see why it'd hurt them, unless the dust would get caught in their gills (but it's so fine that I don't see how it could.)

Your quick response is incredibly appreciated.

Thanks!


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## ColinAnderson (Jun 25, 2004)

I added a bag of flourite yesterday; after rinsing it so that the water would run almost clear, I still had a lot of cloudy water as a result of mixing it in with the previous gravel. My fish suffered no ill effects. What degree of clouding are you experiencing?


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## jbarone (May 31, 2004)

Visibility into my tank is about 2 - 3 inches 
I see the dust swirling around, and it has cleared up some
but from what I've heard a tank can take 8-12 hours to clear enough to see through. I can't keep my little guys in a bucket for that long.


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## cich (Aug 5, 2003)

It clears up very fast, I find at least. I _just_ switched to flourite a couple days ago as well, and what a *MESS!* However, it was almost completely settled by next morning. I will also note that I suffered no losses whatsoever due to this. 

I had the exact same dilema as you; had them in a bucket, knowing the bucket was no good for them at all, but then the tank was filthy too....

--cich


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## clay (Nov 28, 2003)

depends on how big the particles are swirling in the tank. remember, they take in the water through there mouth and filter through the gills. it could be like walking through a dusty room with particles flying. may not kill you, but would be uncomfortable. has the dust settled yet? you may want to pick up a clarifier or borrow a diatom filter.


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## ColinAnderson (Jun 25, 2004)

Kind of late, but don't know why I didn't mention this before....

I filled the tank up after I added my flourite and mixed the gravel, of course everything was really cloudy. I then drained it again to the bottom, removing a lot of the dust particles in the process. Sounds like more work I know (but the Python system is a *dream*).  After refilling it a second time, it wasn't too cloudy, as I said above, and cleared overnight.


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## cich (Aug 5, 2003)

Glad to hear it.

--cich


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## all4funwfish (Jan 18, 2004)

you are supposed to rinse flourite again and again to avoid this exact problem....however, rivers arent always clear.


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## cich (Aug 5, 2003)

all4funwfish said:


> you are supposed to rinse flourite again and again to avoid this exact problem....


I rinsed mine.... SO MANY TIMES.... that I have NO idea how many times that was. All I know is that it took maybe an hour. Yet, still my tank was ZERO visibility.

--cich


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## ColinAnderson (Jun 25, 2004)

I rinsed many times as well -- until the water ran clean. Doesn't change that fact that when I added it to my tank, my water was cloudy.


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## cich (Aug 5, 2003)

I'm thinking it can only be recuced at best... never avoided. Also, I wasn't able to completely empty the tank of water when I did this, so disturbance of the old and new substrates was fenominal.

--cich


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## jbarone (May 31, 2004)

*Problem Solved.*

I put them in shortly after posting,
and have noticed no ill effects due to my decision.
Being that onyx tends to be fairly heavy, all of
the dust particles sank to the bottom of my tank
within 12 hours. Visibility increased to about 6 inches an
hour or so after the post.

Like you all did, I rinsed it A LOT (2 hours)
but it still clouded up my tank a lot. It's just something you've
got to deal with. Thanks for all the responses!

JBarone


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