# Murky Water - 5 Koi in a 30Gallon



## adrian.y7 (Feb 5, 2012)

Hi All

Newbie here just getting into the hobbie

I currently have 5 baby Koi Goldfish in a 30 gallon tank, running on AquaClear 70 which I just installed a week ago.

The water has definitely gotten a little clearer from before, but still not as clear as I imagined.

Is there something I'm missing? I'm doing my weekly 25% water changes. My only guess is (assumption) waiting for the bacteria to grow in the Media of the AC. Otherwise, how else can i get the water clearer?

PS. Fish are fed pellets once a day.


----------



## endi (Mar 30, 2008)

you're tank is still new and hasn't fully cycled yet, give it some time or you can add in some cycle like products from seachem.


----------



## adrian.y7 (Feb 5, 2012)

endi said:


> you're tank is still new and hasn't fully cycled yet, give it some time or you can add in some cycle like products from seachem.


Thanks Endi

What exactly is the cycle process? and how long does this take?

Sorry, a bit newb to this, but what exactly is the science behind this?


----------



## splur (May 11, 2011)

How long has your tank been running for?


----------



## endi (Mar 30, 2008)

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biologicalcycle/a/nitrogencycle.htm

You can also check out this other thread from this forum which explains a lot about cycling tanks

http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8458


----------



## adrian.y7 (Feb 5, 2012)

its been running for roughly 3 weeks, 2 of which had no filter, just a pump hose that filtered through some sponges/carbon fiber.


----------



## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

I suggest you pick up some ammonia absorbing media for your AquaClear 70 otherwise your fish are in trouble. Also feed sparingly until your cycle is finished which by the way takes approximately a month under ideal conditions.
--
Paul


----------



## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

adrian.y7 said:


> its been running for roughly 3 weeks, 2 of which had no filter, just a pump hose that filtered through some sponges/carbon fiber.


Did you remove those sponges when you added the filter because if you did the cycle would have started all over again.
--
Paul


----------



## adrian.y7 (Feb 5, 2012)

yeah being a noob that i am, i did 

So my guess is that it was clean media from 1 week ago. I'll definitely have to start feeding less - but will a canister help my situation at all? Or should i have to wait till the whole nitrogen cycle finishes (1 month?) before i determine if i need one.

Thanks for the responses


----------



## endi (Mar 30, 2008)

An extra canister filter will not harm the cycling process. To speed up the process you can also get some used filter media (filter floss/sponge) from other hobbyist or from LFS.


----------



## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

I also wanted to point out that a 30 gallon tank is way too small for 5 Goldfish and if its Koi you have, a 30 gallon tank is not even big enough for 1 Koi.
--
Paul


----------

