HELP - cloudy tank !

i have just started up a new aquarium in a 25 gallon tank. i have put in gravel, fake plants a heater and a filter which are both made to work on the this size of a tank. i have conditioned the water to remove the chorine. after a few days of letting the tank sit i purchased a red belly piranha. it has been two weeks now since i have had him and he has eatten a lot of feeders. but my problem isnt him its the water. it has been cloudy since i put it in. i have even changed half of the tanks water twice and still it is cloudy. if some one could help me out that would be great. and one other thing are there any other fish that can survive with my red belly ?
thanks for your help :lol:

 

In my opinion you didnt leave the tank long enough,(I think its called cycling in your part of the world) to settle down and build up a colony of bacteria,opinion is divided on this and I have heard periods of up to a month advised,my personal opinion is that a minimum of two weeks should be allowed,helpful if you condition the water first,not many fish will survive with these fish except perhaps for plecs,they dont seem to bother them

 

Your tank isn't cycled. Just letting the tank run w/o fish won't do anything. You need to add ammonia to feed the bacteria. I recommend getting some test kits for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte and post the results here.

Also, here is a really good article that explains the nitrogen cycle and fishless cycling:
http://www.tomgriffin.com/aquamag/cycle2.html

You can either return the fish and do a proper fishless cycle (best situation for the fish). Or you can keep the fish but do daily large water changes to keep the ammonia & nitrIte levels as low as possible.

-Chelle

 

if i continue to leave the fish in the tank and change the water will it clear up and if so how long will it take?
thanks again for you help

 

this may sound stupid... but did you rinse the rocks really good before putting them in the tank?

 

yes i did i rinsed everything

 

If you keep the fish and do large daily water changes (which is very stressful for the fish, not to mention probably painful as the ammonia spikes) it should cycle in about 3-4 weeks. Good luck

 

If you keep the fish and do large daily water changes (which is very stressful for the fish, not to mention probably painful as the ammonia spikes) it should cycle in about 3-4 weeks. Good luck