Cloudy water

[mopedman]

I got my g/f a 40 gallon tank and had her put in 5 tiger barbs for 3 weeks to establish the tank. Then I let her put in a dalmation molly, 4 fancy guppies, and a small plecosmus. The problem is that her water is cloudy. She has a penguin 350, not emporer, and I thought it would be good enough for her tank. What else can I do to uncloud the water? The gravel was rinsed well btw. Thanks

[COM]

You've probably got a bacterial bloom.

Here are your choices:
1- Wait it out
2- Do a partial water change
3- Add some bacteria (like BioSpira or from someone else's filter)

[Ghost Knife]

Originally Posted by mopedman

I got my g/f a 40 gallon tank and had her put in 5 tiger barbs for 3 weeks to establish the tank. Then I let her put in a dalmation molly, 4 fancy guppies, and a small plecosmus. The problem is that her water is cloudy. She has a penguin 350, not emporer, and I thought it would be good enough for her tank. What else can I do to uncloud the water? The gravel was rinsed well btw. Thanks

Firstly, I would not mix Tiger Barbs, which are semi-aggressive, with any type of community fish like mollies or guppies. Barbs are fin nippers and need to be in groups of at least 7 or 8 to keep that from happening. My new tanks are always cloudy the first few weeks, but this clears up after they cycle.