Murkiness in new betta Eclipse tank

Hi, I'm really not sure what to do here. I have the Eclipse 3 gallon tank. I put a betta in it 2 days ago. The tank isn't cycled yet, because the guy at the store I bought the tank from insisted that bettas don't need filters. After posting questions in this forum, I decided to turn the filter on. It has a biowheel, and the instructions say that the bacteria should be established in about 5 weeks. I changed half the water in the tank yesterday.

Because the filter output area (by the biowheel) was causing a pretty strong current in the right side of the tank, I added a couple small pieces of synthetic sponge in the filter intake to try to slow the flow. This was successful. Only later in the day, I noticed that despite the fact that I had changed half the water, the water was appearing slightly murky.

Someone in this forum suggested I take a look at the sponge that I put in the intake. I took it out and it was starting to get black stuff in it. I thought maybe that was causing the murkiness so I turned on the filter again without the sponge that I had added. I thought the filter would clear out whatever was causing the slight water murkiness. But when I got up this morning to check the fish, the water murkiness is the same, and the filter current is stronger than it was before. I don't know if this is good for my fish. One of you suggested that I block some of the vertical slits in the intake tube. But what should I use? Also, should I change all the water in my tank or is the murkiness something to do with cycling? I want to make sure my fish doesn't get hurt. Thanks!

Sienna

I would do a 75% waterchange. What substrate are you using? what plants/ornaments are you using? What filter is it? and how many LPH is it?

I'll go change the water now. The filter is a biowheel filter that came with the Eclipse 3 system. The instructions that came with it say it is 35 gallons per hour. I have a thin layer of black aquarium gravel in the tank, plus one live "sword" plant and one small plastic bridge decoration.

If im honest that filter with no sponge on the out side sounds like a good strength. Did you rinse all the gravel and bis before you added them to the tank?

Isn't this just a normal bacteria bloom in a new tank? I had this when I got my first tank without the knowledge of cycling

I changed out a little over 75% of the water. And yes, I had rinsed the gravel and other things before putting them in the tank. The water is nice and clear now. I put the filter back on but again, it's blowing the fish around a bit when he swims on the right side of the tank, under the "output" under where the biowheel is. Maybe he doesn't mind that much because he keeps going over there! But I'm afraid that if I try to slow the current again by putting a sponge in the intake, things will go murky again. Should I just leave it and hope that, as the instructions say, after the biowheel gets full of bacteria it will naturally slow down a bit?

do 15% water changes every other day your tank is starting to cycle and you dont want to disturb that. Have you tested your water parameters?

What should I be testing for at this point? Just ammonia? Or ph too? How often should I be testing and for what? Thanks for your help.

um I'd say test every day or every other day. I'm new to it too but I know you should test frequently and for everything ammonia nitrate nitrite and ph ... I recommend the API master test or [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

the second is what I bought. Its much cheaper and all the reviews are good. plus you can have it shipped to the local store in just a few days for free they are the exact same too

Plus my tank is doing the exact same thing watch your fish though because he could get ammonia burns ... if he does get him melafix. I am treating my fish with it now and it works wonders ... physically the difference can be hard to tell at first but they are acting so much better

I thought that since the tank hasn't cycled yet, that I just have to check ammonia right now. At least that's what I read. But I don't know if that's right or not.

You need to test for all hun to start with and until your tank has cycled.

Have a read of this which explains it better. Any amounts of ammonia or nitrites and you'll need to do water changes or your fish will be affected.

THE NITROGEN CYCLE

Before explaining cycling a filter, it is a good idea to have a basic understanding of what the nitrogen cycle is, and how it is applicable to your fish tank.
This is just a very basic explanation of how a fully mature filter works.
When you have fish in your tank they will produce waste, which will break down to produce Ammonia. Uneaten foods will also produce Ammonia. The toxic Ammonia is broken down by bacteria in your filter to produce Nitrite (note the i), which is also toxic to fish. Another type of bacteria in your mature filter will then break down the nitrite into nitrate. Nitrate is only bad in high concentrations.
So, thats what happens in your filter -
Fish waste/food -> Ammonia -> Nitrite -> Nitrate.

Thanks, everybody, for all your help!

I also have a filter that is too strong for my fishies. What I did was suction the aquarium heater a few inches from the filter outtake. Then I wedged a plastic cup (one of my girls came in it, go figure) between the filter and the top rubber part of the heater. It's held securely in place and it's positioned such that it catches the strong flow from the filter. The water coming out of the cup hits the back corner of the aquarium and is much less strong.

The surface of the water is still adequately circulated and my girls now swim freely about the whole tank, whereas before they stayed squished to one side. One of my girls actually likes to hang out where the water hits the back of the aquarium and swim in the current.

That was a good idea to fashion a diversion system. I looked up filter for my ten gl. and it moves 100gl per hour and its running full on. My/c/t doesn't seem
effected by the current. Swims in and rides the current back out! As long as your Betta has quiet spots to retreat IMO(weak) might be alright.

I'd do what Pumpkin did and build a diversion of sorts. Good luck!