This page explains briefly why your fish's water is cloudy, foamy or smelly and what to do about it. Cloudy, foamy, or smelly water will almost always cause stress and disease to your fish, so you should immediately take action to clear the water.

These bacteria often cause Signs of Stress and Disease in the fish. Click here for more about some of the Signs of Stress and Disease in fish.

1. Get Rid of Cloudy, Foamy, or Smelly Water.
Start by thoroughly cleaning your fish's home. Depending on what kind of home your fish have, click on one of the topics below for more details.
 
●  How to Clean Your Fish Bowl
●  How to Clean Your Cool Water Aquarium
●  How to Clean Your Warm Water Aquarium
●  How to Clean Your Pond

2. Change Some Water Every Day.
Change some water every day. We recommend that you change 20% of the water. Changing more than 20% of the water in one day is risky to your fish.

By changing some of the water, you'll remove some of the dissolved waste and begin to starve the bacteria. But don't get impatient and change too much water, because that can harm the fish. Click here for more details about changing water.

You can put the water from your aquarium on the plants in your yard, so you won't be wasting water. Once the water clears, you can go back to changing water twice a week instead of every day.

3. Reduce the Amount of Food.
Too much food often causes Cloudy Water, so reduce the amount of food and be sure your fish eat all the food that you feed them. Remove uneaten food after 10 minutes. Click here for more information about feeding your fish.

4. Add these Chemicals to Your Water.
●  Aquarium Salt. The dose is on the box.
    Click here for information about Aquarium Salt.
●  Water Conditioner. The correct dose is on the bottle.
    Click here for information about Water Conditioner.
●  Quick Cure. Add a half-dose as a preventative.
    Click here for information about Quick Cure.
 
Do not add any other chemicals or medications to the water.
 
Add the Aquarium Salt just once, but repeat the AquaSafe and Quick Cure every day until the water clears.  Be careful to use the correct doses of each chemical because more will not be better. All three of these items are available in most stores that sell pet fish.

Mixing Chemicals
Generally speaking it is not safe to mix chemicals. Some knowledgeable advanced aquarists may be skeptical about mixing AquaSafe and Quick Cure, but we have been assured that these two chemicals are compatible. Do not add other chemicals that may not be compatible.

Do not assume that other chemicals can be mixed unless you have checked with the manufactures of those chemicals. Mixing chemical can be unsafe. Click here for more advice about Safety.

The water in my small pond got cloudy, about a week after I started to feed the fish. My pond had about 1/4-inch of gravel. When I noticed the Cloudy Water, I added a handful of gravel from an established aquarium with healthy fish. My pond water cleared-up about 36 hours, after I added the handful of gravel. Click here to read more about my cloudy pond water.

Where can you get a handful of gravel from an established aquarium with healthy fish? Often you can just go to a local fish store and ask for a handful of gravel, and they will give it to you. You might offer to pay. Ask them to get the gravel from an aquarium that has been trouble free. For example, you certainly wouldn't want to get gravel from an aquarium that recently had a case of the disease called ich. Click here to read more about ich.

The fish store may also offer to sell you several different products that will solve your Cloudy Water problem. Just tell them that you'd like to try the handful of gravel first.