I set up my new 300l tank this week, (a Juwel Rio 300). It has an internal canister bio filter. I've also added a Tetratec Ex700 external filter which filters 250 litres. I have black sand which i carefully prewashed seveal times.

I added half the water from my existing tankand also added Tap Safe to remove any chlorine from the tap water I used to top up the tank.

I've put no fish into the tank atm and the test results show ammonia 0, nitrate 0 and ph 8.2.

After 2 days of runing the filters the water is still cloudy, should I just leave the filters cycling to clear the water or do a water change?

Until you add your fish which will produce ammonia, the tank cycle will not start. In the infancy of a new tank , cloudy water is normal, it may last for a few days but it will soon disappear once the bacteria starts building up in your filtration system.

Excellent news thanks. I'll add a couple of fish and check the water quality daily.

freespirit0106 wrote:
unless you use some of the media in the existing filter, it will take sometime before good bacteria colonized your system. a feeder fish is needed to produce ammonia

because there is no waste to process yet.

that is normal until you have developed good bacteria colony in the system

i concur with paul and the boss ....

have brought some guppies to start the bacteria colony.....just dont look the same as O's lol.....thanks guys for your advice, you must get fed up telling us newbies the same old stuff time and time again, but you support and steer is very much appreciated. Pete

we never get fed up .......its members like you guys that make this site worthwhile for us guys....... check out the post "nitrogen cycle" in the water chemistry section ....its pinned to the top there ....theres graphs to help members fully understand the complex process of cycling a tank ....and the process takes 40 days to complete ......dont give up my friend !!!!!!! it will be worth it !!!!!!!!

freespirit0106 wrote:

we never got fed up Pete.... that is why this is a happy
fish keeping community. having guppies for the mean time
will work. once the water reach the peak point, you can
release the oscar and feast on your guppies until consumed
(we usually discourage feeders for oscar).