I have had small particles drifting around in my tank, I have done two doses of "clear particulate" over the last 24hours, and it has not improved, if anything its gotten worse.

What should I try now?

My filter is like a sponge, then noddles, and my sponge is due for its fortnightly clean at the end of the week. Should I do a water change and filter clean now?

I do a 1/4 to 1/3 water change weekly.

a filter clean every two weeks.

the water is currently been treated with:

Clear Particulate.

had two double doses of flourish excel in the last 24hours (to get rid of black hairy stuff) along with recommended dose at water changes.

TLC and Aqua plus, with every water change

and seachem pH 7.0 Neutral regulator, which I 1st used last Sunday with water change.

had the tank 1 month, to the day.

Thanks in Advance

how long has tank been running .

how are you cleaning filter ?

i would stop all the chemicals for a while too imo :roll:

If your using Nuetral reg by Seachem you dont need to add any other conditoner

If its a white cloudyness then its a bacterial bloom most likely from a big clean to your filters

How do you clean the filters out?

I wouldnt get your water tested as well and if you dont have any ammonia or Nitrate then slow your water changes down as the bacterial bloom will clear itself

It just takes time

Brad

Tank is 60L and been going 1 month.

I clean the sponge in water from the tank, and i don't touch the noodles.

Did you mean, you would* get the water checked? I have had it checked, the last check was Thursday or Friday, I check it every time I get new fish.

And I didn't use Aqua plus when I used Nuetral reg, I did use TLC though.

So i should do less water changes?

I check it every time I get new fish.

how many fish do you have ?

Too many :oops:

um 18 I think, 11 are guppies

new tank syndrome ! it happens

has the tank been cycled ?

You mean like waiting a week between fish?

Got the 5 guppies the day after i set it up

then around about 2-3 fish every 5 days

Yup.. my advice would be to do nothing for a week or so.

I assume the fish are still happy and healthy, just leave the tank alone for 2 weeks or so and see what happens. No chemicals, no water changes and no new fish ( you probably have plenty). It should settle down and then you can get back to regular small water changes.

I've just finished cycling my 70l tank, and the water went though various shades of white / brown / green but it's settled down now. It has about 20 assorted guppys and 2 small plecos. The plecs are only temp, they will outgrow it soon and get moved to my yet to be purchased 'big' tank.

Trying to force the water conditions to stabilise quickly by pouring in different chemicals is probably not the best idea. The various treatments may have their place for certain situations / diseases and water problems. But time will help in most normal situations.

Cheers

Ian

make sure the tank isnt in direct sunlight, and dont forget to clean the inside of the glass

Cheers

at least I dont have to do anything.

And I don't think I'll be adding anymore fish, apart from a pair of blue rams.

All the fish appear happy.

I live in a small apartment...direct sunlight? whats that :lol:

Thanks for the help. Shall keep you updated on progress.

I've just gone through the same thing with 2 of the 3 new tanks I set up. Did nothing except one 25% water change after a week and the tanks have cleared up by themselves.

Are you using aquatic mix>?

If you are and have plecos, when i was getting some plants, i saw a plec burrowing into the root system of a plant, and making clouds

No idea what that is so I guess not.

But I did notice that something dug up a fertilizer ball. But i covered it back up straight away.

This is normally due to a new tank syndrome.

This is sometimes due to high nitrite levels.. use a test kit or take a sample to the shop and they'll test it for you.

Normally a water change is a good start but basically it means you got no bacteria on those noodle stuffs. So all the bad stuff is going back into the water. Check the filter is all good aswell and the stuff is put in the correct way.

Also avoid feeding the fish for a while... you need the bacteria to clean up all the bits in the water first. 1 week maximum depending on the type and variety of the fish.

A water ager might help but doesn't always. If the tank gets heaps of sunlight see if you can cut that down. If it's a hexagonal tank and no backing paper add some paper to it. (Sunlight rebounds off the walls of the tank and increases the amount of light in there. Putting some dark paper on the back absorbs this light).

The best thing for it is patience. It will come right once the bacteria get a hold in there. Do a water change quite often but not too much else you'll take out the good bacteria again.

Hope this helps you out.

hmm, you don't mean* stop feeding them for a week right?

Umm.. nope.. thats a bit extreme

But just feed them lightly, it will cut down on the bio-load going into the water and let things settle down.

Cheers

Ian

Tested water today, and everyting is "A" ok

OK well I pretty much ignore what everyone said, and did a water change (under guidance of my LFS), still only fed the fish a small amount once a day. and didn't add any chemicals other than aqua plus and TLC with the water change.

The water I took out or the stuff I sucked of the bottom smelt really bad, is that normal?

anyways the water isn't cloudy anymore, but it still has a lot of particles in the water, I think its algae as it stuck to the side of the tank after only a few hours.

from a distance it looks fine.

So what do I do?

Its a head turner, sorry forgot to rotate the image.

No your substrate should not smell bad when you siphon it. May indicate you have been over feeding and stuff is rotting which would explain the cloudy water too.

in that case should I do another water change and siphon more out?

If the substrate still smells bad, it would be a good idea to siphon again. Make sure you get under the driftwood and ornaments etc.

cheers thanks.

what is your feeding regime ? , what food are you using ,

and are you the only one feeding fish ?

another suggestion is you may have stocked tank to quickly ,

cut back on stock for a while until things come right .

hope it comes right for you

Man the water in the bucket was SO! black with stuff sucked off the bottom. , the tank got down to 1/3 full so I stopped, should i do the same again tomorrow?

feed them 2 Wardley Shrimp Pellets and JBL Novo Color flakes at about 6-50am, then between 4pm and 5pm, then at between 9pm and 10

blood worms once a week

JBL novo pleco chips, one in the morning, and one at night. Or two at night and none in the morning.

I think it may have Zucchini (sp*) I left in there 2 days :oops:, I know not to leave it in more than a few hours now.