JK Posted March 7, 2004 Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 help! cant seem to get rid of it. Its a 2 foot tropical tank and have ahd it for 4-5 days now. Nitrate, amonia PH all seems fine. ive done 25% water changes for the past 3 days but cant seem to shake it. any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatBrat Posted March 7, 2004 Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 Do you have any real plantes in your tank? I had the same problem in one of my small breeder tanks just after I set it up. When I added some java moss the water cleared up in about a day. You should try some if you can get your hands on it. Cheers, CatBrat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted March 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 Do you have any real plantes in your tank? I had the same problem in one of my small breeder tanks just after I set it up. When I added some java moss the water cleared up in about a day. You should try some if you can get your hands on it. Cheers, CatBrat. oh yeah plenty of plants, no java moss tho, cud try it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted March 7, 2004 Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 white cloudy water can be a bacterial bloom. I get these when I do water changes in the summer months. They clear up over 3 or 4 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted March 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 ahh ok so maybe dont continue with my increased water changes ? Was going to do another 20% change tonight. it seemed even more cloudy this morning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted March 7, 2004 Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 If the tests are all fine I would stop the water changes for at least a week and see if it clears. I only get these blooms when the aquifer water table is low so I don't know what the connection is there. Other times of the year it's no problem but in drought season, I avoid water changes even more than usual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted March 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2004 Ok had an idea that it may be due to me putting the temp up abit. long story but the other day i noticed temp was 21 and heater light wasn't on. Checked and found it was unplugged :oops: so anyway turned it back on, temp back to 26 and i think since then is when the cloudy water has appeared. So i've drop it back down to 23-24 to see what happens if anyhting. but yeah its still very cloudy :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted March 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 Still no luck anyone got an ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 Give it another 2 or 3 days. If the plants can take it, turn the lights off and darken the tank as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted March 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 Give it another 2 or 3 days. If the plants can take it, turn the lights off and darken the tank as well. thanks i did that yesterday, lights off and got towels on the sides so bugger all light in there. also got air stones going pretty hard will keep ya posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 Now I don't want to stop the wheel turning, but depending on what is causing your cloudy water you could be adding to your probs. If the problem is algae, then this could start to die off in a darkened tank, and if it does, then you will have more probs. Also the fish need light for a certain time each day (even subdued light). They apparently derive a certain vitamin from the light.. "A" something or other... can't remember. If it is a bacteria prob, then you should find out the cause... dead fish somewhere.. rotting food... decaying plants.. overfeeding.. etc. If it is cloudy due to something in the tank, you should check.... the gravel and rocks for decomposition... (do the vinegar test and see if a bit of gravel or rock fizzles when placed in vinigar... if it does.. dump it).. or it could be an ornament, or piece of wood you have added.. but they all need checking. Normally a tank will be a bit cloudy for a day or so when first set up, but should clear quickly after that time. Try running a small box filter with some carbon in... this may help, or add some to your main filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted March 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 thanks bill, will try a small box filter with carbon tomorrow. Dont think its algae as well theres none of the glass and its cloudy like milk in my tank. Have checked the tank pretty hard, no dead fish, plants seem fine. I checked the rocks with vinegar a lil while back. Could they have decomposed? dont think theres been over feeding but possible. Also checked Ph b4 and its looks to have dropped closer to 6 :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 If the rocks or gravel don't fizzle, then they should be pretty safe. At less than a week old your tank will take a while to settle down and could be months before it gets that 'established' look. The quick answer to your prob is to scrounge a grubby old dirty filter from a mate plus a few handsful of gravel and a bit of old tank water. This will have enough benificial bacteria in it to get your tank running in the right direction. The above must be added quickly.. (1/2 an hour or so after getting) otherwise the bacteria will die off. Just out of interest... how many fish have you in the tank at the mo..? This might be worth a read http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?t=1817 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted March 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 At less than a week old your tank will take a while to settle down and could be months before it gets that 'established' look. The quick answer to your prob is to scrounge a grubby old dirty filter from a mate plus a few handsful of gravel and a bit of old tank water. This will have enough benificial bacteria in it to get your tank running in the right direction. The above must be added quickly.. (1/2 an hour or so after getting) otherwise the bacteria will die off. Just out of interest... how many fish have you in the tank at the mo..? This might be worth a read http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?t=1817 err thanks Bill but the tank not that new, has been setup and running fine since late last year. problem has just come up over the last week tho. Theres 12 small fish in there at the mo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Obviously a bit of confusion... Its a 2 foot tropical tank and have ahd it for 4-5 days nowSo here you are referring to the "cloudy water"... not the actual tank.. Definitely sounds like bacteria if this is the case. Ok... Give us the rundown on your filtration... What type.. what service you give it.. ie: medium change etc... Do you change all the medium, or what...? How do you clean the filter..? Is the filter running constantly..? How long has this particular filter been running..? What is different NOW... to last week... What have you done..? Have you added anything different... ornaments.. rocks... medication.. additives of any sort...? Are you ageing water by storing it... if so in what...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted March 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Obviously a bit of confusion... So here you are referring to the "cloudy water"... not the actual tank.. Definitely sounds like bacteria if this is the case. Ok... Give us the rundown on your filtration... What type.. what service you give it.. ie: medium change etc... Do you change all the medium, or what...? How do you clean the filter..? Is the filter running constantly..? How long has this particular filter been running..? What is different NOW... to last week... What have you done..? Have you added anything different... ornaments.. rocks... medication.. additives of any sort...? Are you ageing water by storing it... if so in what...? sorry, yes had been cloudy for 4-5 days Ok filteration - i have undergravel with 2 outlets plus an external fitler with an insert which has carbon and foam and is changed every month filters run 24/7 nothing has changed aprt from the increase in temp as i posted above. only additives added have been accu clear which did nothing to help i age water by boiling it and leaveing it overnight in a plastic container have checked for amonia, nitrates and nitrites tonight and nothing. ... water is still very cloudy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted March 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 hmmmm water still cloudy but marginally better running out of ideas here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted March 14, 2004 Report Share Posted March 14, 2004 Hi again, Been a week now, and if it is still cloudy then the only possibilities are... You have a decomposing fish somewhere.. under rocks.. gravel.. or stuck up the filter tube.. You have decomposing food in or under the gravel... perhaps you disturbed the gravel too much and it brought it to the surface. Your gravel, ornaments, or rocks are breaking down.. lime based rocks will do this. Other than that you have a bacteria explosion and your filters are not doing the job. Any diggers in the tank at all...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted March 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 Update - no the waters turning green rather than being cloudy. nitrate, nitrites, ph, amonia are all fine. no dead fish well none missing anyway argh what to do .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 Hmm I am at a loss here. I would not have thought the drop in temperature would have done a lot since it wasn't that big a drop but perhaps it was enough to upset the balance of the tank? How many fish have you got in there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted March 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 Hmm I am at a loss here. I would not have thought the drop in temperature would have done a lot since it wasn't that big a drop but perhaps it was enough to upset the balance of the tank? How many fish have you got in there? 12 fish in there. tempreture went up a bit rather than down. Thats when it all started. took out filtermedia last night to give it a rinse, pretty darn green Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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