Tropical Fish Forums

[djmoyle]

Hi, I already changed 50% of the water today and cleaned most of the food out and I am going to get some anti fog since the fog isnt going away but the fish are much healthier then yesterday I lost 4 fish yesterday 1 silver dollar and 3 small ones.
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Fish Man

[adamprice271]

OK guys, my tank has been cloudy for a few days. It got cloudy after I added a 4" common Pleco and 2 other fish each 1" in size. I took a water sample up to my LFS and he said everything was great and it should clear up itself. Well, it hasn't (that was 3-4 days ago) and some of my fish are sometimes sitting on the gravel, and swimming from the bottom really fast to the top. I did a 45% water change 2 days ago and it got better, but just got worse again. When looking into the tank it has a greenish tint to it and I can't get it better. Please help, this is really bothering me because my 10 gallon fry tank next to it have the same perameters and everything and is crystal clear. Thanks in advance to any and all help.

[darkzephyr]

Well, first of all IMO and IME plecos tend to get to big for a 10 gallon aquarium. Also I've had people say it takes up to 2 weeks for "bacteria blooms" to clear. If I were you I would just cut back on feeding and wait. As long as your fish don't seem stressed and aren't gasping at the top, things should be OK. Also if I were you I would buy yourself a test kit so you can conduct tests yourself and promptly "fix" any problems you might encounter. This IMO would be a give you a lot more time and your fish a lot better chances of survival is something does go amiss. (think of all the time you would need to spend running down to the Pet-store, waiting for them to test the water then running back and this is assuming the Pet store is open and someone is available help you right away)

[Taratron]

I also advocate buying your own test kit--I used to work for a lfs, and it's darn amazing how many people can't read how to administer the tests OR keep the lid on the bottle.

The managers even yelled at me once NOT to tell my fellow coworkers NOT to leave the cap off. They said a few seconds being exposed to air would not hurt the test strips we used.

Huh. So explain why their ammonia strips said I had 6ppm ammonia when my kit, which I bought recently, have used according to instructions, says 0ppm.

Just something to consider.
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But if you tame me, then we shall need each other....You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

[adamprice271]

Thanks for the replies. I will get my test kit very soon (probably Sunday) and I am sorry, my Pleco and the tank this is going on in is a 55 gallon. I am housing the Pleco in there until my 135 finishes cycling (tommorow). My 10 gallon is my fry tank with baby fancy guppies and such. Thanks again, I will have my new kit very shortly.

[BreezyInWhiteOak]

I have been reading trying to find some help for my 150 gallon tank. Everything is as follows...

150 gallon... 6 ft. long/30" tall
pea gravel and playsand substrate
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
pH 6.8
pH out of tap 6... Have 4 large seashells in it to raise pH
1 18" bubble wand
1 Emperor 400 filter with standard cartridges in two slots(changed last week) and extra blue filter media in extra media cartrdges
1 Aquaclear 500 with Aquaclear sponge and bag full of carbon (few weeks old)
3 small amazon swords, 1 java fern, 2 grass type plants
Only 60 watts of light... I know I need more but cannot affor at the moment
Tank has been up and running since end of february
Fish... 1 large angel, 5 quarter sized angels, 1 6 " bala shark, 1 4"rainbow shark, 1 4"pictus catfish, 1 rubberlip pleco, 1 clown pleco, 1 3" common pleco, 2 otos, 2 long-finned rosy barbs, 4 serpae tetras, 3 lemon tetras, 3 Pearl Gouramis,

I believe I am having an algae bloom... will not clear. Changing 20% water seems to make worse after a few hours. I have no way to check phosphates but might be high from tap. I am on a well and in the past 6 weeks we have had rain 6 out of seven days. Everything outside has that musty mildewy smell about it and my local fish guy says that a lot leeches into the wells with so much rain. I have a 20 gallon and a 2 1/2 gallon and although they are being changed as well... they are very clear.

I was wondering if the plants that I have might be causing the problem. They are not dying in such low light... but are also definitely not growing much.They have been in the tank since February... many others were in there as well and died so were removed. The water has a definite green tint to it when you look at it from the side. I have tried Algae fix... can't really say it is helping. Added 50 micron filter material to Emperor cartridges... replace almost daily caused they get so blocked up. Any suggestions??? Should I remove the plants until I can afford more Lighting? My other tanks have plastic plants... and seashells as well to raise pH... but clear as anything. I do remember having cloudy problem with my son's first tank last year... but that was more bacterial because I cleaned and gravel vac'd to much. Please help... It is so hard to continue looking at a 6 ft. cloud in my living room.

[Mickey1209]

just a suggestion...do any of your other tanks have bubles?...mine wouldn't clear and I took my bubbles out and it helped...make sure that your filter media is clean...aqua clear sponge can be rinsed in used tank water after you siphon into a bucket....what happend in my tank is the bubbles kicked up the dirt from the substrate ....could be your problem as well...try turning the bubbles off...but if you don't have the attatchment on your airline hose(s) then you have to remove them....the attatch,ent will prevent water from going through them like a siphon.....

[Steve Hampton]

Welcome to The Age of Aquariums Breezy!

I believe your diagnoses is right on the money. Green water rarely goes away with water changes, I explain why in a post I'll reference shortly. In that post I also describe to ways to eliminate green water.

Eliminating Green Water


Cheers,
Steve
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[Happyface]

Oddly, I was adding first phosphates and second sulphuric or HC acid based chemicals to lower my pH (My tap pH is 8 ), and having terrible algae and cloudy water problems. As soon as I gave up on tweaking pH, the water in all 3 tanks became crystal clear and the algae problems eased up a bit. Maybe increasing your pH a bit would help. I don't understand the meachanism exactly, but I believe that the bacteria that most often cloud aquarium water cannot survive in high-hardeness water. And all my fish (bala, discus, guppies, SAE's, tetras etc.) don't seem to mind the hardness.

[adamprice271]

I had this same problem in my 55 gallon. Leave your lights off for a few days letting it get little to no light for at least 2-4 days. Then all should be fine. That is all I had to do.

As for a cheap lighting solution. I went to my Local Wal Mart and bought a 48" Shop Light and 2 aquarium/Plant life bulbs for it. The strip was a dual light holder so I have 80 watts just from the one shop light I bought and for the fixture and 2 bulbs it cost me 22 dollars. 9 for the fixture and 5 for each bulb. Real good/easy/cheap lighting solution.