Extremely Cloudy Water

[nuchumYussel]

Hi, as the subject says, I have extremely cloudy water. The tank is
fully cycled 20g and is a year old. I know this cloudiness is a
bacterial bloom, the water is not green, so an algae bloom is out. The
inhabitants of the tank are:

*All Fish Are Fully Grown*
4 Black widdow Tetra
6 Zebra Danios
1 Snakesking Gourami (6 inches)
2 Serpae Tetra

Water Chemistry
*All measurments are in ppm.*
Nitrite = 0
Ammonia = o
Ph = 6.8

I had a 6 inch Pleco, but I removed him in hopes of that would clear
up the water. But removing the pleco was to no avail. I have tried
everything! Crystal Clear drops, did nothing. Adding extra carbon to
filter, did nothing. more water changes, did nothing. ( I do a 25%
water change every other week.) Cutting back on feeding, did nothing.
Minimizing the time the lights are on, did nothing. Adding AlgaeFix
drops (I thought it might be a freakish algae bloom.), did nothing. I
have no clue what to do. Is it possible the filter is inadequate? It
is a Liberty Eheim. Any suggestions would help.

Many Thanks...
Evan Davis

[miufg]

Nuchum Yussel,

This is usually caused by a bacterial bloom (usually in newly started
tanks). You need to get a bacteria cycle growing in your filter.

It seems like while you have sufficient mechanical filtration, you are
lacking in biological filtration.

Take out the carbon and stuff the filter with lots of cotton. Replace when
medium is clogged with shmootz.

Yechi Hamelech

"nuchumYussel" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi, as the subject says, I have extremely cloudy water. The tank is
> fully cycled 20g and is a year old. I know this cloudiness is a
> bacterial bloom, the water is not green, so an algae bloom is out. The
> inhabitants of the tank are:
>
> *All Fish Are Fully Grown*
> 4 Black widdow Tetra
> 6 Zebra Danios
> 1 Snakesking Gourami (6 inches)
> 2 Serpae Tetra
>
> Water Chemistry
> *All measurments are in ppm.*
> Nitrite = 0
> Ammonia = o
> Ph = 6.8
>
> I had a 6 inch Pleco, but I removed him in hopes of that would clear
> up the water. But removing the pleco was to no avail. I have tried
> everything! Crystal Clear drops, did nothing. Adding extra carbon to
> filter, did nothing. more water changes, did nothing. ( I do a 25%
> water change every other week.) Cutting back on feeding, did nothing.
> Minimizing the time the lights are on, did nothing. Adding AlgaeFix
> drops (I thought it might be a freakish algae bloom.), did nothing. I
> have no clue what to do. Is it possible the filter is inadequate? It
> is a Liberty Eheim. Any suggestions would help.
>
> Many Thanks...
> Evan Davis

[nuchumYussel]

"miufg" > wrote in message >...
> Nuchum Yussel,
>
> This is usually caused by a bacterial bloom (usually in newly started
> tanks). You need to get a bacteria cycle growing in your filter.
>
> It seems like while you have sufficient mechanical filtration, you are
> lacking in biological filtration.
>
> Take out the carbon and stuff the filter with lots of cotton. Replace when
> medium is clogged with shmootz.
>
> Yechi Hamelech
>

If I had insufficient bacteria in the filter, wouldn't the ammonia and
nitrite be unstable and high? The ammonia and Nitrite are both and 0
and staying at 0.

Evan Davis

[Justin Boucher]

Bacterial blooms that result in cloudy water may not necessarily be the same
bacteria that contributes to the nitrogen cycle. Therefore, it is very
possible to have ideal ammonia, NO2 and NO3 readings and have cloudy water.

Typically, overfeeding and lack of water circulation are the main culprits.
You had mentioned and covered your overfeeding option so it would leave me
to consider the rate of water circulation. I'm not familiar with the flow
rate of the Liberty Eheim filter however I have a combined flow rate of
nearly 200 gph in my 20gal. I set up a power head with a submerged spraybar
just to increase water circulation. This plus the canister filter flow
makes nearly 200 gph of circulation. Now of course some fish preferable to
slower water may not like the increased current, but he additional flow rate
has really done wonders in keeping the water clear. The use of the spraybar
also helps distribute the flow more evenly throughout the tank.

Justin


"nuchumYussel" > wrote in message
om...
> "miufg" > wrote in message
>...
> > Nuchum Yussel,
> >
> > This is usually caused by a bacterial bloom (usually in newly started
> > tanks). You need to get a bacteria cycle growing in your filter.
> >
> > It seems like while you have sufficient mechanical filtration, you are
> > lacking in biological filtration.
> >
> > Take out the carbon and stuff the filter with lots of cotton. Replace
when
> > medium is clogged with shmootz.
> >
> > Yechi Hamelech
> >
>
> If I had insufficient bacteria in the filter, wouldn't the ammonia and
> nitrite be unstable and high? The ammonia and Nitrite are both and 0
> and staying at 0.
>
> Evan Davis

[Racf]

"nuchumYussel" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi, as the subject says, I have extremely cloudy water. The tank is
> fully cycled 20g and is a year old. I know this cloudiness is a
> bacterial bloom, the water is not green, so an algae bloom is out. The
> inhabitants of the tank are:
>
> *All Fish Are Fully Grown*
> 4 Black widdow Tetra
> 6 Zebra Danios
> 1 Snakesking Gourami (6 inches)
> 2 Serpae Tetra
>
> Water Chemistry
> *All measurments are in ppm.*
> Nitrite = 0
> Ammonia = o
> Ph = 6.8
>
> I had a 6 inch Pleco, but I removed him in hopes of that would clear
> up the water. But removing the pleco was to no avail. I have tried
> everything! Crystal Clear drops, did nothing. Adding extra carbon to
> filter, did nothing. more water changes, did nothing. ( I do a 25%
> water change every other week.) Cutting back on feeding, did nothing.
> Minimizing the time the lights are on, did nothing. Adding AlgaeFix
> drops (I thought it might be a freakish algae bloom.), did nothing. I
> have no clue what to do. Is it possible the filter is inadequate? It
> is a Liberty Eheim. Any suggestions would help.
>
> Many Thanks...
> Evan Davis

Some types/brands of food foul the water. I bought some algae wafers
one time that really clouded up the tank.

Regardless of the source, change your water, again. Like 25% 4 days in
a row. And change/clean up your filter. Activated carbon works
wonderfully for cleaning water. After you clean up your gravel and
change your water over 4 days....do it again. 25% - 50% a week is a
good routine.

[RedForeman ©®]

|| Hi, as the subject says, I have extremely cloudy water. The tank is
|| fully cycled 20g and is a year old. I know this cloudiness is a
|| bacterial bloom, the water is not green, so an algae bloom is out.
|| The inhabitants of the tank are:
||
|| *All Fish Are Fully Grown*
|| 4 Black widdow Tetra
|| 6 Zebra Danios
|| 1 Snakesking Gourami (6 inches)
|| 2 Serpae Tetra
|| I had a 6 inch Pleco, but I removed him in hopes of that would clear
|| up the water. But removing the pleco was to no avail. I have tried
|| everything! Crystal Clear drops, did nothing. Adding extra carbon to
|| filter, did nothing. more water changes, did nothing. ( I do a 25%
|| water change every other week.) Cutting back on feeding, did nothing.
|| Minimizing the time the lights are on, did nothing. Adding AlgaeFix
|| drops (I thought it might be a freakish algae bloom.), did nothing. I
|| have no clue what to do. Is it possible the filter is inadequate? It
|| is a Liberty Eheim. Any suggestions would help.

Bear with me....
4 Black widdow Tetra -6
6 Zebra Danios -6
1 Snakesking Gourami - 6
2 Serpae Tetra -4
6 inch Pleco - 6

Gives you 28" of fish, given this, Tetras and gouramis aren't hard on the
filter... but a 6" pleco is....

Sounds like your filter has crashed, meaning you've got more pollution than
your filter can handle... or your filter is clogged, lost it's ability to
run to peak performance, and then again, could be a combination of things...

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[nuchumYussel]

The Pleco was taken out a week ago. I'm doing a water change this
weekend, and I'm hoping that will help.

Evan Davis

[RedForeman ©®]

|| The Pleco was taken out a week ago. I'm doing a water change this
|| weekend, and I'm hoping that will help.
||
|| Evan Davis

I'd probably do a small water change, then a week later, change the
cartridge... the cartridge itself has the most bacteria on it, but possibly
has lost most or some of it's colony.... New cartridge, new colony.... Could
possibly seed it from another tank....

--
| RedForeman ©® fabricator and creator of the ratbike streetfighter!!!
| ==========================
| 2003 TRX450ES
| 1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale)
| '98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted....
| ==========================
| ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤° `°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø
| ><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸. ><((((º> ·´¯`·. , .·´¯`·.. ><((((º>
| for any questions you may have....
| www.gmail.com