Cloudy water and sand substrate

[Kudzu]

Kept fish for years but this one has me stumped. 65 gallon with 10-15
additional gallons in a sump. Pump in the sump sends water through a
canister filter. Ammonia and Nitrites show 0 (new test kit too). Two large
Oranda's and two or three large java ferns in the tank. Bare bottom.

This tank was set up for a year with a sand bottom and two Oranda's. We
moved three months ago and I took the sand out of the tank but kept
everything else the same.Same water system too. Now I have milky white water
and have had since it started to cycle. I recently lost one of my Oranda's
and the water cleared up a good bit. We added a second one back in and now
the water is cloudier than ever. Before this we had some cloudiness but
never anything like now.

I suspect that we have a large amount of free floating bacteria. Maybe with
the sand bottom in it the bacteria had something to hold on too? I have a
new sand filter ordered to replace the canister. If that doesn't work I am
stumped. The tank is just ugly. All my others are crystal clear (no GF in
those)

Any ideas?

BTW we tried using Mardels Bright and Clear with no change. That seems to
indicate bacteria to me.
--
Kudzu <*\\><
The man that always tells the truth never has to remember what he said

[Geezer From The Freezer]

you say it goes coludy when you add a fish? Sounds like the tank may
not be cycled properly.

[Kudzu]

"Geezer From The Freezer" > wrote in message
...
>
> you say it goes coludy when you add a fish? Sounds like the tank may
> not be cycled properly.

No, that's not exactly what I said.. It cleared up SOME but no where near
clear when we lost one fish. When we added another one it went back to where
it was and then actually got worse.

Plus I show 0 ammonia and 0 Nitrites. It's been up and running for 3 months
so I have a hard time believing it's not cycled. Especially with all the
plants in there. (I have set up planted tanks and they never have a cycle
because the plants use the ammonia. I have even run a 55 gallon with no
filtration with no problems. Just lots of Gods filters, plants.)

It's so cloudy it is the point that I can't see the fish if I look from one
side and they are on the far side. Two fish in 75-80 gallons? That's a heck
of lot of bacteria if that what's floating in there if that's it. And that
seems to it but why so cloudy? It have never had one get like this!

[Geezer From The Freezer]

hmmm not sure then, have you tried some 30-60% water changes every other
day for a week or so to see if this removes the problem?

[[email protected]]

yeah, you dont have enough filter for the biobugs. they are thriving in the water
and as long as they are in the water you got 0 ammonia, nitrites. yes, the biobugs
do adhere to the sand, but you can get the water cleared by adding more media to your
filter, by bringing the heat up, by adding a bit of salt and are your minerals the
same? biobugs got optimal conditions for making nice colonies. aeration is very
important. clean filters are important dont want lots of organic stuff on the
colonies smothering them. high quality, high protein food and feed much less means
more nutrition in the fish, less pooped out and breaking down in the filter.
Ingrid

"Kudzu" > wrote:

>Kept fish for years but this one has me stumped. 65 gallon with 10-15
>additional gallons in a sump. Pump in the sump sends water through a
>canister filter. Ammonia and Nitrites show 0 (new test kit too). Two large
>Oranda's and two or three large java ferns in the tank. Bare bottom.
>
>This tank was set up for a year with a sand bottom and two Oranda's. We
>moved three months ago and I took the sand out of the tank but kept
>everything else the same.Same water system too. Now I have milky white water
>and have had since it started to cycle. I recently lost one of my Oranda's
>and the water cleared up a good bit. We added a second one back in and now
>the water is cloudier than ever. Before this we had some cloudiness but
>never anything like now.
>
>I suspect that we have a large amount of free floating bacteria. Maybe with
>the sand bottom in it the bacteria had something to hold on too? I have a
>new sand filter ordered to replace the canister. If that doesn't work I am
>stumped. The tank is just ugly. All my others are crystal clear (no GF in
>those)
>
>Any ideas?
>
>BTW we tried using Mardels Bright and Clear with no change. That seems to
>indicate bacteria to me.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.