help with cloudy and dark colored water

"NetMax" wrote in message
...
"wicked1" wrote in message
...
I have a 150 gallon freshwater tank. I have 1 eheim 2028 canister
filter,1
eheim 2029 wet/dry filter,and 2 Penguin 400 filters. I have it heavily
stocked and the water readings are always excellent. No ammonia or
nitrites.
The water just gets dingy looking kind of a brown color and hazy.I
usually
do a 40 gallon every 2 weeks water change which makes it crystal clear.
Would carbon fix this problem? I really dont want to go the diatom
route as
that gets real expensive. Thanks for the help.

-Any driftwood or plants in the tank?
driftwood thats been there for over a year and it was bought and washed all
plastic plants

-What is your gravel vacuuming routine, and how bad is it when it's done?
I vacuum when I do water changes and the water that comes out is black

-Any area you cannot vacuum or are very deep?
No

-What are your NO3 levels and rate of accumulation? (measure your NO3 a
few times just before water changes).
Nitrates are in the middle of the chart before water changes.

- Specify 'heavily stocked' in terms of number, size and approximate
amount of food thrown in.
6 Oscars,2 Tinfoil Barbs,2 Hap rhodesi,5 Parrot fish,2 plecos,1 synodontis
decorus,5 4 line cats,1 ropefish,2 albino channel cats. They get fed between
1/4 and 1/2 cup of food a day. They are all large fish.

- pH readings before and after water change?
ph before 7 ph after 8

-Describe your filter state and service interval.
Filters are maintained very often

I added some algaefix and it made the water alot clearer. I am using 2WPG of
light.I ordered a 18W UV sterilizer too. This tank has been like this for
about a year just hadnt tried fixing it yet. My 4 other tanks (all large
cichlids) look crystal clear. I am beggining to think its algae blooms.I am
adding carbon today too.I have never used it except to clear out
medications.
Thanks for any help.

wicked1 wrote:

I added some algaefix and it made the water alot clearer.

Just a word of caution... I don't know if Algaefix was the culprit in
my situation or not, but I started using it on my betta tank and
shortly thereafter had some serious health issues in the tank. It may
well have just been coincindence, but I'd recommend being careful about
using Algaefix too often, until you've determined if it dangerous to
your fish.


--
www.ericschreiber.com

"wicked1" wrote...
"NetMax" wrote...
"wicked1" wrote...
I have a 150 gallon freshwater tank. I have 1 eheim 2028 canister
filter,1
eheim 2029 wet/dry filter,and 2 Penguin 400 filters. I have it
heavily
stocked and the water readings are always excellent. No ammonia or
nitrites.
The water just gets dingy looking kind of a brown color and hazy.I
usually
do a 40 gallon every 2 weeks water change which makes it crystal
clear.
snip
6 Oscars,2 Tinfoil Barbs,2 Hap rhodesi,5 Parrot fish,2 plecos,1
synodontis
decorus,5 4 line cats,1 ropefish,2 albino channel cats. They get fed
between
1/4 and 1/2 cup of food a day. They are all large fish.
snip

My opinion; you've exceeded the processing capability of your filters.
With experienced hobbyists who follow a consistent pattern of
maintenance, the difference between one setup working well and another
going to sh*t is sometimes just a couple more fish (the straw to break
the camel's back). Your 4 basic options are to reduce your fish-load
(and feed less), add more filtration, just feed less (maybe let the
temperature drop a couple of degrees), and do bigger water changes more
often. Depending on the size of your fish, you are or will be
overstocked, but the more obvious indicator which is overwhelming your
filters and water quality, is the amount of food being dropped in.
--
www.NetMax.tk

"wicked1" wrote in message ...

[snip]
6 Oscars,2 Tinfoil Barbs,2 Hap rhodesi,5 Parrot fish,2 plecos,1 synodontis
decorus,5 4 line cats,1 ropefish,2 albino channel cats. They get fed between
1/4 and 1/2 cup of food a day. They are all large fish.

[snip]

I added some algaefix and it made the water alot clearer. I am using 2WPG of
light.I ordered a 18W UV sterilizer too. This tank has been like this for
about a year just hadnt tried fixing it yet. My 4 other tanks (all large
cichlids) look crystal clear. I am beggining to think its algae blooms.I am
adding carbon today too.I have never used it except to clear out
medications.
Thanks for any help.

jeez, man -- that's a lot of fish for a 150. Could be that the brown
water is just an illusion -- the light is being blocked by all the
fish. Jeez! But like I said in the other thread you started about this
same thing over in alt.aquaria.oscars, I'm leaning towards algae
bloom. Too many life forms, dude -- First, transfer some of the fish
to new or other aquariums; then try Axelrod's algae solution, which is
simply to cover up the aquarium with a blanket for three or four days
without lights. Read about it at
http://www.geocities.com/cichlidiot_2000/algae.html -- And, BTW, when
you said "I'm beginning to think its algae blooms" you should have
said "Mark told me it might be an algae bloom over there in a.a.o."
Don't be a pretender and don't EVER overstock an aquarium that badly
again. --Mark