I have a 55 gallon tank with 2 independent filters (no bottom filters though). In that tank I probably have 8 live plants, 2 red tail sharks, plecostamis (misspelling), 9 neons, Betta and 2-3 other fish. I have had the tank up and running with fish in it for about 2-3 months. However, during that time it always appears cloudy. Tested the water and it said that our nitrates / nitrite levels were off and that we should try adding algie. Added Biospira, it will fix the tank for about 3-4 days then BAM, back to cloudy.
I am hesitant to do a water change because the water is so bad where I live that I am scared it will mess up the tank even more.
Aside from Hiring someone to come in and get it good. Are there any ideas to get me back on track with the tank?
2006-08-02 15:02:43 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
Your aquarium is going through a natural cycle called a BLOOM. It is just your good bacteria establishing itself in the tank. The worse thing to do is to start adding anything to the water in order to clear it. You might have to do a partial water change of about 25% once a week to lower the nitrate level. I think that you might be over feeding the fish. The food breaks down, you are getting too much bacteria that is eating the leftover food.
Try this, feed them only what they will eat up in 2 minutes once a day. Add a couple of cory cats because they will eat leftover food on the bottom. Change 10 gallons or so of the water every week , if the nitrates get high. Use bottled water from the store for the water changes. Now for the hard part.... Turn off your light except for a couple of hours a day, so you won't have to look at your cloudy tank. It might take a couple of weeks, but your tank has to be established with the right balance of bacteria. It will be worth the wait, because now you will have a clear tank.
Maybe your friend has an aquarium that you can get a couple of gallons of aged water from. This will get your aquarium started faster.
2006-08-02 15:32:57 · answer #1 · answered by Amanda J 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Amanda J has some great suggestions! I must ask, what kind of filters do you have exactly? If you should put in an undergravel filter, for this size tank I would highly recommend you add powerheads (as opposed to running an airline). However live plants do not live well with undergravel filtration.
For larger tanks, I have always had excellent results using both an undergravel filter with Marineland Penguin powerheads, and a Marineland Penguin power filter with a biowheel. And to clean the tank a couple of times a year (not including partial water changes at least once a month), I use a Marineland Magnum canister filter with a gravel vaccume attachement. Once the gravel bed is clean, just let the canister run a few hours to overnight to further clean out the water. There are other companies that make similar filters, but I've always found Marineland products to be the most dependable!
For a quicker fix to cloudy water, the only chemical I've had good results with is Aquarium Pharmaceudicals Accu-clear. All this stuff really does is bind small particles together, forming larger particles that are more easily sucked up and retained by your filtration system.
Cheers
2006-08-02 23:45:55 · answer #2 · answered by gshprd918 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pretty much everything Amanda said is on the mark. Excellent response! I would only add:
Check your ammonia and nitrite levels to verify whether or not your tank is fully cycled (both readings should read zero). Nitrates should be present and under 40ppm.
If both ammonia and nitrite read zero then your tank is fully cycled (which is good), but producing excessive dissolved organic compounds (DOCs) (which is not so good). This is probably the case since you have indicated you hesitancy of performing water changes.
If your tank is cycled, the solution would be to perform frequent water changes (minimum 25% weekly based one your tank's live stock). Water changes will remove and dilute the DOCs and in turn promote water clarity. Copious amounts of carbon (or better yet, a product called Purigen) used in conjunction with water changes will greatly assist attaining water clarity.
Without regular (or better yet, frequent) water changes, DOCs and other waste products and by-products will continue to accumulate in your tank and ultimately result in losses of fish and deterioration of water quality.
2006-08-06 18:57:46 · answer #3 · answered by Kay B 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I use something called Nitromax. You can use something like this or other liquid bacteria with nitrosomes. It helps eliminate nitrates and ammonia in the water.
Live plants require CO2. A CO2 system can be really expensive, you can check Drs. Foster and Smith for other alternatives. I had the same problem when keeping live plants so I made a CO2 system with a juice bottle, tubing, yeast, sugar, and water. It cleared up all the problems I had. The new aquarium I chose to not have live plants and opted for silk ones, they look better and more real like than those plastic ones. They come in natural plant colors and actually look pretty natural. Here's a link to the of my new and smaller aquarium with silk plants....
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/fuzzybumblebee@sbcglobal.net/slideshow2?.dir=/489cscd&.beg=0&.src=ph
I hope the link works if not email you should be able to see it in my profile....I think...just click on my name and the link "contact bumblebee"
Hope that helps!!
2006-08-02 23:09:01 · answer #4 · answered by ´¯0())))»·.¸¸.·´´¯`··._.· 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I find that a bottom filter really help to clear the water. Even though the guy at the pet store said it was a waste, i tried it on my cloudy tank and within a week or so it was clear. Hope this helps.
2006-08-02 22:06:19 · answer #5 · answered by trafficer21 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had a similar problem with my fish tank. I took my live plants out and replaced them with artificial, then a few days later the nitrate and nitrite levels went normal
2006-08-02 22:08:56 · answer #6 · answered by i_am_me_606 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They sell drops that clear up cloudy water at the pet shop. Live plants in your tank is what is causing it.
2006-08-02 22:08:07 · answer #7 · answered by 2¢ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You know what? We have that same problem every once in awhile with our 55 gal. We don't try to correct it; it seems to correct itself. But then, we don't always check the water levels either. Do you have an aquarium specialty store in your area? We have a place here called Fish Haven, they have it all and know it all.
2006-08-02 22:28:35 · answer #8 · answered by Fawnice 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
get critters that are filter feeders, clams come to mind immediately.they worked wonders for my tank as far as cloudy was concerned.they feed continuously. filtering out anything that will make the water cloudy.
2006-08-03 01:19:58 · answer #9 · answered by retrac_enyaw03 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
buy distilled water from your grocery store.
2006-08-03 00:00:35 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋