i have a 75 gallon aquarium that just wont clear up no matter what i do. i have tried keeping it extra clean, changing filters often, and all those "clarifying" products. someone i know suggested that the sand i use is clouding it up. but he has the same sand and his tank is crystal clear. so i have to discount his opinion. i have about 25 small fish(guppies, neon tetras, jumbo tetras), two cory catfish, three black tipped sharks, two chinese algae eaters, three miniature frogs, and 6 ghost shrimp. i use a marineland 350 with 2 biowheels for filtration, and have two large air pumps pumping plenty of air in. can anyone help?
2007-01-15 07:23:35 · 9 answers · asked by snewendyke 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
Cloudy water is one of two things.
If the water is green then it is an algae bloom. Algae blooms are caused by too much light and too many nutrients in the water. They are relatively easily cleared up by reducing the lighting, especially direct sunlight, and by lower the nutrients in the water. Reducing the lighting is easy. Simply shut off the light on the tank and only run it for 8-10 hours a day. You should also ensure that your tank isn't getting any direct sunlight as this will cause you algae problems, either as a green bloom or simply algae on the tank and ornaments. You lower the nutrients by doing more frequent and larger water changes and by feeding less. Fish should be fed only what they can eat entirely in 5-10 seconds. Any uneaten food should be netted out of the tank to prevent it from breaking down.
If the water is white then it is a bacterial bloom. These are caused exclusively by too many nutrients in the tank. To clear the water you will need to increase the frequency and size of your water changes, and decrease the feeding. Fish should be fed only what they can eat entirely in 5-10 seconds. Any uneaten food should be netted out of the tank to prevent it from breaking down.
Neither cloudy water situation is particularly harmful to your fish but are a symptom of a greater underlying problem that must be resolved.
One way to clear the cloudy water immediately is through the use of a micron or diatom filter. This will pull out the particles that cause the cloudiness, but it WILL NOT resolve the problem that caused the particles to be there. This is a short term fix and needs to be used in conjuction with the above fixes.
2007-01-15 12:49:15 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
'clarifying' products may not work if the source continues to cause the clouding. Try a biological treatment instead, such as 'Cycle' which attacks waste products bacterially. Live plants will help a lot as well. Sounds like the tank is unable to handle waste plant and animal waste fast enough. Don't change the filter medium too often as it builds up colonies of good bacteria which attack waste...
2007-01-15 07:30:13 · answer #2 · answered by waynebudd 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think another brand of filtration is in order. The investment will be worth it. Another option is to obtain some sand from your friends tank to get the right bacterial combination to break down the organic material more efficiently. Good luck and let us know what happens.
2007-01-15 07:35:55 · answer #3 · answered by firestarter 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Does the dirty water have any color to it?
If it is white, it is a bacterial bloom caused when the tank is not cycled.
If it is green it is an algae bloom. Get rid of it by turning off the lights for a week or so, and don't feed the fish during this period.
Don't use those chemicals anymore, as you now know, they don't work.
2007-01-15 07:28:53 · answer #4 · answered by fish guy 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I've had the same problem and all I have done is just scrubbed the walls periodically. Every month or so i also take all the fish out and pour some bleach into the tank and let it circulate for a few hours to kill off any bacteria.
2007-01-15 07:30:06 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Oscars are messy besides and filters are always categorised for more suitable gallons than they could fairly cope with. i trust you're very underfiltered. you need to be turning over the water a minimum of 10X in accordance to hour (a minimum of one hundred and fifty gal/hour). you want to get a sparkling tank for those oscars ASAP. And convinced, underfiltration and far of waste will reason cloudy water. Your habitual could comprise replacing 25% of the water once per week for a healthful tank. To sparkling up cloudiness, replace that 15% on a daily basis or replace 50% a pair circumstances per week. replace nicely over the 25% per week that you need to be doing. playstation - how are you cleansing the filter out? you are able to rinse it in tank water, yet no longer in tap water. Destroying your good micro organism in any filter out media by using cleansing will in trouble-free words make issues worse.
2016-10-31 04:38:20 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is possible that the two air filters are putting a lot of tiny air bubbles in the water that it looks foggy. Take one or both of them out for awhile and see. I don't run air in my tanks at all. I have not had any probs. w/o it ever.
2007-01-23 05:04:51 · answer #7 · answered by major b 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Did you clean your gravel before you put it in your tank? I don't have that problem, but I cleaned off my gravel before putting it in there. I noticed when cleaning that there was a lot of dust, a LOT, that would have otherwise been periodically floating around in the water.
2007-01-15 08:54:37 · answer #8 · answered by Amanda 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
baking soda will help, takes out the acidity
2007-01-15 08:35:33 · answer #9 · answered by whateverbabe 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋