i have a small cold water aquarium with pump and filter but it gets murky so quickly?

Question

is there anything i can do to keep it clean for longer. its cleaned out completely about once a fortnight and a tenth of the ware changed weekly. there are five small fish in there. please help cos it looks disgusting....thanx

Answer 1

It's possible the tank is over stocked and this could be the cause of the problem, but even if not I would suggest you change your maintainance routine. It's possible that the tank is getting cloudy because it's too clean. I know that may not make much sense, but it's true. You need a certain amount of bacteria to keep the water clear and cleaning completely removes this bacteria.

Never clean it completely. Change about 25% of the water once a week and clean the gravel as you do so. A gravel vacuum from the pet shop is the easiest way to do this. Clean the filter and put in new carbon each time you clean your tank.

Try this for a few weeks and see if it doesn't clear up and stay clear for you.

MM

Answer 2

you answered this in your question.....the word 'small'.
cold water fish are a lot messier then tropical.
you may need a larger filter, without knowing the make of the one you are using and the size of the tank it is hard to tell.
overfeeding is a common mistake that will cause cloudiness in the tank, when people tell you a pinch a day, they mean a PINCH.
i feed mine every other day.
lighting could add to your problem also, is it a tank or bowl?
it is surface area that determines amount of fish in a tank.
should never fully empty and clean a tank then fill it up and pop the fish back in.
your filter needs bacteria to grow in it to do its job.
rapid change of temperature can stress fish
sudden clean water will stress fish.
as a tank changes day by day fish,, in most cases will get used to a tank that is slightly 'dirty', but any sudden changes will stress them.
this could also add to your cloudy problem.....i bet you see a pattern forming here
change around 25% of the water, if your filter has only one sponge cut it in two and clean one the first week and the other the second week (cleaning means rinsing out in the tank water you are going to exchange, a 'good' clean will kill the bacteria)
stop feeding them for at least a couple of days, if the water clears considrably then a little food will do no harm, remember fish will eat as long as food is there, they always 'look' hungry.

Answer 3

Bet u have goldfish as they are messy little devils, u dont say what type of filter u have, The best filter unit I had was a sponge filter with submerged pump, it lasts ages. Have u lost any fish at all? how much gravel have u in ur tank? enough to make filter work properly? sorry thats all I can help u with, good luck.

Rob n Liz has a point that I 4got to tell u, ru overfeeding them also ru using cheap fish food. Using a better quality food like flakes helps, also re the other guys that said about bacteria is balso true, thats why u dont clean out ur tank like u do every 2 weeks, I would clean tank again 100%, change food, and do exactly what other guysr saying re ur filters etc, i had charcole filters in mine but was told not to clean it too often, infact i think it was 6 nmonthly or more. not 100% sure.

Answer 4

I will assume your tank is not over stocked

When you say you clean out your tank completely once a fortnight do you mean empty the water out and start again.
Because if you do you are making a mistake.

Fish tanks need bacteria in them to work correctly

Having set up a new tank and cleaning the filter each week The water will become cloudy twice as a rule over the first two weeks.

This is due the bacteria breeding in your tank.
(these bacteria are the GOOD GUY's So don't kill them)
They feed on Nitrites (Which are poisonous) in your tank water deposited there by your fish. And convert them to Nitrates. (these are not poisonous)

The best thing to do is to change half the water in the tank once a fortnight and wash the filter sponge in the old discarded water. (so you don't kill the bacteria) then pit it back in the filter.

Remember tap water has Chlorine in it (Kills bacteria) so put the recommended dose of a water treatment (available from your pet shop) TAPSAFE or a similar product.
This eliminates Chlorine and heavy metals (zinc copper lead etc,) from the tap water.

After two weeks your tank should have set itself up nicely and be ticking like a new clock.

Then continue with. you Half Changes every other week

Answer 5

What kind of filter are you running in the tank? You say it's a small tank with 5 fish in it and I would be hard pressed to ever put 5 fish in a 10gal tank for reasons of overcrowding.

Small ecosystems are generally much harder to keep operating properly. The reason for this is that they have very limited space to perform the proper functions in the nitrogen cycle and keep the water healthy.

You can see if you are overfeeding them or if they are making a mess through natural process by removing all gravel from the tank. If you see any food left on the bottom of the tank for more than 10 minutes, then you are overfeeding them. If they are generating all of the waste then the only course you have is to get a larger tank to house them in.

You could purchase a stronger filter, but you run the risk of harming the fish by getting caught in it or stressing them due to turbulent water if they are a calm water species. This would be a last resort option and providing them with a larger environment would be the best choice.

Answer 6

Yeah the size of the tank or
the filter not working properly or wrong size for tank
too much in sunlight causing algae
if stones are new have they been rinsed well

Answer 7

so a great way as filters are worried there are actually not any regulations in user-friendly terms evaluations - For me, i might additionally evaluate that many fish varieties do or do unlike shifting speedy water or want diverse components of what each and each of diverse filters can grant.

Answer 8

When i had that problem with mine.....It was due to the wrong type of light bulb in the hood.....Flourescent......and leaving it on too long....since i changed the bulb...incandescent.... and only turn the light on a couple of hours a day .....THE Problem is gone just normal maintence now

Answer 9

maybe you are over feeding them maybe try using nutrafinn max fish food it has been designed to produce less fish waste or try Nutrafin clear particular it removes cloudiness

Answer 10

It is possible your tank is overstocked. It will help to know what size your tank is, what fish you have and how many of each, and what kind of filter you use.