How do I get my 55 gallon freshwater tank to maintain clear water?

Question

I have a 55 gallon tank(the long one) a whisper 60 gallon filter,60 gallon air pump by aqua tech,a heater, the tank is filled with plastic plants and two caves with one amazon sword that is doing rather well. the ph is 7.0 nitrates,nitrites, and amonia is low or none i have one 5 inch gold fish and one 2 along with 6 danios's about 2 inches to 3 inches each the water is kept to 74-75 i have tried crystal clear from walmart with no help, there is always a whitish coloration to the water... i am unsure how to clear this up any help would be apriciated

Answer 1

A whitish or milky colored haze is not an aglae bloom but instead is a bacterial bloom. Sounds bad, but it's not. It can happen to any tank, but is more common in fairly new tanks, tanks in which the filter was recently replaced or tanks in which medication was recently used. It will eventually clear over time without any speciel effort on your part. I would suggest you change 25% of the water about once a week and clean the gravel well with a gravel siphon as you remove the old water. Given a week or two it will clear. Continue this ckleaning routine as long as you have the tank an it will mean healthier fish and far less change of a return on that bacterial bloom.

MM

Answer 2

Do not mix gold fish and danios (or other tropicals).

White Cloudy Water:

White cloudiness is usually the result of a bacteria bloom. Keep a careful check on ammonia levels, if the bacteria is a result on bacteria die off, you may experience increased ammonia levels and your tank maybe recycling. Bacteria also consume oxygen, so just as with an algae bloom, you want to increase circulation while treating the tank.
Causes:
Medical treatment of your aquarium that has destroyed the bacteria colonies. (Not all medicines will destroy the bacteria but some will).
As in algae, high nutrient levels can also trigger a bacteria bloom (In this case, they are feeding on the excess nutrients)
Sometimes the cleaning of all filters at once, or the changing of the gravel can trigger a bacteria bloom, due to the removal of bacterial colonies that had settled on the filter media or substrate.
Solutions
As with algae, you need to control the nutrient level of the tank. Once you control this, the bacteria bloom will usually go away on it's own.
If your tank is recycling and filled with expensive fish, you may want to consider the use of zeolites to absorb the ammonia while your tank finishes the cycle. This will extend the time that the tank needs to complete the cycle though.

Answer 3

If you just put your tank up it may just be new tank syndrome, so give the filter some time to run like a week . If not do a 25% or 50% water change if you will and feed them less like 2 times a day a snail will help too he will eat the stinky and left over food at the bottom of your tank .
Danios can clean a tank to when it comes to food but not the stinky !
Hope I could be of some help.

Answer 4

goldfish should be the only fish in there because there very durity fish clean the water about 1 time a week and remember mabey you have to many fish there in your tank also try feeding them less if you keep them togearther feedthem every other day or so and no you dont need to waste your money on a other filter just make sure your pads are new and changed 3-4 weeks i feed my goldfish sinking pellets that helps keep your tank clean too so change water once a week feed less every other day stay on top of your filters and get them sinking pellets they work great i have a 60 galloon goldfish tank too with 7 fish its a pain dont add anythingto your water except sress coat when you do the water changes other stuff or too much of the other stuff can be toxic to yourfish and make the water duirty too

Answer 5

Its because of the gold fish. They produce so much waste its not even funny. First of all you will need another filter a filter for a 60 gallon is not adequate. you will need something big like a canister filter for at least a 75- 100 gallon. go on ebay look at Fluval, Eheim, Cascade and Rena Canister filters. Dont necesaraly go for the cheapest filter look to spend around 100 bucks. but it will keep your tank cleaner. and run your other filter at the same time for a 1 2 punch. one rule of thumb for filters is if you have a 10gallon tank get a filter for a 20 or 30 gallon tank. this applies to all filters. hope this helps

Answer 6

Like others have said. Test your water everyday. Your tank is cycling so you should see high ammonia, high nitrites and then nitrates. Ammonia and Nitrites are more toxic than nitrates and anything above 1ppm is toxic. However during the cycle you will see this. Don't add the ammonia clear. Additives like that are usually for established tanks. You could try getting a bottle of bacteria from somewhere like Petsmart. This will put more beneficial bacteria into your tank and will help speed up the cycle. Once you aquarium is cycled and established for a few months, if you get high ammonia readings you could add the ammonia clear, do a water change, or add more bacteria then.

Answer 7

Does your filter have Activated Carbon in it? I had a freshwater tank and changed the Activated carbon in it about once a month and it kept the water clear and fresh. It also absorbs odors in the water.

Answer 8

is your tank in a window where there is a lot of sunlight?? the sun will make the water change color. what we had to do was put paper on some of the sides of the fishtank. hope this helps.

Answer 9

is your tank in a window where there is a lot of sunlight?? the sun will make the water change color. what we had to do was put paper on some of the sides of the fishtank. hope this helps.

Answer 10

you may have an algae bloom, ask at the fish store. also snails do a great job. are you changing the filter or cleaning it at least once a week. It may also be minerals in your water