I have 2 oscars & 1 "sucker", my water keeps getting cloudy even after I clean it. What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

It depends on what color the cloudiness is, if it's green you have an algae problem, if it's milky you have a bacteria bloom.

For a green water problem you need to be extra careful to clean the gravel during your weekly water changes and possibly increase the size of the changes to 35-45% instead of the usual 25%. You should also limit the amount of light the tank gets. Only keep the light on when you are home to enjoy the tank and even then only 8-10 hours at most.

For a milky colored water or bacterial bloom the best course is to be sure your filter is working well and is large enough for the tank. Be sure you never completely take the tank down and clean it out, just continue with regular water changes and gravel cleaning until your filter catches back up with the ammonia load in the tank. Over feeding can also contribute significantly to the problem.

Hope that helps

MM

Answer 2

If your aquarium is white cloudy there are a few reasons it might be. Since absolutely no details have been provided it's impossible to pinpoint. How big are the fish? The tank? How long has it been set up? What kind of filtration? When was the last time you cleaned the filter and tank? How often do you maintain the tank... anything helps.

If the tank is new, the bacterial bloom is normal and your best bet is to just maintain the tank normally (with fish like this this means lots of regular water changes)

Overfeeding is a typical cause of cloudiness. Make sure all the food is being eaten by the fish and not rotting in the tank. Take care in feeding, do frequent small water changes to help clear it up.

Make sure you don't fully clean out your filter or you can cause a deficiency of bacteria in the tank which can lead to toxins in the water and bacterial bloom.

Oscars are very messy fish and so are pleco's. These guys need excellent filtration and big tanks. It's impossible to keep the tank clean if it's a small tank. Right now they might still be small but those 3 fish will need a 75 gallon tank or larger, and this is assuming the Oscars are a pair and can share the tank.

Tank clarifiying chemicals can sometimes work, but this lazy mans method only masks a further underlying problem and fixes nothing.

Answer 3

If you tear it down you'll lose all the beneficial bacterial colonies that eliminate the wastes produced in the aquarium. For that reason I wouldn't start over, unless your tank is in extremely bad condition. With a little elbow grease and a few simple cleaning supplies your aquarium can be ship shape again. Here's what you'll need:

Algae scraper/pads

Razor blade (plastic blade for acrylic tanks)

Bleach

Water siphon

Bucket

Lime remover (made for aquariums)

Glass cleaner (made for aquariums)

Filter media

Filter brush

Old bath towels

Paper towels

I suggest cleaning your aquarium in the following order:

Inside glass

Decorations (rocks, plants, etc)

Gravel

Outside glass and fixtures

Filter

Algae Pads/Scrapers
Start by giving the glass a good cleaning on the inside with an algae scraper or pad. There are a wide variety of algae scrapers on the market, from long handled scrubbers to magnetic scrubbers. I personally like small magnetic scrubbers, but virtually any algae pad will do. Is it necessary to purchase algae pads at a pet shop instead of the the housewares department of a regular store? Although they may look the same, the housewares pads can have soap or chemical residue. That reside doesn't matter if you are cleaning your kitchen sink, but it can be lethal to your fish.

For stubborn residue on the glass, use a razor blade to scrape it off. Take care not to cut yourself. If your aquarium is acrylic, use a plastic razor blade, as standard razors will scratch acrylic.

Bleach
Once the inside glass is clean, remove rocks, artificial plants, or decorations that have significant algae growth, or are noticeably dirty. Do not clean them with soap or detergents. It's very difficult to completely remove soap, and even a trace can be lethal to fish. Usually a good scrub with an algae scraper will remove the algae and dirt from rocks and plants. For particularly stubborn cleaning problems, prepare a 10% bleach solution and soak the items for 15 minutes. Scrub any remaining residue off, rinse well in running water, and let air dry to eliminate residual bleach.

Live plants can bleached, however stem plants are not tolerant of bleaching. To bleach live plants prepare a 5% bleach solution, soak the plants for two to three minutes, then rinse well. Leave the rocks, decorations and plants out of the tank while you vacuum the gravel. That way none of the debris stirred up from the gravel will settle on them.

Tip - be sure to get a new bucket and designate it for aquarium use only. If you use a bucket that has had soap or detergent in it, you could introduce lethal chemicals to your tank.

Siphon
Clean the gravel next, by using a water siphon to vacuum away the debris. There are several types of siphons available, all of which work essentially the same. My preference is the Python, because it draws dirty water directly into your sink, thus eliminating the need for buckets. Magnum makes an adapter for the Hot Pro unit that allows you to siphon water through the filter and return the water back to the tank. Although this removes larger debris, smaller particles will pass through the filter and are returned to the tank. Be sure to vacuum the entire surface of the gravel thoroughly so that all debris is removed.

Glass and Lime Cleaners
Once the inside of the aquarium is cleaned, clean the hood, light, tank top, and outside glass. Regular glass cleaners contain ammonia, which is toxic to fish. Standard lime cleaners are even more toxic. I strongly urge using cleaners designated as aquarium safe, and rinse rinse rinse!

Filter Cleaning
Once the outside is clean, the rocks, plants, and other decorations may be returned to the tank. Now wait a couple of weeks before cleaning the filter. Why wait? The major cleaning you just performed disturbed the beneficial bacterial colonies on the plants, rocks, and gravel. Fortunately many beneficial bacteria reside within the filter media, so you haven't completely upset the Eco-system. However if you changed the filter at the same time, you might trigger a dangerous ammonia spike because there aren't enough beneficial bacteria left to eliminate the toxins.

When you are ready to clean the filter, should you clean or simply replace the filter media entirely? Some experts caution that replacing the filter media removes too many of the beneficial bacteria, and triggers a new tank break-in cycle. Other experts argue that sufficient bacteria reside on the rocks,plants, and in the gravel to prevent the tank from cycling when the filter is replaced. I believe what you should do depends on the type of filter media you use.

If you have filter media containing carbon, ammonia absorbers, or ion-exchange resins, it should be replaced if it's more than three weeks old. After a couple of weeks the absorbing qualities of the media have been exhausted, and it no longer serves it's purpose. Media that acts as a mechanical filter instead of absorbing toxins (i.e.: ceramic rings, filter fiber, or sponges) should be gently rinsed to remove debris and returned to the filter instead of replaced. If care is taken to use water that is the same temperature as the aquarium water, and the media is quickly returned to the filter, the bacterial colonies growing on them will not be lost entirely.

Don't forget to clean the filter tubing and other parts of the filter assembly. A filter brush will help clear out the sludge that invariably builds up in all the small crevices.

Ongoing Maintenance
Once you've gotten your tank in shape, make sure you clean it on an ongoing basis so it never needs a major spring-cleaning again. Scrape the glass weekly, vacuum the gravel every time you perform a water change, and clean any rocks or plants as soon as you see debris or algae on them. Clean the filter monthly, either by replacing the media, or rinsing it. While you are at it, soak your fish nets in a disinfectant solution to keep them clean and soft. With regular care, your aquarium will look beautiful all the time.

Answer 4

I had fish umpteen years ago [50 or so] personally I would talk
with several aquarium store owners in person, not on the phone, and see what each one suggest. Bring a clean jar of water with you from the fish tank.
Texas

Answer 5

It sounds to me as in case you're over cleansing. via eliminating clear out media, airstones, and gravel, you're also destroying your biofilter> (solid micro organism colonies that destroy down the waste contained in the water) without this micro organism, waste will collect, making the water cloudy. to sparkling a tank suited, you in simple terms choose a water siphon and buckets for water. once each and every few days, stir the gravel with the siphon, and remove a minimum of 15% of the water. replace it with water that has been declorianted and set out for twenty-four hrs. For clear out matinance, once each and every 3-6 months (relying on the quantity of waste and length of clear out) remove the clear out media and gently rinse it in a bucket of tank water. replace the media and also you're finished! the in simple terms reason human beings say to change the media with new is because they have the favor to make funds off of you each and each month. the most is to guard the micro organism and do customary partial transformations. I really have sparkling sparkling water with this habitual and wholesome fish.

Answer 6

Is the water green? and Cloudy? If so you need to get a bottle of particulate, its a water clarifier. This helps with my tank!

Answer 7

#l, stop overfeeding and #2 stop cleaning the tank so often and if it is sitting where light hits the tank like from a window or such, block that light hitting it and you should be fine Your tank won't clear up if you keep emptying the entire tank and clean it too often

Answer 8

have you got a decent filter ,otherwise all what oscars eat will cloud your tank.a sucker as you put it isnt enough.ps try the plec instead of sucker.lol

Answer 9

make sure you have enough rocks in the bottom of the tank. that was our problem good luck

Answer 10

Huh?