I come home from work today and my 55 gallon community tank all of a sudden is cloudy....there are just a bunch of community fish in there and a few plants. Could it be the filter? should i rinse out everything in the filter. I dont know if ther reason could be because i put two plants in there that were from another one of my tanks that had brown algae in it. What could it be and what can i do to fix it?
2007-05-31 12:19:44 · 6 answers · asked by hoyitzalex 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
I assume it's a white or milky looking cloudiness. That would be a bacterial bloom and as bad as it may look nothing really to be concerned about directly. This occurs in response to either additional ammonia in the tank from some source or something that damaged the biofiltration. Look around the tank carefully to make sure no fish have died and do a water change while cleaning the gravel to be sure there is no extra waste material fueling the bloom. It will subside within a few days to a week without any other treatment.
I would STRONGLY caution against cleaning the filter or cleaning the tank other than the small water change mentioned above as additional cleaning will only remove more bacteria and worsen the bloom.
This really is one of those hands off is best things in a tank.
MM
2007-05-31 12:26:05 · answer #1 · answered by magicman116 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Do not change your water. Large water changes create an imbalance. If you have recently filled your tank with fresh water, or made large water changes---this is the cause. Do not change your water. It must age, and this will take a week or two. Otherwise it could be the plants---great spreaders of disease they are. I'd dump them for plastic....also brown algae is bad...and caused by improper amount of light, either artificial or sunlight. Algae becomes green and healthful and beneficial when given proper light and oxygenated air....brown algae is half dead and smells and spreads disease in the tank.
2007-06-04 03:24:11 · answer #2 · answered by Guy E 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe you should try taking the plants out and cleaning them. Were they plastic? If so, you should probably clean them. You could also try cleaning out the filter if cleaning the plants doesn't work. You might also just want to completely clean out the tank. Put the fish in a separate bowl with some of the original water in it and then redo the other tank. Be sure to pour the original water that the fish will be in back though.
2007-05-31 19:23:42 · answer #3 · answered by tubagirl331 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
When i clean out my whole filter, and wipe all the algae off, and put it back in, everything is cleared up, so i suggest doing so, and if its still cloudy, i would change the water.
2007-05-31 19:34:32 · answer #4 · answered by Tunish305 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Just change the water and you should be all set. Change it again in three days if it is still cloudy.
2007-06-04 14:25:52 · answer #5 · answered by Chris 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
live plants often make tanks cloudy. try rinsing everything and see if that works. test the ph levels, too.
2007-05-31 19:23:28 · answer #6 · answered by Lizard_Luver 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋