×
Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

cloudy water

More
18 Oct 2013 18:54 - 18 Oct 2013 18:55 #1 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
Hi guys
I m having issues with the water clarity in one of my nano tanks for the last month. I have been checking the water parameters twice a week and there were no readings of nitrate, nitrite or ammonia using the api set.
The tank is an aquael 30 litres shrimp set stocked with 4 pygmy cories, 4red tetras and 4 galaxy rasboras and about 50 rcs.
The cloudiness started to appeared roughly at the time I added the rasboras.
I do a 30% water change every week and the temperature is set at 25c and the tank is heavily planted.
Any suggestions on how to improve the water clarity would be welcome.
Thanks
Anthony
Last edit: 18 Oct 2013 18:55 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne).

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
18 Oct 2013 19:52 #2 by wylam (Stuart Sexton)
Replied by wylam (Stuart Sexton) on topic cloudy water
My first thought was bacteria bloom , with such a small volume of water it wont take much to get a sudden spike in water perameters. The only other thing i can come up with is over feeding? Try rationing their food for a few days/weeks and see if you get any results.

Stuart.

Multi tasking: Screwing up more than one thing at a time.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
18 Oct 2013 21:04 #3 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
Thanks wylam
I feed the fishes 6 times a week by putting 8 flakes.
I feed the rcs 3 times a week.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
19 Oct 2013 07:10 - 19 Oct 2013 07:29 #4 by Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
i suspect it could be the filter.try putting in a filter floss on the top of the media and it may help.what substrate have you? Also when you say its heavily planted, are you also dosing the tank ?

Gavin
Last edit: 19 Oct 2013 07:29 by Fishowner (Gavin fishowner).

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
19 Oct 2013 08:25 #5 by paulv (paul vickers)
Replied by paulv (paul vickers) on topic cloudy water
Im wondering why your getting a 0 reading for nitrates, with the stock you have it should read atleast 40ppm, maybe your not shaking the nitrate reagents bottle long and hard enough, read the API instructions.if you have plants in your tank and are feeding them then high levels of phosphate will give cloudy water, try not to feed your plants for a month, the fish waste will be enough to fertilise the plants. Most common cause of cloudy water is a young filter not able to clear the bacteria produced by over feeding. There are many good products available that will clear up water in a few hours, nutrafin bio clear is one product ive used and works well. Sludge buster or filter aid products will all clear up the water.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
19 Oct 2013 14:34 #6 by Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
on a tank that size id be cautious of using products to clear up the cloudy appearance.a mature tank should not be reading 0 nitrates.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
19 Oct 2013 17:02 #7 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
Thanks everyone.
I try to follow the instructions coming with the test and shakes the bottles before end and shake the water with the reagents for 1 min. I might try to shake it a bit longer 2nite and see.
I only use profito and pro ferro in the tank.
I wouldnt use clearing chemicals in the tank, shrimps can be sensitive.
My filter came with the tank, it is a sponge filter and it is 3 years old, it might need to be upgraded.
I have the fluval shrimp substrate on top and some jbl base layer underneath for the plants.

Anthony

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
19 Oct 2013 17:39 #8 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
I'd probably look into external filter to be honest!
Much better for bacteria colonies etc
I'd nearly say its a bacteria bloom or similar that's happening

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
19 Oct 2013 19:44 #9 by anthonyd (Anthony Debesne)
here are pictures of my tanks, the water parameters are roughly the same but the cloudy one has fishes and the clear one is a shrimp only.
i thought it was a bacteria bloom at the start too but i m starting to wonder now.
thanks
anthony


Attachments:

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
19 Oct 2013 20:06 #10 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
I'm a little confused as to how we would expect a nitrate level of at least 40ppm.

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
19 Oct 2013 20:53 #11 by Stem12 (Stephen M)
Replied by Stem12 (Stephen M) on topic cloudy water
Hey Folks,

So this is weird, I actually came on here this evening to post the same topic, Here's my story..

I've being running a Vision 260 for the past 5 months and it was running on a fluval 205 external, I know a little small for this tank but the water had been quite clear and almost perfect, but again too small, So anyways I decided to go and buy the Cristal Profi 901 for my tank, so I put the filter media and stuff into the new filter from the old one and let it run, Its been running for the past 4 weeks and the water has been Crystal sorry Cristal (Clear) :)... Anyways..

Woke up yesterday morning came down and the tank looks like the above pic Anthonyd posted the first one.. so naturally I freaked out and did a 30% water change and cleaned out the filter but again today its still soooo cloudy.. Im really worried.. Im gonna go Seahorse tomorrow and get the water checked but seriously its normally always perfect when I do get it checked....

Any Ideas? :/

Stephen M.

Juwel Vision 260-
20ltr-Fluval Spec-
19ltr-Fluval Chi-

Keep The Water Fresh-

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
19 Oct 2013 22:52 #12 by paulv (paul vickers)
Replied by paulv (paul vickers) on topic cloudy water

I'm a little confused as to how we would expect a nitrate level of at least 40ppm.

ian

my thinking ian is, once both nitrite and ammonia are reading 0 then it would be ok for a tank with a high level of stock to show a nitrate test result of 40ppm on the API test kit. Any input from yourself is very welcome.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
01 Nov 2013 13:59 - 01 Nov 2013 13:59 #13 by Stem12 (Stephen M)
Replied by Stem12 (Stephen M) on topic cloudy water
Hey Every1,

So I don't know if anthonyd got this sorted but here is what I did, So I did a lot of reading and research as to why my water was so cloudy and mostly it came up bacterial blooms, So I was patient and left it for like 2 weeks with nothing happening- I went to my LFS- water parameters were perfect except the cloudiness of course, so they tried selling me some crazy chemicals and extra fine floss etc and I decided not to go for,
The next day I said enough is enough and I did a 50% water change and removed 2 of my 7 sponges in the filter and within 2 days my water is back to crystal clear :-) Happy days :)

:cool:

Stephen M.

Juwel Vision 260-
20ltr-Fluval Spec-
19ltr-Fluval Chi-

Keep The Water Fresh-
Last edit: 01 Nov 2013 13:59 by Stem12 (Stephen M).

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
01 Nov 2013 20:43 #14 by paulv (paul vickers)
Replied by paulv (paul vickers) on topic cloudy water
Interesting solution. Id love to know if your water is still clear in a months time, hope it will be, may be you can post an update after a month.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
02 Nov 2013 00:44 #15 by Stem12 (Stephen M)
Replied by Stem12 (Stephen M) on topic cloudy water
ye I know I was quite shocked to... Ill let you all now lads fingers crossed :)

Stephen M.

Juwel Vision 260-
20ltr-Fluval Spec-
19ltr-Fluval Chi-

Keep The Water Fresh-

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
02 Nov 2013 08:49 #16 by Homer (Kevin)
Replied by Homer (Kevin) on topic cloudy water
It is more than likely a Bacterial Bloom. Checks and balances will usually occur where the Food feeding the Bacteria reach a climax and cancel each other out. Movement of substrate by the owner and removal of decor or over washing Filter media can most definitely lead to either an increase in food from anaerobic material being released into the Water column or a decrease in Denitrifying Bacteria in the system, the situation usually resolves itself. Excessive Water changes from supplies with high nutrient value can make things take longer to rectify.

H.

The Glass is always greener on the other side.


It's NOT "Chee lick", NOT "Chee Chee Licks"!!! Cichlids is pronounced as "Sick Lids"!!!!!

Please Log in to join the conversation.

Time to create page: 0.068 seconds
Powered by Kunena Forum