elpaninaro

Good evening all,

37 Tall freshwater tank
Cycle finished a couple of weeks ago
Current residents- 4 swords/platies, 4 Corys, 2 Cardinal Tetras
All plastic plants
2 small pieces of driftwood

Even with the driftwood, when I first set up the tank the water stayed crystal clear. I cycled with fish, and at the first water change (20%) about 3 weeks after the fish were added- I moved the driftwood to vacuum the gravel underneath.

On doing this, a cloud of "nastiness" came up from the gravel (not much- but it was the precise color that has seemed to plague the water since.) Surely some of it was just accumulated waste, but the brown cloudiness seemed to be something else.

2 days later the water was much better, but still a tad cloudy. At this point I had the swords and the corys in there- and no worries.

Last weekend, I added a school of 6 Cardinal Tetras. 2 died overnight and the LFS replaced them gratis. Within a day, the tetras all had velvet. So Wed, Thu and Fri of this week I applied a 1/2 dose each day of QuickCure (Active Ingredients- Formalin, Malachite Green.)

4 more Cardinals died, but the remaining 2 are just fine now.

Yesterday (Friday), I did a 50% water change, and this morning I did about a 65% water change. Each time, the water cleared up wonderfully and the fish were swimming and acting noticeably happier each time- even as I refilled the tank.

Going to do another change tomorrow of 50-60%, but going forward I would like to figure out what is hindering the water quality.

When I did the first water change, I removed and boiled the driftwood. Water color still an issue- so I am convinced that while it will stain the water some in the future- this is not the issue.

Another symptom however has been a sort of "slick" developing on the surface of the water. It has an oily appearance.

It came back after the first water change, but today when I did the second- I wiped down exposed glass of the inside of the tank and a brown mucky something came off on the paper towels (with a mildly unpleasant odor.) It was not at all visible just looking at the glass, but appeared on the white towels when wiped off.

And tonight- no more oil slick on the surface. Still some brown color in the water, but not nearly like 2 days ago. So the water changes are working for now.

My big question is if the above info is enough to indicate what might be going on here.

And if the answer is a lot of algae or diatoms, what fish can I add to a tank this size to help keep this at a minimum.

For fish additions- as I said above, there are 4 swords, 2 Cardinals and 4 Corys in there now. I must add 4 more Cardinals to get them back to a school- the two remaining hide all the time now and they miss out on food. So I need to get their numbers back up so they will come out more.

Beyond that, the plan was to add a mini-cichlid (LFS has many suitable for community tanks) and then 2 more schools of 6 each of very small tetras- each species 2-3 weeks apart so the tank can adjust.

I have the time and setup to do lots of water changes- easily 50% twice a week, so I have a bit of leeway I figure on stocking.

But happy to adjust that to make room for any algae eaters you can suggest. I like Otos, but is 37G enough room for them?

Thanks for any feedback!

Tommy Gun

Otos remain small, about two inches tops as adults, and so a small group of them, 3 to 5-ish, would fit into most any tank.

My thinking while reading your information was that the driftwood is the culprit for the cloudy water....but you say that you feel it is not and your gut instinct counts for a lot. Just out of curiosity though, when you boiled the wood, did the water in the pan or vessle that you boiled it in remain clear for the most part, or did it turn brownish?

As the ultimate test, I would try removing the driftwood for a few days to a week, keeping it submerged in a pail or something so that you dont have to start all over again as far as soaking it.

I would also change all the carbon filtration in your filters, if any (or add some, if you dont have any), since carbon should be able to remove some of the tint in the water. It may also help remove some of the 'slick' you explain is appearing on the water's surface. In any case, if you really want to gain the best benifits from carbon filter media, IMHO, it should be changed even more frequently than specified by the manufacturer. That would especailly apply when you know that it has soaked up something from the water.

I will look a bit deeper into some alternative treatments for velvet as I feel that quick cure, or malachite green and formalyn meds in general, are pretty harsh and sometimes just as harsh as the illness you are trying to treat.

Also, can I ask what your exact water parameters are?

Are you using a dechlor conditioner with each water change?

jd@ga

Hey elpaninaro! welcome to the forum!
Sounds like you rushed the cycle from the start . Your bound to have trouble from a sudden rush of waste on your tank. I personally wouldn`t buy anymore fish for a couple of months until your tank settles down. Your troubles are just gonna get worse if you add more fish. I would step up the water changes to 20% a week and a gravel cleaning every two weeks .
What type of filter are you using and are you testing your water?

__________________

elpaninaro

Hi guys,

To address your questions to me,

1. When I boiled the driftwood, I did not get any noticeable coloration in the water in which I boiled it.

2. To be more specific on the coloration issue- I have seen tanks before with some driftwood tint, and while the water has a brownish hue I did not feel it had a cloudiness like my water has had, if that makes sense. The very slight opacity of my water is what makes me think this was not just a driftwood issue- though the color aspect of the problem is potentially partially due to the driftwood.

3. I do have a carbon filter in the Penguin. I have been replacing it every week to 10 days, but I left it out when I added the QuickCure and changed to a new filter once the treatment was done. So the current filter has been in there 4 days now- and is halfway to being due for replacement.

4. Water parameters today were PH of 7.6 (normal after all the water changes since the water here is pretty high PH- it will subside in few days), ammonia was .25, nitrites were 0 and nitrates were 5. The nitrates being 5 after those 2 big water changes suggest to me that nitrates were surely pretty high up until the middle of this week since was only 1 water change until yesterday.

5. I do use dechlorinator at every water change. Mine calls for 1 capful per 10 gallons and I add it at the start of pumping water back into the tank. I leave the python in siphon mode after emptying the tank and fill a cup with water repeatedly out of the tap to which the python is attached to adjust the hot and cold taps to get to 78-80 degrees before I switch it over to refill the tank.

6. On adding fish- I cycled with 15 baby platies/swords that eventually dropped to 6 once the tank was cycled (see post in Aquarium setup for a post on the death timing and rate- interesting outcome I was not expecting.) Once the tank was cycled I pulled out 2 of the platies and added 4 corys. Then a couple of days later 6 Cardinals. The game plan was to add more fish every 2-3 weeks, but that is on hold for the moment.

7. Aside from the normal ammonia and nitrite spikes during cycling, my regular water tests have shown minimal to zero ammonia and nitrites. But all these big water changes I would expect might set things back a bit, so I plan to add fish again more slowly. The 4 Cardinals are the only priority right now to ensure they are a good sized school again and are more willing to venture out for food- which is a tough competition with the swords in there.

8. Thanks for the feedback on the Otos- I must have been thinking of another genus or perhaps a large species in the genus since I thought these were 4-5 inch fish (I had those silvery leopard cats with the large tendrils in my head.) I need to do some more homework there. Would the pellets I drop for the Corys also help supplement an Oto diet?

I think that covers the questions you both asked. Thanks for the help!

Lex

I suggest check pH level - it is a good indicator of the quality of water. Sometimes plastic plants effect the water in such a way.