NoaMia

Hi I have a big problem with my tank the water has turned a cloudy yellow colour. Saturday evening it was crystal clear as normal the sunday morning it had gone cloudy. It is a 120ltr tank with a natural gravel substrate and a few plants,water temp is normal about 26-27?. There are only 9 fish so I dont think it is a problem of waste but I am no expert. I use nirate minus & easy balance once a week and all the tests are normal PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME
And the tank is not new it about 3 years old and this is the first ever problem i have had thankyou Garry

Tommy Gun

Welcome to the forum NoaMia! Sorry to hear about your problems though. I think we can help you out.

The first thing I would do is to take some of the water out of the tank in a cup or something like that and look at it under better light such as a normal light bulb. This will help you get a better idea of what the true color of the water is since some lightbulbs that we use over an aquarium can make water look much different than it really is. Generally, yellow water is not common and so I would think that your water is probably more greenish or milky-white; both of which are common issues, especially in newer tanks, but can also occur in established tanks.

Can you tell us what 'normal' water tests means to you? Sometimes what you think or have been told is 'good' is not what other members on the forum, including myself, would think is abnormal. I am sure that you know what is going on, but just to be on the safe side, I like to ask this question. I am pretty interested in what your nitrate levels are to be more exact.

What is your maintenance schedule or methods? How often do you do water changes in this tank? How much water do you change each time?

Also, what types of livestock are you keeping in this tank and how many of each do you have? How much and how often do you feed your livestock? What do you feed them? Sometimes 9 fish can be way too many fish for a 120 liter tank (which is about 30 US gallons) since one fish may be more 'messy' than another type, and obviously 9 neon tetras cannot be compared to 9 whales so in this case, size does matter. I am sure that you have the right size fish if you have made it for three years already, but that is when the 'messy-ness' of a fish becomes important.

The temp sounds fine....for others who read this, 27 degrees Celcius is 78 degrees Fahrenheit...

Generally, cloudy water is either a bacteria bloom or an algae bloom. Like I said, most are common and not a huge issue for the most part, and certainly not permanant. Knowing the answers to my questions and any other information you can give us on your tank would help us figure out what the problem is and how you can go about fixing it as soon as possible.

Again, welcome to the forum! I am sure that you will be able to find all the information you need to here!

TG

gm333

Welcome to FTF!

BJP

I'm not familiar with nitrate minus but the new formula of EasyBalance now contains something that locks up or removes nitrate. It sounds like you may be using two products that are trying to do the same thing in at least the nitrates regaurd. It may not even be a reaction from the first few dozen weeks or so if you're following the EasyBalnce recipe of twice a year water changes. It may be a reaction thats built up over time.

If you've been doing water changes weekly anyway, then there should be no need for either product.

If you haven't then try starting in slowly. 10% water changes once a week. Stop adding the chemicals.

After a few weeks increase to about 25% or double the frequency of 10% changes so you gradually bring the water back into a state of normality without shocking the fish or bacteria bed from a sudden change.

After the tank clarity returns to normal try weekly water changes of about 10% vacuuming part of the gravel bed at the same time. Long term I believe your fish will be grateful and show it through better growth, vitality and duration of lifespan. I've conducted two seperate long term tests with EasyBalance and although the product will allow for reduced water changes based on some of the normal water quality parameters we check, it doesn't cover them all and I've had noticably reduced growth during the test periods.

If nothing anyone here says is going to get you into doing regular water changes then stay with the EasyBalance and drop the other product. It's better than the alternative of doing nothing at all.

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dannyLTJ

Hi Noamia, welcome to the forum.

What changes to your established set-up have you done recently? Introducing Bogwood can turn your water yellow/brown very quickly, but this will ususlly remain clear. Sudden changes in water cqality or color can usually be attributed to recent alterations or additions to your tank, or the failure/degradation of one or more systems such as your filter.

any help?

NoaMia

Hi thanks for all your responses, I change the water about every 3-4 months approx 50% the fish i have are a few guppys 2 kissing gourami 2 angel and 2 other gourami, water test is as follows no3- 50,no2- 10,gh 50,kh+ph25 these are test result using TETRA TEST 5 IN 1. I hope this is the right info you needed thanks

dannyLTJ

Hi NoaMia,

unless you have a heavily planted tank with healthy growing plants, changing your water even if it is a large amount every 3 months is not really adequate. you need to step this up to a 20-30% change every 2 weeks as a minimum.

you should also purchase some individual test kits as the test strips are not suitable for acurate measurements.

as a minimum, in a tank that has been running as long as yours, ammonia and nitrite levels should be at zero. nitrate should be kept as low as you can manage with the water change schedule suggested bearing in mind that your 'fresh' replacement water may already contain a significant level of nitrate.

your ph and kh levels should be tested separately, i was'nt aware that a single value could be given to explain both, ph should be in a suitable range for the fish you keep, but usually between 6.5-8 from municipal water. a reading of 25 for ph does not make sense and a reading of 25 for kh would seem incredibly high.

its all fine me saying get better test equipment, but i dont think the test strips are doing you any favours so you really need to know whats going on with your water if you wish to combat the problem.

first thing though...change to the increased frequency of water changes, with possibly a 50% change to start.

let us know how things go

NoaMia

Hi again I did a 50% water change last night and as for the test sticks i gave you the wrong numbers KH =6 &ph =7.2 but i have always had problems with nitrate levels 1 week they will be high the next time they will be low that is something i have never been able to sort out thanks everyone

dannyLTJ

Kh & ph readings make more sense now. keep up with the water change schedule too. its probably not a solution to your particular problem so do let us know how things progress

BJP

EasyBalance changes your test results by changing the parameters gradually. Testing isn't going to be that important if it's used since it's not reflective of what the tank is doing but more reflective of what the chemical is doing.

Easybalance gradually increases the KH.
The PH frequently increases as a result.
EasyBalance prevents phosphate accumulation or at least slows it noiticably.
EasyBalance has the new Nitroban additive that's suppossed to be preventing nitrate accumulation.

Having nitrate bouncing around can be a reaction from the second chemical you said you're using for nitrate reacting with EasyBalance or it could simply be you're overloading Easybalances nitrate adsorbing ability resulting in the bounce between doses.

Large water changes remove a lot of what I just mentioned the products are adding and could result in rapid swings downward to the KH, PH, GH, DOC's and possibly the nitrate if it had been running high at the time. Hopefully you got lucky and don't loss any fish from the stress.

Small water changes are easier on the fish and take very little time to do. I wouldn't worry about buying more test kits right now. Just try to find time to give the tank small water changes regularly, preferably weekly. That alone should gradually and safely bring the tanks water back into control.

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