andysutt

For some reason my tank has turned cloudy.

I have done nothing other than change the filter 2 weeks ago.
I had been using the Emperor 400 filters and then the extra container for additional charcoal.

This time around I left the extra charcoal cartridges out..

The water has been getting cloudier since.
Im not sure if it's due to the charcoal not being enough, or the fact that this rock I put in there about 2 months ago had formed Algae on it.
It is a coral from the ocean, but has been in our flower bed for many years. (it was actually in a fish tank previously)
When I put it in my tank, I scrubbed it with a brush, cleaned it with bleach, and dechlroinated it to get all the stuff off of it.

Its slowly growed algae on it since we've put it in there. My loaches and plecos cant clean it very well do to its texture.

Anyways, I have had the filter turned up on the highest setting instead of next to the lowest the last week due to cloudiness. It has helped out quite a bit. I got tired of the cloudiness 3 days ago I did between a 30 and 40% water change due to cloudiness. Everything seemed to clear up somewhat after the water change.

Its gradually gotten cloudy again...

So, I change the filters, and then add the additional carbon back in. I made sure to wet the filters really well to get the dust out of them before I installed them. I did the same w/ the charcoal holders. I also removed the above mentioned rock from the tank.

Water is still cloudy however.... should I do another water change and see if it was the rock or the lack of the extra carbon? I wanted to see which one it was actually by adding the charcoal, and then if it didnt clear up, remove the rock... but I didnt want to take a chance with the fish's health.

Any ideas on anything else that may of caused this outburst all of a sudden?

I remove my glass top and wash them down once a week or so with tap water to remove the green crud that accrues on the top due to the water evaporation and the 110w lights i have.

I dont use any chemicals on or around my tank.

The only thing different I have done is not add the extra charcoal this time around and I did leave my Magnet cleaner in the tank, but it was properly cleaned before adding it to the tank. I just didnt bother taking it out last time.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Jay

Hey Andy...

A complete set of tank parameters would help us understand what is going on, if anything, with the water chemistry.

Are you sure the cloud is white? You might want to put some tank water in a very white coffee cup and confirm that there is no green tint. It is sometimes difficult to see a green tint with the water in the tank.

IMO and IME I do not think the carbon is directly related to your problem.

White cloudy water is usually a bloom of some type of micro critter, (bacteria or protozoa or both) it happens when slight disturbances of substrate or even filters release organic material into the water column. The heterotrophic bacteria feed on it and since all reflect light the water looks cloudy. It is a very common occurrence and should go away on its own. White water due to bacteria is rarely harmful to fish.

A good diatom filter and or a UV sterilizer can speed up the process.

If the coffee cup test turns our to be a green tint, then we are dealing with an algae bloom. Easy to fix.

Regards,
Jay

andysutt

I'll run some tests later. Im not positive I have all the regents for the tests, but I know I have atleast some of them.... so I'll do that after while.

Im currently draining the cover to my pool 4 inches of water on it isnt great at all. lol

Ive got to get that water chemistry back in line also. haha

Anyways, I didnt think it was the carbon that had anything to do w/ it, but I added it back just to possibly clear anything up faster.

I just did the white coffee cup thing, and if there is a green tint to it... it is VERY very faint.

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andysutt

Would 2 much dechlorinator do this?

Ive very skeptical to the 1 drop per gallon and usually use 2 or 3... whatever comes out right... not a squeeze but more than one single drop

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Jay

Probably not. However, you should be careful about overdosing stuff, it could come back and bite you.

Jay

orb4me

Glad you took the rock out.

Do you have a test kit for your pool? If so, get some water from the tank and use that test kit. I know it tests ph, but I dont remember what else. At least you might have some idea whats going on. OR.... take fish tank water to the pool supply store. If your going to use last years test kit, then never mind. If you do it any way, and ph is high or low, IMO, dont change the ph in your fish tank. I hear its really hard on the fish and us to keep the ph at the same level all the time.

While your picking up pool supplies, get a test strip kit, around $7 or 8. Once pool season starts, whats a few bucks one way or the other.

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If all is not lost, where is it?

Jay

Why? It was old coral. The algae on it is easy to deal with.

Sorry I am having a really hard time making that compute

Regards,
Jay

andysutt

I have test kits for the pool and for the tank.... Each in seperate locations and I won't interchange them. Mainly due to me being stubborn.

The one for the tank is out of the PH one I think... Im not positive however. I havent gotten around to looking at it today, as I had a TON of other things to do.

As for the Coral... it's no different than adding any other regular ole rock, other than the texture to it was rough and made it look nice. I could have washed it and put it back in, but decided to return it to our flower bed w/ the rest of its family. lol

The water looks more greenish now that I do look at it in the tank, and the wife said she thought it looked green instead of white to start with.

I have left the light off for most of the day because I didnt want to see the ugly tank, and maybe to cut back on it if it is algae.

I'll get back to you on the numbers shortlly...


Lived and learned that... I don't use any other chemicals other than Stress Zyme, Seachem Excel, and a dechlorinator. Its just hard to imagine one small drop of that stuff dechlorinating a whole gallon. lol

alk 40
hardness between 75 and 150 closer to 150
ammonia is 0... test goes from 0, next one starts at .5... it has a VERY slight tint but not as yellow as the next one up.. Mainly clear
PH is 7.2

Just did the coffee cup thing again.... i see green

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andysutt

Anybody with some help?

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somerton16

i was haveing the same problem last week. i just did large water changes and gravel cleanings every couple days and its starting to clear up now. it wasnt harmfull to the fish at all. just ugly to look at. so i feel your pain lol. it will go away eventually though. just a little work needed to clean and if will go away. good luck

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10gal fw medium gravel plastic plants, rena xp1 filter, 1 balloon black mollies, 1 clementine mollies,3 corry cat,1 pleco, 1 bamboo shrimp