Dirty Water...what to do?

[newb]

i have a 75gallon tank. for filtration im using two Aquaclear 110s. I use Lesley's Pool filtered sand as the substrate, and lace rock as decoration. For fish, I keep red and gold severums with two 6in oscars. The water just stays cloudy, and the glass gets too dirty for the plecos to keep up. I dont know what i need to do/buy to cure this problem.

[CichlidFan]

Re: Dirty Water...what to do?

Try adding a sponge filter or power head with a sponge filter on it. Reduce the amount of time you have the lights on, and or exposure to sunlight.

How often do you do water changes?

How long has this tank been set up and running?

How much food are you feeding and how many feedings a day?

CF

[newb]

Re: Dirty Water...what to do?

The tank has been up and running for maybe a month now, but it was running when i got it from Eartheater. I feed my fish twice a day in the morning and in the evening. I only feed them until pieces start hitting the bottom. my giraffe cat usually finishes off these pieces. I do water changes every Sunday.

[CichlidFan]

Re: Dirty Water...what to do?

Well, I would guess, you may have a bacteria bloom in progress then, maybe just the tail end of the cycle process which, as I understand, can take up to 6 weeks or more to fully cycle...

You might want to try a sponge filter for a couple weeks and see what happens with the water clarity.

Good Luck

CF

[newb]

Re: Dirty Water...what to do?

where do i get that? How does it work?

[imagirlgeek]

Re: Dirty Water...what to do?

Is the cloudy water a yellow/green color?  Or more white/gray?  This is going to sound weird, but if you smell the water, does it smell healthy?  Healthy = kind of like a lake smells.

If the water is a yellow/green color, it's algae.  If it's white/gray, it's bacteria.

[newb]

Re: Dirty Water...what to do?

its yellow/green. and it stinks

[CichlidFan]

Re: Dirty Water...what to do?

I'd listen to this young lady newb, she's a virtual fish doctor.... :)

Seriously, she knows her stuff...

CF

Sponge filters can be found at just about any LFS, they use an air pump to pump air directly into a sponge on a special air tube. The air moves the water around the sponge, drawing debris in the water into the sponge, also, freindly bacteria grows in/on the sponge and helps with the filtration.

[fishboyt]

Re: Dirty Water...what to do?

where do i get that? How does it work?

I make spongefilters, so, you can get one from me if you'd like. You will need an air pump in order to run it.

[imagirlgeek]

Re: Dirty Water...what to do?

Thanks CF.   :)  

If you aren't overfeeding and not overdoing the light, then it may be Nitrates.  High nitrates allow the perfect environment for algae to take over.  The green/yellow water is indicative of a free floating algae that is feeding on the extra nutrients in the water...ie, Nitrates.  You may have Nitrates in your tap water, which would explain why even though you are caring for the tank, the problem still exists.  Do you have a test kit to test your tank water and your tap water?  If not, most LFS will do this for you for free if you take in some samples.

I suggest going double time on your tank maintenance for a while.  Clean your gravel, the sponges on your filters, water changes...you've got to get the nutrient level down so the algae doesn't have anything to feed on and multiply.  But first and foremost, check for Nitrates.  

Another option, and I am not 100% comfortable recommending this, because the Algae fix products can be poison to your fish if you overdo it, but you could do 1 dose of Algae Fix (diluted in a pitcher of tank water first), then a large water change the next day.  This won't fix it permanently if Nitrates are the problem, but it may kick-start the process of ridding the tank of the algae.

Also, keep an eye on your fish and make sure they don't start gasping.  Algae depletes the tank of oxygen during the lights off period...just something to keep an eye on.

Hope this info helps.

[newb]

Re: Dirty Water...what to do?

thank you for your help. So if it turns out to be Nitrates then i should start feeding only once a day and do water changes 2-3 times a week, and this will solve my problem? Lets see if this works...

[imagirlgeek]

Re: Dirty Water...what to do?

If it's Nitrates, then yeah, less feeding and more cleaning should rid you of the problem.  IF the nitrates are coming from your tap water, that's a whole other problem.  I don't have an answer for that one, but I'll do some reading.  Let us know what you find out about your water tests.

[PhishPhreek]

Re: Dirty Water...what to do?

This is one of the times a UV sterilizer would come in real handy

Big fish make big poop and in turn lots of nitrates......
Amquel+ also removes nitrates if that is the culprit.

[newb]

Re: Dirty Water...what to do?

well, its definately the nitrates. Petco said it was darker than the chart goes! adding an algea killer and powerheads should fix my problem then...?

[newb]

Re: Dirty Water...what to do?

on top of all of this...I came home only to find my gold nugget dead on the bottom of the tank.