Advertisements
Aquatic Avenue Banner Tropica Shop Banner Fishy Business Banner
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 40

Thread: cloudy water !

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    86
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore

    cloudy water !

    Advertisements
    Fresh n Marine aQuarium Banner

    Advertise here

    Advertise here
    Hiz,
    i realise my tank will turn cloudy once a month but this will clear up by its own in a few day. But recently, it turn cloudy more OFTEN and does not clear up on its own. The water was so cloudy that i had to change the full tank capacity. Does anyone know what was wrong ? Think is not due to the excess DIY Co2 cos is does not turn cloudy after i changed everytime to a new bottle. The tank just turn cloudy maybe one week later. Thankz

    4ft tank ;
    2x36 watt FL (7hr/day);
    DIY Co2
    Top filter with rainbar attached and place 2-3cm below water surface ;
    Temperature around 29 degree ;
    Ammonia/Ammonium tested safe with test kit ;
    pH value not tested ;

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    Bedok
    Posts
    2,600
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    5
    Country
    Singapore
    Is it possible some of the yeast mixture spill over into your tank?

    You can insert a DIY bubble counter along the CO2 line. The counter if big enough will trap the overspill. If you can see that the water in the counter is cloudy, chances are the yeast mixture has overspill.

    BC

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    86
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    Hi bclee,
    i dun think tat is the reason cos my air tube is dry and clear. But anyway can u tell mi how to do the DIY bubble counter ? Is it some sort of cotton wool ? or wat sorry i have no idea of wat is tat . Thankz

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Posts
    37
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    My tank also getting quite cloudy (green water) recently. Try to change water 100% proved to be useless. 3 days latter, the green water come back again. I bought a bottle of Alg-Away from petmart last Sunday. Pour 1 cap of Alg-Away into my tank, 2 hours later, the water become crystal clear. It is like performing magic in front of you, unbelievable!!
    One bottle of Alg-Away cost me only $5.50.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
    Posts
    8,958
    Feedback Score
    1 (100%)
    Images
    104
    Country
    Singapore
    Hmmm... anti algae is not a good idea for a planted tank. What harms algae, potentially can harm plants... visible or not.

    Green water is usually caused by excess NO3. Do you know your NO3 and PO4 levels?

    Is it always one week after CO2 change that the water turns cloudy? Wonder whats the connection.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
    A woman: without her, man is nothing.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    Bedok
    Posts
    2,600
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    5
    Country
    Singapore
    PEPSI, a bubble counter is just a bottle filled with water. The CO2 line from the yeast bottle will go into the water of the bubble counter. CO2 will bubble through this water and any unwanted substance will be trapped in the water. The CO2 from this bottle is then fed into the aquarium.

    As for green water, my experience is far worse. The GW basically reappear within 1/2 hr. GW is usually due to NH3 spike. A 3/4-day blackout and large water changes should do the job. Clean out your filter.

    Check that you don't overfeed. Clean your filter regularly. That should prevent GW.

    BC

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    86
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    hiz,
    vinz i dun know my NO3 and P04 levels and is not say turn cloudy after one week i change my CO2. Is juz tat i think is not due to the CO2. Then i think those magic crystal clear or Anti-alg solution only help for the time being. The problem comes again when the water is cloudy. I also try to change 100% water capacity but turn cloudy again few days later.[:0]

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    Bedok
    Posts
    2,600
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    5
    Country
    Singapore
    Cloudy water can be due to a few things. You have to identify what it is first before you can cure it.

    1. Suspended algae (or green water)
    Can look greenish but sometimes whitish. If you put some water in a white cup. It will appear greenish.
    Cause: Likely NH3 spike. Maybe due to rotting materials in your tank or filter, or overfeeding.
    Solutions: Black out tank for 3-4 days. No feeding. No fertisation. Daily water change. Clean out the detritus from the tank and filter. Be careful of NO2 spike.

    2. Bacteria bloom
    Whitish.
    Cause: excess nutrients, organics in the water. Maybe overfeeding.
    Solution: No feeding until water clears. Aerate water if necessary. Water changes. Remove detritus.

    3. Suspended particles
    Cause: Clogged filter. Under capacity filter. Ineffective filter media.
    Solutions: Check filter and remedy accordingly.

    BC

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
    Posts
    8,958
    Feedback Score
    1 (100%)
    Images
    104
    Country
    Singapore
    Pepsi,

    I just noticed something... 72w of light for 7 hrs a day in a 4 foot tank? What and how much plants do you have in there? Any fishes? Any fertilisers? How often doyou change water normally?

    Just before your water starting getting cloudy more often and thicker, did you do anything different, like add more fishes, remove plants, change fert, change fert amount, etc?

    Is the cloudiness greenish or whitish?

    Another thing, avoid 100% water change. 50% at most as a desperate measure, but 30% at most normally. If its very cloudy, then change daily or every 2 days.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
    A woman: without her, man is nothing.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    2,436
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    hi
    all three of the causes that bc pointed out can be controlled by mature filtration
    for a stop gap measure, wash out your filter and add in a lot of filter floss
    this will trap the particles causing the cloudiness

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    136
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    Hi guys. How do i tell whether there is a bacteria bloom due to excess nutrients? My new tank has been cloudy for the past 1 week (even after 3 water changes at 30 to 40%).[]

    Do i test for one of the perimeters?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    Bedok
    Posts
    2,600
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    5
    Country
    Singapore
    Scoop out the water into a white cup and see the colour. If greenish it is algae, bacteria is whitish.

    Stop feeding the fishes. The fishes should be able to tahan up to 1 week without feeding. Clean out as much debris as possible.

    BC

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
    Posts
    8,958
    Feedback Score
    1 (100%)
    Images
    104
    Country
    Singapore
    New tank? How new? Some tanks get a bacteria bloom before the bacteria in the filter establish themselves.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
    A woman: without her, man is nothing.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    Bedok
    Posts
    2,600
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    5
    Country
    Singapore
    New tank? I see...

    Like Vinc said. Bacteria has not really established yet. Most likely due to overfeed.

    Make sure no food is left behind 5 mins after feeding. If there is, you are feeding too much.

    BC

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    136
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    thanks bclee and vinc.

    cloudiness appears white. has been so since day 1. some facts:

    day 1 - last wed, rocks, substrate and base fert added
    day 5 - plants added (a fair number of plants in emersed form from Teos)
    day 6 - 4x36 pl lights on for 5 and half hours (will increase by 2x36 once tank stabilise)
    day 7 - 100 shrimps, 10 yamatos, 4 otos, 6 saes added (cloudiness increase after this, but i think this is normal).

    Today, i.e. friday, would be day 10.

    it is a 4 ft tank from Nature. No Co2 added yet. HAVE NOT fed fishes so far. wanna make them work lah

    I was afraid that the base fert is leaking, but the fishes appear to be doing fine. only shrimps and yamatos dying on me

    So is this normal? i did not experience such persistent cloudiness with my old tank ....[]

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
    Posts
    8,958
    Feedback Score
    1 (100%)
    Images
    104
    Country
    Singapore
    POW!!! Ammonia overload. Too many fishes/shrimps too fast. Wait at least 2 weeks before adding so much livestock, even then, introduce a little at a time.

    For my 6'x2'x2' foot tank (approx 540l water volume), 100 Malayan shrimps after 2 weeks, 10 Otos and 10 SAEs one week later.

    For now, you just got to wait it out. There's probably a Ammonia, Nitrite or Nitrate spike now. 30% water change when the water gets cloudy, remove some fish for now if have spare tank. Remove dead shrimps if you find them. Stop feeding.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
    A woman: without her, man is nothing.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
    Posts
    8,958
    Feedback Score
    1 (100%)
    Images
    104
    Country
    Singapore
    Increase light period to 10 hours... make the plants photosynthesis, act as bio-filter, sucking up some of the ammonia from the fishes, reducing load on the bacteria.

    You can try a trace fert that contains K (potassium). You don't want your plants to be limited by any nutrients now, but start at half dose first.

    Your plants are probably being limited by CO2 and light at the moment, so start it up ASAP... for time being you can try Flourish Excel or DIY CO2 just to get things going.

    The key is that you've limited your plants growth with lack of CO2 and light, yet introduced a large number of livestock before your tank cycling is completed, thus overloading your tanks ability to handle N.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
    A woman: without her, man is nothing.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    136
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    many thx. me will see what i can do...

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    86
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    Hiz vinz

    I had 4 types of plants but only one is riccia i know the name the rest i dun noe their names. I intend to increase my light intensity. Right now my riccia can still pearling at the bottom of 4ft tank and i quite surprise too with only 72w of light. There is only abt 10 tetras inside now. And i never do much change to my tank before its turn cloudy or after. Juz normal weekly 1/3 water change and DIY CO2 every two weeks and i not changing 2 bottles of CO2 at the same time. I only have base fert. I have algae on my foreground plant tat y i on my light only 7hrs to control algae boom. The water is whitish.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Posts
    37
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    Hi Pepsi

    Seem like your tank's cloudy problem have not totally resolved yet, water colour changes from green to whitish.

    My tank's water have no problem 1 week after adding Interpet's Alg-Away. No problem to my 20 pcs of shrimps (tiger,bubble,malayan & yamato) and my 20 pcs of tetra and plants. Everything back to normal again.

    If you have exhaust all alternatives and still not solving your cloudy water problem, I encourage you to experiment with Interpet's Alg-Away. If you cannot find this product, I can pass some to you. If you worry that this product may do harm to your fish/shrimp and plant, you can test it on your cloudy water in another container to see whether is it effective.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •