Cloudy Tank

[learner]

hi all...

just added about 20+ cory to my new planted tank....
today came back from work and my tank seems to be a little cloudly..

Some specs:
Tank Size: 3ft by 1.5ft by 1.5ft
50% planted (area-wise)
quite a few fast growers.
Ehiem 2233
Co2 at 1-2 bps
Lights about 12 hrs (at night). Daytime house no direct lights.. quite dim..
PL lights: 2x27w + 2x36w

Water parameters:
pH about 7
kH about 0
trying to increase kH a bit day by day.. but should not be the problem of my cloudiness.. my tank was doing fine

No base fert... added two horti stick.. made sure that they were buried deep in the gravel..

wondering if i should get another cannister(cheap one like atman 3338 or the smaller one) for more filtration (biological)

hope the condition doesn't get worse... did a 20% water change today


any advice, guys?

[Sols]

Hi,
I used to have that problem too. But I learned one thing from the fish shop uncle. He said that whenever we buy new fishes for the tank, always starve them for a day or two first. He said something about these new fishes not accustomes to the new water environment, then when they eat, they fall sick and start vomitting. I followed his advice and the cloudy stuff stopped.

Hope that this is helpful for you.

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On 1/3/2003 10:12:53 PM

hi all...

just added about 20+ cory to my new planted tank....
today came back from work and my tank seems to be a little cloudly..

Some specs:
Tank Size: 3ft by 1.5ft by 1.5ft
50% planted (area-wise)
quite a few fast growers.
Ehiem 2233
Co2 at 1-2 bps
Lights about 12 hrs (at night). Daytime house no direct lights.. quite dim..
PL lights: 2x27w + 2x36w

Water parameters:
pH about 7
kH about 0
trying to increase kH a bit day by day.. but should not be the problem of my cloudiness.. my tank was doing fine

No base fert... added two horti stick.. made sure that they were buried deep in the gravel..

wondering if i should get another cannister(cheap one like atman 3338 or the smaller one) for more filtration (biological)

hope the condition doesn't get worse... did a 20% water change today


any advice, guys?


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[vinz]

Learner, the 20 fishes probably just added a whole lot of ammonia/ammonium to your tank... leading to a bacteria bloom, or green water.

Sols, interesting piece of info. I don't know about the vomiting bit, but it makes sense in another way. Fishes with empty stomachs produce less waste, i.e. ammonia/ammonium, thus gives the bacteria and plants in the tank a better chance to catch up with the new levels of ammonia/ammonium in the tank.

[tetra]

Learner, sorry to ride on your thread. Just want to find out since I may have the same problem later.

Vinz or anyone,
I am thinking of adding 50 cardinal tetra to my new tank (5ft), what is the best way to do it? Can I add 50 fishes in at one go or in batches...? Any problem if add in one go. If is in batches, I am afraid quite troublesome since I only have 1 tank, how can I keep the fish outside the tank for more than 1 day.

[PeterGwee]

Tetra...it seems you have bought the fishes already? Well, since your tank is a 5 ft..so should not be such a big problem unless your tank is newly setup (bacteria population might not be able to handle a large increase in waste in a short time). If not...I had no idea.

[tetra]

Peter,
I have not bought the tetra yet but planning to do so in 2 weeks time[]
I just want to find out first. Yes, my tank is only 10 days newly setup. I will properly buy 50 tetras at one short for better deal. But was thinking whether i will have the similar problem as learner....

[tawauboy]

why not wait for another week or 2 until the plants have settled in. then adding 50 cardinal at one go should not be a problem if your tank is heavily planted. else monitor your water quality and change when necessary.

[vinz]

Tetra,

Better if you start a new thread next time.

First, let your tank mature and the plants to really grow densely... they consume ammonia and nitrates, so the more you have the better they can handle the access N from your 50 fishes. Your tank is not ready at the moment. Next, don't feed them in the first few days. Less waste produced and less wasted food as they may not eat much, if at all, due to stress.

Get the filter as ready as possible by adding a few algae eaters, including shrimp, every week.

Another thing to try, is to add in some commercial bacteria culture at the same time.

Come to think of it, your frogbits will help a lot in this case.

[loupgarou]

was your tank running before you added the cories? if so how long.

next, your filter media what's inside it?

[learner]

hi loupgarou,

my tank has been running for at least 5 weeks.....
inside my ehiem 2233, i have sponge on the top layer, then a tray of small chips, and then a tray of rings....

eh.. don really know what they are called.. i think they are the usual stuff you'll find in cannisters

[learner]

Interesting fact, Sols..
will take note of that next time for new tanks

Thanks!

[unknown]

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On 1/4/2003 12:45:41 AM

Peter,
I have not bought the tetra yet but planning to do so in 2 weeks time[]
I just want to find out first. Yes, my tank is only 10 days newly setup. I will properly buy 50 tetras at one short for better deal. But was thinking whether i will have the similar problem as learner....
----------------

hi tetra,

one thing abt cardinal, it's always better to introduce them in bulk rather than batches as they will be prone to neon tetra disease(also applies to cardinal as well). Found this out the hard way
, lost more than 30 cardinal. It's even better if u have an idea what fish u want to add in ur tank and introduce them all at one go after ur tank have been cycled. Hope this helps.

[ptell]

hi tetra,

one thing abt cardinal, it's always better to introduce them in bulk rather than batches as they will be prone to neon tetra disease(also applies to cardinal as well). Found this out the hard way
, lost more than 30 cardinal. It's even better if u have an idea what fish u want to add in ur tank and introduce them all at one go after ur tank have been cycled. Hope this helps.

would like to find out more about this "neon tetra disease" cause my tetras
are slowly dying one by one. what medicine to use?

[stormhawk]

i think it's an incurable disease. once a fish is detected with that disease (its easily seen, affects the rear end of the fish, causing this cloudy discoloured patch on the skin) it should be destroyed humanely.

[sherchoo]

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On 1/4/2003 11:07:54 PM

would like to find out more about this "neon tetra disease" cause my tetras
are slowly dying one by one. what medicine to use?

----------------

ptell,

It would be a better idea if you could actually figure out what is killing your fishes rather than put strange medications that may make the condition worse. Maybe you could provide more information so that others here may be able to help you solve the problem.

[Allen_1971]

Unknown,

The problem is not so much whether you bought the cardinal tetra in bulk or in small batches... even if you buy in bulk, you could have infected fish and thus cause the loss of your entire fish population. So no, the solution is not buying in bulk. A better solution and a seldom practiced one is the process of quaranteen.

ptell,

If you need help with a disease in your tank, you could try posting in the medical forum. Also it would be best if you could provide a picture of the infected fish... after all, a picture say a thousand words.

everyone...

OK... lets try and stick to the cloudy water topic ok? if we have to digress a lot, try and start another thread... thanks.

[unknown]

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would like to find out more about this "neon tetra disease" cause my tetras
are slowly dying one by one. what medicine to use?

----------------

hi... once u get neon tetra disease, it's really quite hopeless. The last time i got it, the tetra just go one after another. In the end, someone taught me to use the medicine baktopur(forgot the exact spelling) from sera. The tetras did stop dying after this but i only managed to save 7 out of a tank of 50. Think u can give the medicine a try.

Cheers.