Yellow/cloudy Water And Dead Fish

[CANicholls]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and new to tropical fish.

Reason for post: 3 dead fish in so many weeks.

I have a 60 ltr tropical tank (15 US gallons) with heater and Elite 10 Stringray pump. Tank is planted and has gravel.

Started in August 2012. Cycled tank for 2 weeks before introducing fish. Started with 4 platys, then added 3 guppies. Gradually added 3 tetra, 1 shrimp, 1 sucker and 2 more platy (from fry). Last fish (sucker) was introduced early December. I added rocks in November and I changed the plants in mid December to provide more cover for fry.

Since beginning of January water has turned very yellow and slightly cloudy. In the last 3 weeks I have lost 2 guppies and a large platy (one a week). No sign of illness...healthy, swimming, eating and then dead.

After first fish death I changed the carbon and sponges in the pump (gradually over the last two weeks). This is the first time these have been changed.

In normal circumstances I change 1/4 of the water every week and clean (gravel suction/rocks/glass/pump - using aquarium water) once a month. New water is treated with water conditioner and biological supplement (healthy bacteria).

3 days ago I had the water tested at the fish shop and it got the all clear - no problems with ammonia etc. On fish shop advice, I have been changing about 2 - 3 cups of water every day to try to clear it. The water is slightly improved but still cloudy and yellow tinged.

Temperature is a constant 75 - 77 degrees.

Hands up - My bottles of water conditioner and biological supplement were running out and I did not use these in their proper quantities regularly for about 3 water changes. Like I said early, I have had water tested and it is fine.

I don't overfeed.
I have given fry to the fish shop (bar 2) so the tank is not overcrowded.
Can my tank be over-planted (I have 5 plants)?
Catching the fry is tricky.....am I stressing the fish?
I add cold/room temperature water....perhaps temperature changes stressed the fish?
Re: water colour, I have cut down on the amount of time the light is left on (from roughly 12 hours a day to 8 hours).

I can't think of any other information I can provide but any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Carol Ann

 

[techen]

Hi there, it sounds like you did not cycle your tank the right way. The end results being dead fish due to ammonia spikes/ poor water. This can happen over time with no giveaway. I suggest going onto ebay and searching API masters kit, you do need it to check your water stats. I suggest doing daily waterchanges till you get the kit to improve the water.

The cloudly water would be bacterial bloom, you can google it. Very common in new tanks that aren't cycled yet.

 

[CANicholls]

Thank you. I have just noticed another platy "lieing" in one of the plants. In hindsight - this is also behaviour I noticed in the others before I found them dead. I will search for API now.

One more question - how much water is safe to change daily - should I go for 50%?

 

[techen]

50 % of the water is fine, make sure you have good surface movement as well.

 

[the_lock_man]

It is safe to change 90-95% of the water, if that's what you need to do.

I disagree with Techy a bit - bacterial bloom is usually white, and occurs in brand new tanks. Yours has been up and running for what, 5 months? The cycle will have filtered itself by now, almost certainly.

IT's this yellow cloudiness that's bothering me, since you've only started losing fish since then. Give your filter and all the tubes a good wash out in fresh dechlorinated water., and change as much of the water as you can. Just leave the fish enough to be swimming upright in. Replace it with fresh dechlorinated water that is about the same temperature as that which you took out. A "standard " water change using cold water probably won't hurt too much, but with an "emergency" water change, it's important to get the replacement water about right.

Have you added any wood to the tank recently?

 

[CANicholls]

Hi - this is all very helpful thank you.

No, I do not have any wood in the tank.

I have just bought an API tester kit. I will do that now and I have water on standby for a 90% change depending on what the kit tells me. I will also rinse the pump in treated tap water.

Thanks again.

 

[CANicholls]

An update:

I bought the API kit and this is how the water tested -
Ph 7.6 (I live in a high ph water area anyway)
Ammonia 0.25 (surprise)
Nitrite (0)
Nitrate 160!

I have changed 90% of the water and replaced with treated water that is about 21 degrees Celsius. I removed all rocks/ornaments/plants/pump and vacuumed gravel and cleaned glass.

How did this happen, what do I do now and how can I prevent it happening again?

Hopefully all fish will be alive in the morning. Thanks again.

 

[fluttermoth]

Your regular water changes obviously aren't big enough, so either do bigger ones or do them more often, whichever works best for you.

Your tank sounds like it's quite heavily stocked; do you know what your 'sucker' is? Very many species of suckermouth catfish won't be suitable for a 60l tank, and they're very messy fish at the best of times, that might be what's causing your nitrate to build up so badly.

 

[the_lock_man]

Don't fret too much about the ammonia reading at 0.25ppm. NExt time you do the test, look at the result in sunlight, not artificial light, as the API test can be difficult to distinguish between 0.25 and 0.

But nitrate at 160, I agree with the good lady above, you need to increase your maintenance regime.

Did the 90% change help the yellow cloudiness?

 

[CANicholls]

I don't know what type of sucker I have but he's tiny and I don't think overcrowding is an issue.

I have just completed another full test of the water after 24 hours of my 90% water change and I'm very happy to report all levels are normal (nitrate down to 20). No more fish have died and water is as clear as ever.

I think I was too worried about upsetting bacteria balance when cleaning and water changing. I won't be so precious about that from now on.

Many thanks for all of your good advice. I have learned a lot and hope someone else can use the information in this blog to save their fish.

 

[CANicholls]

Hi again - unfortunately, a yellow-tinge had crept into the water again by yesterday and I noticed that our shrimp was in big trouble. I didn't wait to test water and did a 70% water change but unfortunately the shrimp was dead this morning. All others seem fine.

I'll assume the nitrate spike and fall was too much for the shrimp but how do I stabilize my tank??