Changed To Coldwater And Milky Milky Water

[beany_bot]

Recently i changed one of my tropical tanks to a coldwater tank (coldwater being 8 degrees) All i did after removing the fish was remove the heater and do a 50% water change and give the filter a rough cleaning.

Its been milky for 2 weeks now, ive added the bacteria stuff to help it but nothing works. Im guessing that the bacteria that kept it clear at 24 degrees have died now at 8 degrees. How can i fix this, its just not getting any clearer? i have two gold fish in the tank and lots of live plants.

 

[loachman]

For one, cycling is going to take longer at 8C. Bacterial growth is exponential with temperature, and the beneficial bacteria don't grow super fast.

Probably doesn't help much, but my 2 cents isn't worth all that much either

 

[beany_bot]

For one, cycling is going to take longer at 8C. Bacterial growth is exponential with temperature, and the beneficial bacteria don't grow super fast.

Probably doesn't help much, but my 2 cents isn't worth all that much either

Thing is it shouldnt need cycled at all because its not a new tank. its a year old. just since its cold its been milky.

 

[beany_bot]

anyone? really annoying its still milky

 

[Davo86]

anyone? really annoying its still milky

how much of the filter did you clean?
also what are the water stats?

daily water changes would be th eobvious thing until the tank stabilises

 

[beany_bot]

anyone? really annoying its still milky

how much of the filter did you clean?
also what are the water stats?

daily water changes would be th eobvious thing until the tank stabilises

id say 80% clean?? left a fair bit gunk. Daily water changes could do the trick but the tank should be fine thats what i dont get because it was already cycled. Cant be bothered posting all the stats but did major testing and everything as before and normal/healthy. unless the change in water temp has killed all the bacteria and im having to start from fresh with new "coldwater" bacteria. hence why the tropical bacteria add in cycle stuff isnt working. so milky i hate it.

 

[mcgrimes]

anyone? really annoying its still milky

how much of the filter did you clean?
also what are the water stats?

daily water changes would be th eobvious thing until the tank stabilises

id say 80% clean?? left a fair bit gunk. Daily water changes could do the trick but the tank should be fine thats what i dont get because it was already cycled. Cant be bothered posting all the stats but did major testing and everything as before and normal/healthy. unless the change in water temp has killed all the bacteria and im having to start from fresh with new "coldwater" bacteria. hence why the tropical bacteria add in cycle stuff isnt working. so milky i hate it.

Ive heard that the bacteria only tolerate small changes in temperature at a time. So maybe that did some damage?
Also when you cleaned the filter did u do so in dechlorinated water?

 

[Davo86]

you should never really clean more than 30% of the pads as this will lead to a lot of bacteria being lost,
my guess is that this on top of the sudden temp change, has killed off more of the bacteria and so you are suffering from new tank syndrome

 

[beany_bot]

you should never really clean more than 30% of the pads as this will lead to a lot of bacteria being lost,
my guess is that this on top of the sudden temp change, has killed off more of the bacteria and so you are suffering from new tank syndrome

looks like it eh...ah, ok so how do i fix? like i said its been a fortnight now

 

[Davo86]

adding some mature media to the tank would be the quickest way to rectify the problem

which bacterial stuff have you been adding? bactinettes is the only one that will make a lot of difference,

 

[PRW1988]

as said you cannot fix the problem, rather work it out. Daily water changes should aid in this, but you have started a mini cycle which is going to take a while to work out.

 

[beany_bot]

adding some mature media to the tank would be the quickest way to rectify the problem

which bacterial stuff have you been adding? bactinettes is the only one that will make a lot of difference,

The thing is all i can add is from tropical tanks, this is a cold tank, so i would just kill any tropical bacteria i added. i guess im just going to have to keep waiting and doing water changes. allthough im confused how water changes help when surely its just getting rid of any bacteria that are starting to grow.

 

[backtotropical]

Coldwater bacteria is the same as tropical bacteria. It only changes when you start going from freshwater to saltwater.

Mature media would go a long way towards fixing your problem. Until it is fixed, 50% water changes every day would be a good idea.

Was there any ammonia or nitrite present when you tested?

Cheers

BTT

 

[beany_bot]

Coldwater bacteria is the same as tropical bacteria. It only changes when you start going from freshwater to saltwater.

Mature media would go a long way towards fixing your problem. Until it is fixed, 50% water changes every day would be a good idea.

Was there any ammonia or nitrite present when you tested?

Cheers

BTT

some nitRATE no ammonia or nitrite, think i got that the right way round. none of the really bad one.

why does water changes help? surely that removes any beneficial bacteria starting to grow?

 

[backtotropical]

No. 99% of the beneficial bacteria live in your filter. There is so little bacteria actually in the water, you can consider that it is none.

Water changes will remove any ammonia or nitrite which will build up if your bacteria have died off for any reason. This is important as ammonia and nitrite are both deadly for fish. I assume there are fish in the tank?

The filter bacteria will still have enough ammonia and nitrite to grow as you won't remove it all, but the main concern has to be the fish, so water changes are the best policy.

Cheers

BTT