Cloudy 55 Gallon

[ILuvMyMidasCichlid]

HI ALL,
I HAVE A MAJOR PROBLEM. I HAVE A 55 GALLON THAT HOUSES A GOLD MIDAS CICHLID (FEMALE).
WE MOVED HER TANK WELL OVER 3 MONTHS AGO. WHEN I MOVED THAT TANK I MADE SURE THAT I KEPT ALL THE
WATER, BACTERIA ALIVE, AND CLEANED NOTHING. I PUT ALL THE SAME WATER BACK IN AND MADE SURE IT STAYED THE SAME TEMP WHILE I WAS MOVEING THE TANK.

HERE IS MY PROBLEM. MY WATER WONT CLEAR UP! IT HAVE BEEN CLOUDY SINCE AND NO MATTER WHAT I DO IT DOESN'T
SEEM TO WANT TO CLEAR UP. I HAVE TRYED 2 DIFFERENT UNTI-CLOUD PRODUCTS, THOSE DIDNT WORK IT ONLY TURNED MY WATER YELLOW. SO NOW NOT ONLY IS MY WATER CLOUDY IT LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE PEED IN TO. LOL YEAH I KNOW CRAZY RIGHT? MY LVLS ARE GOOD, ALL BUT THE PH AND IM TRYING TO RAISE IT. I HAVE CUT BACK ON FEEDINGS, TO BE HONEST I HAVEN'T FEED HER IN LIKE 3 DAYS. SHE WILL MORE THEN LIKELY BIT MY FIGURE OFF WHEN I DO FEED HER AGAIN. SHE IS COVER UP WITH A TANK COVER (WHICH LOOKS TERRIABLE) AND NOTHING SEEMS TO BE WORKING.
PLEASE! I NEED HELP, IM AFRAID ITS HURTING HER. ALL THO SHE ACTS FINE.

 

[juanveldez]

the easiest way to clear it up will be to do some water changes I usually do them 2x per week on my smaller cichlid tanks, and my 75 with the Festae and Cr. SP Cobra the others get done 1x per week.

as for her bitting your finger off I doubt that she will hurt much, I get bitten all the time from my 11 inch male RD and the most the little monster has done is take some skin off. she will most definatly be hungry though after having fasted for 3 days.

 

[ILuvMyMidasCichlid]

the easiest way to clear it up will be to do some water changes I usually do them 2x per week on my smaller cichlid tanks, and my 75 with the Festae and Cr. SP Cobra the others get done 1x per week.

as for her bitting your finger off I doubt that she will hurt much, I get bitten all the time from my 11 inch male RD and the most the little monster has done is take some skin off. she will most definatly be hungry though after having fasted for 3 days.

Yeah, I know it doesnt hurt too much. She has bit me before, actully she swallowed a pinkie before lol. Even After 3 days
of not eating, she doesnt want to eat. I just thaught Id try it, But she isnt interested at all. She swims the other way. As for the water changes I have done 2 of them a week for the past 2 months. lol, sorry but its not helping. I have literally tryed everything, but takeing her out cleaning it and putting in fresh water. Im not going to do that because then it will start the cycle over again. that I dont want.

 

[juanveldez]

how big are the water changes being done? I know that I usually do anywhere from 50-75%

 

[Colin_T]

just do water changes and gravel cleans. That is the easiest and cheapest way to clear up cloudy water. Then cut back on feeding. Excess food rotting in the tank will make it cloudy. When replacing water make sure it is free of chlorine and has a similar temperature & PH to the tank. Try doing daily 50% water change for a week.
If it is green cloudy then decrease the light and increase plants. Probably floating plants so they don't get dug up.

 

[ILuvMyMidasCichlid]

just do water changes and gravel cleans. That is the easiest and cheapest way to clear up cloudy water. Then cut back on feeding. Excess food rotting in the tank will make it cloudy. When replacing water make sure it is free of chlorine and has a similar temperature & PH to the tank. Try doing daily 50% water change for a week.
If it is green cloudy then decrease the light and increase plants. Probably floating plants so they don't get dug up.

K, I have done all of this stuff. My water changes are only 25-50% and I do them twice a week. As for the eating I havent fed her in 3 days. I just tryed and she wont eat, What she isnt eating I take back out of her home. Its not green, She is coverd up and its like a milky cloud color. Its has a faint white color to it. Im really getting concerd right now because she's not eating. A midas cichlid that is almost a foot long (11") and about a 1.5 wide, should eat. She isnt... Before this she ate 2 times a day 6 pellets a time. Sometimes guppies for a snack lol....

 

[juanveldez]

a big cichlid like that can go for a week without eatting, when it gets to be that long of a period I would start to worry.

you said that you moved the tank recently very possible that the move might of caused a bacterial bloom, the best suggestion that I can give is to increase the amount of your WCs to 50-75% 2x per weeek and see if that helps.

 

[ILuvMyMidasCichlid]

a big cichlid like that can go for a week without eatting, when it gets to be that long of a period I would start to worry.

you said that you moved the tank recently very possible that the move might of caused a bacterial bloom, the best suggestion that I can give is to increase the amount of your WCs to 50-75% 2x per weeek and see if that helps.

Ok thanks alot for all your help, it means alot. I would hate for something to happen to Peachy (my fish). I got her when she was only 2 inches and I have trained her to eat out of my hand (sometimes eat my hand) and She does all kinds of tricks. Ill bump my water changes to 50% and see how that goes. Thanks again for all your help.

 

[Colin_T]

the milky cloudy is water quality. Too much food and not enough filtration. Have you cleaned the filter out under tap water or had any major power failures lately? If so that could be the problem.
Doing daily water changes will help diltue the nutrients and bacteria that is causing the white discolouration to the water.
It is probably why the fish isn't eating as well. If there is an ammonia or nitrite reading then the fish is probably not feeling well and will ignore food.
Large predatory fishes like yours only need to be fed every couple of days. And most fish can go for weeks or even months without food.
Unlike mammals fish take their body temperature from the surrounding water. This means any food they eat is used for swimming and growing. People and other mammals use most of the food they eat to keep warm.

Do water changes every day and don't feed her for a week.

 

[ILuvMyMidasCichlid]

the milky cloudy is water quality. Too much food and not enough filtration. Have you cleaned the filter out under tap water or had any major power failures lately? If so that could be the problem.
Doing daily water changes will help diltue the nutrients and bacteria that is causing the white discolouration to the water.
It is probably why the fish isn't eating as well. If there is an ammonia or nitrite reading then the fish is probably not feeling well and will ignore food.
Large predatory fishes like yours only need to be fed every couple of days. And most fish can go for weeks or even months without food.
Unlike mammals fish take their body temperature from the surrounding water. This means any food they eat is used for swimming and growing. People and other mammals use most of the food they eat to keep warm.

Do water changes every day and don't feed her for a week.

Well my water lvls are good. My ammonia lvl is 0 and my nitrite is 0 also the only thing i have in my tank is nitrates and there not even a dark orange. I know all about the water lvls and temps and things. I have fixed all of that because at one time her PH was too low for her. I know her PH needs to be alittle acidic. Her water temp stays at 82, I noticed that around 82-84 degress she was alot more active. The eating doesnt really bother me, By the look of her she could go AWHILE with out eating lol. Ill try not feeding her for a few mores days. Im off tomarrow, Ill do a 75% water change and then 50% changed every day after that a couple days. Thanks for the help!

 

[hondadal]

The symptoms you describe lead me to look at three options the first to worry about would be ammonia - is your test kit up to date? if so try hagen`s B clear, if that doesn`t work try their P clear. I have used these products to clear similar bacterial blooms, fine particulate problems.