Cloudy Tank / Fish Gasping At Surface.

[stewarth]

Hi,

This is the second time this has happened & although there were no bad after-effects last time (that i could see) i'd like to know what's going on.

On Saturday morning the tank has suddenly gone really cloudy - not green. Also the fish are up at the surface gasping for air.

I tested the water & all seems fine (see below)

Did a ~40% water change and things seem to be improving - this morning seemed clearer & fish were swimming normally.

My LFS told me it was probably an ammonia spike but the test kit says it isnt - unless the kit is measuring wrong.

One possible link is that a week or so ago i added some fin rot / fungal medicine as some of the tetras have white lumps on them. i THINK that this happened last time i did this but i cant be sure.

Anyone any comments. Thanks.


Tank Info:

Tank size: 4ft ~ 40 gallons
pH: 8 / 8.5
ammonia: ? lowest reading on test kit
nitrite: 0
nitrate: ? lowest reading on test kit
kH: ?
gH: ?
tank temp: ~ 26

Filters - fluval 4 running OK, washed filters (in aquarium water last weekend)
2 x Interpet combined heater / pumps

I usually change about 10 - 20 % of the water every 2 / 3 weeks, cleaning the gravel at the same time.

Have a bit of an algae problem - but that had seemed to be clearing up last week, with the stuff on the back of the tank disappearing & also going from the gravel - but the gravel algae is coming back again now.

Tank is planted but only around 6 / 7 plants

1 piece of bogwood

Tank has been set up for about 4 months now.

The other thing is that several fish have died recently - 1 indian gourami & 1 albino cory only lasted a 3/4 days in the tank. Then some of the older fish died - 1 neon tetra (although it had been ill before - think a fungal infection & had gone a bit misshapen), 2 Mountain Cloud (?) minnows & 1 golden algae eater.

I'm a bit dispirited with all these sudden deaths - seemed to be pretty stable up till then.

 

[trace1]

when you say cleaned the filter did you clean all of the filter media ?? if so this could have caused an ammonia spike. also i could be wrong but i think idealy you should be changing 10/15% of water weekly. if you have corys in there as well the gravel vac is most important as the corys rumage on the bottom & if there is any decaying food they will pick it up & this can cause bacterial problems for them. hth

 

[stewarth]

when you say cleaned the filter did you clean all of the filter media ?? if so this could have caused an ammonia spike. also i could be wrong but i think idealy you should be changing 10/15% of water weekly. if you have corys in there as well the gravel vac is most important as the corys rumage on the bottom & if there is any decaying food they will pick it up & this can cause bacterial problems for them. hth

Cleaned both filter pads - is that wrong? i thought as long as i did it in aqaurium water then it wouldnt affect the bacteria colony?

 

[trace1]

you are right that cleaning them in the aquarium water is best but you should only ever clean 1 side at a time otherwise you lose your bacteria. i bet thats been you problem. have you got a test kit ?
if so then keep a close eye on water stats & do water changes if there is any sign of ammonia or nitrites.

 

[stewarth]

you are right that cleaning them in the aquarium water is best but you should only ever clean 1 side at a time otherwise you lose your bacteria. i bet thats been you problem. have you got a test kit ?
if so then keep a close eye on water stats & do water changes if there is any sign of ammonia or nitrites.

OK - thanks, i'll bear that in mind.

I do have a kit & i've never seen the ammonia level above the minimum reading - maybe its not measuring properly but that would be odd. I'll test again this evening.

I'll also see if i can take a water sample to the local fish shop & get them to test it.

 

[phlawed]

"nitrate: ? lowest reading on test kit"

readings should be 10-40ppm on a cycled tank...fish producing more nitrItes than the nitrAtes can cause the 0 reading.

 

[stewarth]

"nitrate: ? lowest reading on test kit"

readings should be 10-40ppm on a cycled tank...fish producing more nitrItes than the nitrAtes can cause the 0 reading.

By "lowest reading on kit" i dont mean '0ppm' nitrates, just that i cant remember the actual ppm reading but it was at the bottom of the colour chart. i suspect that this means 0 - something. i'll check the chart this evening & post the actual ppm readings.

NitrIte reading was 0ppm - in fact it was the lowest its ever been - usually there is just a little purple tinge but this time it was absolutely clear.

Thanks.

 

[stewarth]

OK - i'm home & the tank has cleared completely!

BUT - another Gourami (been in the tank 1 week) has perished.

The water readings were:

Ammonia ~ 0.4 mg/l
Nitrite 0mg/l
Nitrate ~12 mg/l

The ammonia is a little higher than i've seen it before - but its not huge?

 

[Sheridanp]

Do a water change right now to get rid of the Ammonia. I don't know anything about diseases and stuff, so you have to wait for an expert on this.