Cloudy Water!

[k_20]

hi,

i have had my tank for nearly 4 months now so its been settled for ages. however yesterday the water started to go a bit cloudy and now this morning its got really quite bad - its a greeny colour cloud.

Also my sucker fish has died and there are bubbles at the top of the water - anyone know whats goin on / what i should do??

(Tank is 60L - fish are 4 guppies, 2 dwarf gouramis, 5 tetra, 1 siemese fighter).

Thanks

 

[SJ2K]

Sounds like an algae bloom, water changes and reduce lighting times should help.

 

[k_20]

ok so ive done a partial water change - how long roughly should it be before i start to see a difference?

 

[TheConstantGrower]

Algae bloom wouldn't knock a fish on its ears though right?

that's a nitrAte deal and relatively harmless to fish.

Before doing extensive water changes, check ALL your values, i hope you have a masters kit, test for ammonia, NitrIte and NitrAte. also PH (High range / low range) then go from there...

An extensive bloom in algae could mean too much direct sunlight or its compensating for an unbalance (ammonia / nitrIte)

Worth it to know where you stand now before dumping half the water and standing there with dead fish and a huge question mark over your head.

Also because i did not see your most recent post, water changes are immediate, hence the part with the water... and the changing... BUT, water changes are just a little bactine and a band aid. you still have to test your way to the route of the problem.

Filter Media
Lighting
Aeration
Dead fish in tank
Over Feeding
ect.

Get as MUCH detail on your tank as you can then bring it back here and i'm sure someone with 200% more experiance then i can really help to answere your questions...

Also... Pictures, pictures, pictures.

 

[waterdrop]

Welcome to the forums k_20,

Both members above could be right and an algae bloom may be occurring alongside a deterioration of your water conditions. If a normally milky bacterial bloom is in yellowish water, perhaps because of tannins from bogwood, it can appear greenish in certain light sources. On the other hand, if you have a lot of tank lighting or especially any sunlight, you may really be seeing algae. You may want to try to speculate on that further here.

ConstantGrow is right that your immediate concern is for your remaining fish. If you don't have a liquid-based test kit, you need to try and obtain one pretty quickly so you can test for the toxic ammonia and/or nitrite that may be endangering the fish. If you are unable to obtain a good test kit quickly (strip-based tests are basically worthless) you still should consider a series of 50% water changes. These should be done with the return water having been treated correctly with a dechlor product and roughly temperature matched by testing with your hand. The goal of the water changes is to dilute the ammonia and nitrite to zero and you'll need the test kit to determine when you've reached that goal. You need to wait at least an hour between 50% water changes to allow the fish to acclimate to the change.

Once you've taken the emergency action (unless we are wrong and there is more info for us) and done a water change or two, then your next step should be to come back here with questions. Entering your location info in your profile will help members to help you. Entering lots of baseline info about your tank and any chemicals going in to it will be important as Constant says. Test your tap water with the test kit and post your tap ammonia,nitrite,pH,nitrate levels here too.

~~waterdrop~~