Cloudy water

[PETE A]

Hi,

Can anyone help, my tank water keeps going cloudy I do weekly 25% water changes and add chlorine cleaner, and have no live plants in the tank but after a few days the water becomes misty and cloudy, the are two internal filters in the tank aswell.

Cheers

Pete A :=)

 

[Rose]

how long have you had your tank? Have you cycled it yet? Are you cycling the tank? Do you know what "cycling" is?
What kind of filter and size tank do you have? How many fish and their size? What kind(s) of fish are they (swordtails, mollies, platies, neon tetras ect...)? Answers to these questions will help us figure this out. Rose

 

[William]

As rose says a few more details I am just posting to say welcome to the forum

William

 

[adeyc]

Me to. Hi.

How often and how much are you feeding your fish?

It's not uncommon after a water change for the water to go cloudy but that usualy clears up after a few hours.
In your situation we need some extra info to help find whats causing this.
in addition what "chlorine cleaner" are you using.

 

[Rose]

I have the details.  You guys will have to help me with some of this as I don't know what his filter looks like or how it's set up.  Here they are... Rose

Glad to see that you all took the time to view my message and reply back so soon. Anyway heres a few details that may help make your minds up.

I have had the tank for about 1 and half years and Rose no I dont know what the cycle is or if it has been done. The tank is a 3 foot six tank and my present fish are 3 silver dollars (med) 4 clown loach (sml) 20 neon tetras 1 Gold Gourami 2 corys with a red tail fins and 5 tiger barbs (small). All healthy and doing great.

I feed the fish only twice a week on Wed and Sunday, the Chlorine cleaner is Tetra Aqua Aqua Safe which I add every water change. I have now added some plants to see if this makes a difference. The tank did look very bare, with just the rocks in it!

Oh I nearly forgot the two internal filters are Interpet IPF 4 and thank's again for the welcome and the time and trouble.

Cheers Pete A

 

[adeyc]

I'd say that the tanks is about 30 gallons (UK). the tank is heavily stocked if my guestimations on dimensions are about right, Problems will arrise with the tiger barbs when they get a bit bigger and maybe the gourami, but all this doesn't help the cloudy situation.
Interpet doesn't seem to have a website I can find but I did find this filter. could be that with two filters running the intake is too powerful and churning up debris in the substrate, but thats just a thought (Pete, Do you vac the gravel?)

Anyway I'm just up and will do a bit of checking later on and get back to you.
If the tanks up and running and has been for a year it should be cycled. If you've got any test kits it might be an idea to see what the ammonia, nitrite,nitrate etc levels are. Adding the plants will help the tank and the fish but I don't think will cure the problem.
is the cloudyness like a liquid's been added or can you see particles floating in the water?

Another thought, with all the fish in the tank could the population be almost all female and they seem to be spawning similtainiously? a shot in the dark but I'm running things through in my head.
Be back later.

 

[adeyc]

Pete says that he tests the water a couple of days after the change as well as vac'ing the gravel and there aren't any particles in the water. so that's out for a start. The chems added shouldn't be a problem, (Pete check if the chlorine remover is out of date. Just in the off chance). The only conclusion I can come up with is that there's something new added to the tank before the problem first started, the local water authority has added something to the water supply and the oldy but goody, alien intervention.

Davy, If you can rember the old days of the helpline? Did you ever get any word from the guy in the US that had the same problem if he got rid of the problem(to jog your memory he had a few tanks used the same in them all but one tank was always going cloudy, I discovered he had added some granite and an unidentified rock or two. he was going to remove the rocks and see what happened)

 

[Rose]

it might be a algea bloom too you guys. It's not unheard of for this to happen to a seasoned tank. Rose

 

[William]

Pete just sent me a private message to tell me that his water is only 1/2 as cloudy as it was before and Pete if you read this click "add reply" and type your post so the others can know how you combatted it.

William

 

[Great Lakes]

Hi pete. One more idea. This time of year the sun is starting to shed a lot more light to the day. If it is an algae bloom you are experiencing, it may be due to increased sunlight on the tank.
But I don't know where you have it placed, so this may not apply.

 

[PETE A]

Hi All

Just got in from work and pleased to tell you all that the cloudy water problem seems to have gone. But I do not know what caused it, but damm glad its gone and now I can see my fish in all the glory

Great Lakes asked were the tank is, it's not near the front window although the sun at it's strongest can shine over towards the tank but how often do we see sun in this country?

I noticed that 2 of my Silver Dollars seem to be rubbing against each other alot, and on closer view noticed that one seems to have a sheen on its skin, is this a form of itch or fish eczema. I have treated the tank with white spot medication and it states it's for all skin problems.

I hope this sorts it out because my dollars are the longest fish I have had in one go.

Sorry the message is so long but I look forward to getting the replys.

Cheers Pete A
:but: 8)

 

[Davy Reynolds]

This could just be an after effect from your problems. Fish use the slim to protect themselfs, they will be stressed out and may need a few days to settle down.
Keep an eye on them to see if it settles. If not give us a shout