Cloudy Water

[Vendetta]

Hi everyone,
I need some advice please. I have a 20gallon unheated tank, usually runs at 70 degrees, with 7 weather loach all 4 to5 inches at the moment. My problem is cloudy water. Two days ago I did a 50% water change, scrubbed the glass clean, whacked the filter flow right up, added some Viresco, I think that's what it's called, that's supposed to get rid of all algae, cleaned the filter and now we're back to cloudy water! The tank is near a window so I blocked off all outside light but it didn't help at all. Last night algae was already starting to form on the glass!!
The substrate is just sand with bogwood decor and planted up. I admit I feed the loach quite a bit but they are bottomless pits when it comes to food and never leave anything uneaten. I'm really at my wits end as to what to try next! Strangely, I still had this problem with this tank while it was cycling and there was no food going in at all!
Any ideas anyone?

 

[smokeyjo]

Hi everyone,
I need some advice please. I have a 20gallon unheated tank, usually runs at 70 degrees, with 7 weather loach all 4 to5 inches at the moment. My problem is cloudy water. Two days ago I did a 50% water change, scrubbed the glass clean, whacked the filter flow right up, added some Viresco, I think that's what it's called, that's supposed to get rid of all algae, cleaned the filter and now we're back to cloudy water! The tank is near a window so I blocked off all outside light but it didn't help at all. Last night algae was already starting to form on the glass!!
The substrate is just sand with bogwood decor and planted up. I admit I feed the loach quite a bit but they are bottomless pits when it comes to food and never leave anything uneaten. I'm really at my wits end as to what to try next! Strangely, I still had this problem with this tank while it was cycling and there was no food going in at all!
Any ideas anyone?

Could this be a bacterial bloom how thoroughly did u was the the filter I was told to wash it gently in a bucket of tank water because the system needs the bacteria just a maybe though I'm by no means an expert hope you get it sorted though

 

[Mowbz]

Definately sounds like a bacterial bloom. Nothing but huge water changes is going to shift it. You want to get all of the water out if possible, not just half. 90% is good, 100% would be better.

As for feeding, fish dont have the same "full" mechanism we have. If you keep feeding, they'll jjust keep eating, and excreting unprocessed food, which builds up ammonia levels. Light + Food Source (ammonia/nitrite/nitrate) = Algae.

The algae issue is normally caused by excess light. How many hours of light is the tank getting? If you still have algae, i would recommend the following;

Wrap the tank up in blankets/whatever else you have to completely shut off the light to the tank, it needs to be completely dark.

Leave like this for 3-4 days.

No peeking, no feeding, no light. Just fish, in the dark. If you still have algae, feed sparingly, and re-cover.

 

[Vendetta]

Thanks for the replies SmokeyJo and Mowbz
I did a water test before and after the 50% water change and ammonia levels were 0 so we're ok there.
I have the tank blacked out but I have been turning it on to feed, it stays on for about 20 mins.
So they'll be ok with no food for a few days then?
Normally the light is on for aprox 12 to 14hrs a day, is this too much?
Will report back after 3 or 4 days of complete darkness and no food (Fingers crossed!!)

 

[the_lock_man]

Lights should be 6-8 hours, that won't be helping the algae.

 

[Mowbz]

Thanks for the replies SmokeyJo and Mowbz
I did a water test before and after the 50% water change and ammonia levels were 0 so we're ok there.
I have the tank blacked out but I have been turning it on to feed, it stays on for about 20 mins.
So they'll be ok with no food for a few days then?
Normally the light is on for aprox 12 to 14hrs a day, is this too much?
Will report back after 3 or 4 days of complete darkness and no food (Fingers crossed!!)

Yup, its been said that they can go up to two weeks, but never tested this myself. A few days however is fine, and some fish would be sed to this in the wild, finding food as they go.

The lack of light and food should halt and possibly even start to reverse the growth of Algae. I would recomment making sure everything is as it should be befoe covering up, most importantly, that there is enough surface movement for oxygenation, so you dont have to open it up halfway and ruin your work!