Help! Cloudy Tank!

[Quisty]

I am asking this on behalf of my father. He has a 55 gallon freshwater setup that he was given by my brother. He's had the tank for two years with no problem until recently. Then it started to get really cloudy. At first we though, oh its algae forming on the glass and its due for a water change and cleaning....but when my dad did the cleaning...the water improved for a time and then got cloudy again. He went and bought Jungle brand water treatment. He added what the bottle recommended and followed the instructions on the bottle. He's even gone to the website and called the help number on the back.... he tried their suggestions which seemed to help for a few weeks but then it started to get cloudy again. He went to our LFS and asked them. They told him it was going through a nitrogen cycle. That was a month ago, it is still cloudy. As a last resort, he bought a brand new power filter....he bought a Marineland power filter meant for tanks up to 90 gallons. We are starting to see some improvement but its very slow....

As I have never had this problem and I have brackish tanks.... other than what he's done I am not sure what to tell him.....

If you have any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks so much!

He's very afraid of trying anything drastic because of the 5 year old ghost knife that is in the tank. Just thought I'd add that...he loves that ghost knife and worries about anything affecting it.

 

[Fantail_John]

I am asking this on behalf of my father. He has a 55 gallon freshwater setup that he was given by my brother. He's had the tank for two years with no problem until recently. Then it started to get really cloudy. At first we though, oh its algae forming on the glass and its due for a water change and cleaning....but when my dad did the cleaning...the water improved for a time and then got cloudy again. He went and bought Jungle brand water treatment. He added what the bottle recommended and followed the instructions on the bottle. He's even gone to the website and called the help number on the back.... he tried their suggestions which seemed to help for a few weeks but then it started to get cloudy again. He went to our LFS and asked them. They told him it was going through a nitrogen cycle. That was a month ago, it is still cloudy. As a last resort, he bought a brand new power filter....he bought a Marineland power filter meant for tanks up to 90 gallons. We are starting to see some improvement but its very slow....

As I have never had this problem and I have brackish tanks.... other than what he's done I am not sure what to tell him.....

If you have any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks so much!

He's very afraid of trying anything drastic because of the 5 year old ghost knife that is in the tank. Just thought I'd add that...he loves that ghost knife and worries about anything affecting it.

Hello

You got the tank and dad cleaned it, how did he clean it? did he wash every thing out filter subsentence, gravel etc with tap water from the tap? if he cleaning the filter out with tap water this can kill of any beneficial bacteria that was in the filter your brother give you. What are your water tests? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH? Did you put some old filter media in the new filter? if not the new filter will have no beneficial bacteria in it so the tank will have to do a full cycle.

If you used water from a cycled tank to clean the filter then it might be a Mini cycle with the cleaning of the tank or it might be a bacteria bloom when you added the water to full up the tank. So the best thing is to take some reading from your fish tank and put them up on your post so we can take a look. If it's a bacteria bloom just keep doing the water changes and it will go might take a week or so. I have just had one in my 6 gallon tank on it took 4 days to clear.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/

Hope some one else will get back to you, as they might have some more information for you

John

 

[ellena]

Before the bloom started, did your dad do any maintenance on the filter? Washing it, changing pads for new ones?
Now he's bought the new power filter, did he swap any of the old sponges over into the new filter?

 

[Quisty]

Before the bloom started, did your dad do any maintenance on the filter? Washing it, changing pads for new ones?
Now he's bought the new power filter, did he swap any of the old sponges over into the new filter?

Btw ellena I love your title and your piccy^^

Thanks for the responses. I will ask him tomorrow to test the water. He tests the water using a pool testing kit so it tests pretty much everything lol.

Its my dads tank. Its at his house...he's gotten to the point of frustration with it so I thought I'd ask on here.

As far as the filter, I'm not sure if he got new pads or placed the old ones in. I'm sure he put the new ones that came with the filter...the previous power filter was quite old. I'm not sure how long my brother had the tank before he gave it to my dad.

The old tank sploded in July (literary cracked from top to bottom and we lost 55 gallons of water in less than 10 minutes.. we were scrambling to rescue fish). He did buy a new tank which he thoroughly washed before readding the stone, plants, water features, air stones and the old power filter. Only new thing was the tank.... he slowly filled the tank and let the tank run for a week before we put the fish back in.

Hope that helps. I'll get the tank readings from my dad as soon as I can and post them here^^

Thanks!!! ^^

 

[chrisbassist]

Waiting so long might mean the bacteria died from a lack of food.

 

[ellena]

Thanks
Yes, when setting up the new tank after the crack, if the filter was left with the fish all the time, it would have been OK. If however it was moved into the new tank a week before the fish, bacteria will have died off.
Also, when he set up the new power filter, if he used all the new sponges and none of his old ones, there will have been no bacteria again. Even if a filter's old, the sponges or ceramics in it virtually never wear out and contain all the good bacteria your fish need to process their waste.
Anyway, neither of these facts explain why the cloudiness started in the 1st place. But you can tell him that regular water changes will be necessary until the new filter is cycled. I'd say 50% every other day would be a good amount. Of course, I'm guessing without water stats.
I'm also slightly concerned about

At first we though, oh its algae forming on the glass and its due for a water change and cleaning.

Tanks need water changes weekly whether they look dirty or not

 

[drobbyb]

Just so we know where to go from here: When you say cloudy, is it a milky white or green?

 

[Quisty]

Thanks
Yes, when setting up the new tank after the crack, if the filter was left with the fish all the time, it would have been OK. If however it was moved into the new tank a week before the fish, bacteria will have died off.
Also, when he set up the new power filter, if he used all the new sponges and none of his old ones, there will have been no bacteria again. Even if a filter's old, the sponges or ceramics in it virtually never wear out and contain all the good bacteria your fish need to process their waste.
Anyway, neither of these facts explain why the cloudiness started in the 1st place. But you can tell him that regular water changes will be necessary until the new filter is cycled. I'd say 50% every other day would be a good amount. Of course, I'm guessing without water stats.
I'm also slightly concerned about

At first we though, oh its algae forming on the glass and its due for a water change and cleaning.

Tanks need water changes weekly whether they look dirty or not

Interesting... we had a LFS that usually gave great tank advice tell us 1/3 of the tank needs to be changed once a month. I'm still working on getting the tank stats from him... I may have to wait till Friday lol its about the only time we're both home at the same time.

Just so we know where to go from here: When you say cloudy, is it a milky white or green?

Its green... guess I didn't think about posting the color of the cloudiness. Silly me lol.

 

[BethK]

Whilst this subject is running, I spotted treatments yesterday,to 'de-cloud' tanks. Are they worth it?

 

[drobbyb]

Those treatments will clear the water. With that being said, depending on what is the cause of the cloudiness, it may come back. In all honesty, save your money. There has to be a cause for the cloudiness and until the problem has been corrected, the tank will remain cloudy.