Internal filter and cloudy water

[splasher72]

JUWEL BIOFLOW ONE TANK FILTER 300 L/H, this filter came with my new tank 60 ltr.
The water is after four weeks still a little cloudy, below is what I have done so far.
Half inch of gravel and sand then one inch of garden compost topped of with one inch of blue gravel, all washed as best I can.
Live plants, 9 guppy's, 6 tetras, 6 neon's, 1 dwarf gourami.
The filter is on 24/7 and each week I do a 2 gallon water change (rain water).
I suspect the filter, I have cleaned the sponges out twice.
The output of the filter seems to be strong as it moves the plants at the rear but there is no adjuster on the power.
Any suggestions please as I am new to this.

 

[Byron]

"Cloudy water" can be caused be several things. If you can actually see particulate matter in the water, it is likely from the substrate material or in the source water (tap water). If it is more just a haze like fog, it is likely a bacterial bloom. Diatom blooms are similar, and there are organic blooms. All these will be white to yellowish. A green bloom is unicellular algae.

The soil in your substrate is likely causing this cloudiness. And I would suspect it is organic/bacterial. There will be a lot of organics in the soil, and this means bacteria will rapidly appear and multiply to consume the organics. These bacteria are many and different species from the nitrifying bacteria dealing with ammonia/nitrite.

When you clean the filter sponges, are they discoloured? Is the rinse water dirty or clear?

Byron.

 

[splasher72]

Hi, the sponges have black particles that looks like from the compost, I have been planting some more plants.
The rinse water I would say is clear.
I have blue sponge in the filter that came with it, do you think I should buy a different sponge? .

 

[KopDS]

How do you wash your filter sponges (what water do you use)?

 

[Byron]

Hi, the sponges have black particles that looks like from the compost, I have been planting some more plants.
The rinse water I would say is clear.
I have blue sponge in the filter that came with it, do you think I should buy a different sponge? .

I looked for the filter online and found this info on the blue sponge
http://www.juwelonline.sk/filter-sp...oplus-fine-bioflow-one-1ks-4022573880212.html

and I don't see anything wrong with this. Keep it rinsed clean; regular rinsing is fine, replacement should not be necessary unless the pad begins to fall apart.

I would think the issue is the soil substrate. This will presumably settle in time. The more you disturb it, the longer it will take, obviously. I'm not a fan of soil substrates largely because of this sort of organic/bacterial issue during the initial few months.

 

[KopDS]

I agree that the soil could be at fault but could it not also be down to the livestock load being added so quickly. 22 fish in a tank that is only 4 weeks old, seems rather quick to me.
Also by rough working 60L is approx 13 gallons, so doing a 2 gallon water change weekly (15%) with that level of stocking would seem insufficient (as the tank is still new also).
What are your water parameters?

 

[splasher72]

Thanks Byron for your help and putting my mind at rest.
I used to keep tropical fish over 40 years ago, how things have changed.
Reg

 

[Byron]

I agree that the soil could be at fault but could it not also be down to the livestock load being added so quickly. 22 fish in a tank that is only 4 weeks old, seems rather quick to me.
Also by rough working 60L is approx 13 gallons, so doing a 2 gallon water change weekly (15%) with that level of stocking would seem insufficient (as the tank is still new also).
What are your water parameters?

These are possible too, or in combination with the soil. Live plants are present, though I don't know which species, but if there are relatively fast growing plants, the addition of fish should not have any impact. The CO2 from the organics in the soil should help the plants initially (this is actually the only benefit of soil substrates) so they should be doing well.

I do agree on larger volume water changes (missed that completely, my fault). There is (or soon will be) a heavy fish load.

 

[splasher72]

The quantity of fish was not my idea, our local fish shop I wonted to buy 2 mail guppy's but the assistant said I have to buy 4 female's to go with them, this has happened on more than one occasion.
The water is looking a lot clearer this morning.

 

[BeckyCats]

You may already know this, but I made this mistake, so I'll share with you just in case... When you rinse the filter sponge, don't use water that has chlorine in it. At first, I was washing my filter with tap water (that is chlorinated) so was killing the beneficial bacteria needed for the cycle.

You've kept fish before, so you probably know this already, but just thought I'd share just in case you didn't.

 

[Byron]

The quantity of fish was not my idea, our local fish shop I wonted to buy 2 mail guppy's but the assistant said I have to buy 4 female's to go with them, this has happened on more than one occasion.
The water is looking a lot clearer this morning.

The advice was accurate if male and female livebearers are together in a tank, as the males can drive the females hard and having more females to males provides some relief from continual harassment. However, with both male and female, you will now have dozens of fry regularly. Not all will get eaten, so you need a plan to dispose of them somehow. Or remove the females (back to the store?) and keep only males; this is a good strategy for livebearers (guppies, platy, etc).

 

[AbbeysDad]

Getting back to the cloudiness, it doesn't get any more 'organic' than compost. Many that do 'dirt' tanks use organic soil (not compost) and some even mineralize the soil (a process that 'burns' out the organics). This is prolly intensified by your heavy bio-load.
You will likely need many partial water changes perhaps along with very fine filtration media to get to clear water.

On the up side, although it looks bad in a display tank, and we strive for crystal clear water, cloudy water is usually not a serious problem (at least short term) for our fish. In the wild, fish often live in some very murky waters.

On the other hand, I recently watched a video of a fellow 'bragging' about his DIY CO2 system when the water in his tank looked pretty foul. I was thinking his tank needed tank maintenance more than CO2!