I've Tried Everything, But Nothing Works!

[jamiesessler]

I need to know what I should be doing to get rid of the cloudiness in my freshwater aquarium. I have had the aquarium for several months. It is 20 gallons and I have 2 pictus catfish, 1 blue dwarf gourami, 1 swordtail, 1 mystery snail, and 4 mollys. It has been very cloudy the past few weeks. I normally do a 10% water change/gravel pump every week, but the last 2 weeks I have done 50% because 10% wasn't helping. The water that comes out looks yellow. I even bought a new penguin 200 bio-wheel filter capable of handling a 50 gallon aquarium but that isn't helping either. I tried a water clarifier a few times but no luck. My plants and fish seem to be fine except for the blue dwarf gourami- one recently died and the other won't move away from one of the plants. The only things I add to the water are aquarium salt, pH + b/c I have a low pH, a chemical to bring down my nitrates & nitrites (can't remember the name right now b/c I just ran out) and water conditioner. When I test my water it says the nitrates are on the high end of the safe range, pH is low, and alkalinity is low. The only thing I can think of at this point is to do a 100% water change but I know that also won't be good for the fish. Please help!

 

[confusion]

Here's what I would do. Next time you do your water change, only add declorinator to the water. Stop with salt, ph up, etc.

What are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings?

I think you mean that you are cleanin your filter weekly, correct? How are you doing that? It's possible that youe tank isn't fully cycling because of the cleaning. I've had some friends that were very meticulous and thoroughly cleaned the filters and tank each week, but had all of their fish die, time after time.

 

[Liam]

10% water change is on the low side 20% per week would be better. If you have any wood in the tank it will release tannins in the water and discolour it. You shouldnt need to use a chemical to bring down nitrates growing plants and water changes will do that. Nitrites shouldnt be a problem in a tank running that long. Tank water will take on a yellow colour due to fish waste, so more water changes should solve the problem. Sometimes tanks can get a bacteria bloom that will cloud the water but that usually has a milky colour. Seachem purigen (wrong spelling) is said to clear water that is discoloured but you shouldnt need it with regular water changes. I wouldnt do a 100% water changes you can do about 20-30% a day for a few days that should clear the water if its just dissolved organic matter.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

I didn't read through the whole post/thread so I may be repeating other information, or some of my questions may have already been asked, but hopefully I can help.

Well, do you know how big Pictus get? You should stick around, and learn some stuff about fish-keeping. If you keep those Pictus in that 20 gallon, they will end up getting stunted and die... They will live a quick, miserable life.

I do not recommend you using any form of chemicals other then dechlorinator, most others do more harm then good. Did you cycle the tank? The water color may be caused by tannins (any rotting plants/drift wood will color the water yellow/brown) and messy water. Test Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates it may turn the water cloudy. If you do find you have any of the above, (small amounts of nitrates can be expected in most cases) then will most likely caused by you not cycling your tank, and not doing enough water changes (10% is too little.)


Just so you know, Pictus can get up to a foot long, so you will need to re-home these, or get a bigger tank. Mollies tend to do better in brackish water, so you may want to consider moving them/re-homing them.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

How deeply/thoroughly do you gravel vac the tank? Since the water is starting to yellow my guess is tannins released from waste products and debris if you don't have any driftwood. Also, don't forget to check the filter pads for built up debris since those will add to the decay/nitrAte load over time.

Definitely ditch all the chemicals aside from water conditioner. Do go with higher volume water changes. Activated carbon is a quick fix for removing discoloration due to tannins, but activated carbon only lasts a few weeks, and it's better to solve the problem than just filter it out.