Tank Water - Help Please

[gyther]

I have had my tank for a few months now and although the fish are fine there is kinda white floating particals in the water accross the whole tank ( looks like dust floating in the tank is prob the best way to say it )

My set up

180L Rio (Covered with light in the hood)
Dual Filters (one on the back left and right)
various fish


All levels ie ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, PH, temp' etc. are all kept within the safe range
Changing the water once a week 25% (even tried changing once every 3 days, but it's still there or comes back??), cleaning gravel and glass, changing filter pads as instructed.

I have even gone to the length of changing all water and starting over which was great for a week then once again the dust appeared again???

Chemicals used..

Nutrafin - Aqua Plus
Waste control

King British - safe water


If anyone knows why this is happening or has any idea please please help... it is really getting to me .....

Also if you need any more info just post your question

Thanks Guys

Gyther

p.s. sorry if the spelling is poor

 

[ox5477]

I have had my tank for a few months now and although the fish are fine there is kinda white floating particals in the water accross the whole tank ( looks like dust floating in the tank is prob the best way to say it )

My set up

180L Rio (Covered with light in the hood)
Dual Filters (one on the back left and right)
various fish


All levels ie ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, PH, temp' etc. are all kept within the safe range
Changing the water once a week 25% (even tried changing once every 3 days, but it's still there or comes back??), cleaning gravel and glass, changing filter pads as instructed.

I have even gone to the length of changing all water and starting over which was great for a week then once again the dust appeared again???

Chemicals used..

Nutrafin - Aqua Plus
Waste control

King British - safe water


If anyone knows why this is happening or has any idea please please help... it is really getting to me .....

Also if you need any more info just post your question

Thanks Guys

Gyther

p.s. sorry if the spelling is poor

First:
Within acceptable ranges?

ammonia = 0, nitrite = 0: If either of these is not 0, then not acdeptable. in a fully cycled tank these should stay at 0 unless you add extra bioload and the media needs to do a mini-cycle.

pH: depends on what type of fish you keep but shouldn't be much higher than 8.0 for most all fish and no lower than 6.5

nitrate < 50 ppm is pretty good. above that would start to become a problem

temp: around 78 is good for most all tropical fish... some like a little warmer, some a little colder... but 78 is a good mean temp.


Second:
Don't use all those chemicals.... adding any unneeded chemicals to a tank can play havoc with the chemistry of the water and that will affect the health of your fish... Waste control is def not needed as long as you vac when you do your water changes. Only use one water conditioner... not sure what king british is but i'm guessing it's a conditioner....


Ok... now to your actual question... the dust is either small bits of poop stirred up by your fish or they are prob just micro-bubbles. Do you have a filter that airates the water? this would add micro bubbles... or if your filter inlet has atleast an inch or more drop then it can cause airation to occur and force microbubbles into your water... as long as your fish are healthy and happy then I would say it's nothing to worry about whatever it is. If you can post a full-tank shot I can see whats going on in the tank and could get a better idea of where the dust could be coming from. thanks

 

[scubadoo]

It could also be that your fish - like many others are messy feeders and create lots of tiny particles as a result.

Try to ensure that you dont overfeed.

Also, do you use fine 'wool' in your filters - otherwise known as mechanical filtration media - using these to 'polish' the water will help remove unwanted tiny particles.

 

[Kevstir]

if you still have the juwel filter installed i would go with what scubadoo said and use filter wool, I'm suffering from green water at the moment and added some wool to the filter , even though i still have green water (uv sterilizer on its way) its looking a lot cleaner , i will defo be using filter wool instead of them crappy white dual pads ..

Kev

 

[gyther]

I have had my tank for a few months now and although the fish are fine there is kinda white floating particals in the water accross the whole tank ( looks like dust floating in the tank is prob the best way to say it )

My set up

180L Rio (Covered with light in the hood)
Dual Filters (one on the back left and right)
various fish


All levels ie ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, PH, temp' etc. are all kept within the safe range
Changing the water once a week 25% (even tried changing once every 3 days, but it's still there or comes back??), cleaning gravel and glass, changing filter pads as instructed.

I have even gone to the length of changing all water and starting over which was great for a week then once again the dust appeared again???

Chemicals used..

Nutrafin - Aqua Plus
Waste control

King British - safe water


If anyone knows why this is happening or has any idea please please help... it is really getting to me .....

Also if you need any more info just post your question

Thanks Guys

Gyther

p.s. sorry if the spelling is poor

First:
Within acceptable ranges?

ammonia = 0, nitrite = 0: If either of these is not 0, then not acdeptable. in a fully cycled tank these should stay at 0 unless you add extra bioload and the media needs to do a mini-cycle.

pH: depends on what type of fish you keep but shouldn't be much higher than 8.0 for most all fish and no lower than 6.5

nitrate < 50 ppm is pretty good. above that would start to become a problem

temp: around 78 is good for most all tropical fish... some like a little warmer, some a little colder... but 78 is a good mean temp.


Second:
Don't use all those chemicals.... adding any unneeded chemicals to a tank can play havoc with the chemistry of the water and that will affect the health of your fish... Waste control is def not needed as long as you vac when you do your water changes. Only use one water conditioner... not sure what king british is but i'm guessing it's a conditioner....


Ok... now to your actual question... the dust is either small bits of poop stirred up by your fish or they are prob just micro-bubbles. Do you have a filter that airates the water? this would add micro bubbles... or if your filter inlet has atleast an inch or more drop then it can cause airation to occur and force microbubbles into your water... as long as your fish are healthy and happy then I would say it's nothing to worry about whatever it is. If you can post a full-tank shot I can see whats going on in the tank and could get a better idea of where the dust could be coming from. thanks

ok so my levels are as follow

amonia .25
nitrite 0
nitrate 30-40 but tap mt tap water comes in at 20 and i am due to change the water today

Is there any way of removing micro bubbles if that is the prob??

It could also be that your fish - like many others are messy feeders and create lots of tiny particles as a result.

Try to ensure that you dont overfeed.

Also, do you use fine 'wool' in your filters - otherwise known as mechanical filtration media - using these to 'polish' the water will help remove unwanted tiny particles.

That is a good point i have 4No. red belly which dispite what i have read are wicked fish look cool and mine are quite friendly they sit at the front of the tank all day...

I have started to only give them only 1-2 feeds a week to try to stop over feeding, but as you can imagine i have to be carefull as if they get straving they will strat to eat each other... but i got the feeding down to a T

if you still have the juwel filter installed i would go with what scubadoo said and use filter wool, I'm suffering from green water at the moment and added some wool to the filter , even though i still have green water (uv sterilizer on its way) its looking a lot cleaner , i will defo be using filter wool instead of them crappy white dual pads ..

Kev

I do have the juwel filter and am using the poly pads that you get with the filter what would you suggest as a better filter media?? I also have another filter on the other side (only been in there for a couple of days so i will see if it makes a difference)

Even if this isn't bad for the fish its f-ing anoying as i looks crap.

I got another tank the other day which seems to be fine... I just seem to be going round and round think i might just break down for trying and trying...

 

[ox5477]

ok so my levels are as follow

amonia .25
nitrite 0
nitrate 30-40 but tap mt tap water comes in at 20 and i am due to change the water today

Is there any way of removing micro bubbles if that is the prob??

is this tank cycled? cause if it is there should be no ammonia or nitrite unless you recently added new fish like in the last few days.

 

[gyther]

ok so my levels are as follow

amonia .25
nitrite 0
nitrate 30-40 but tap mt tap water comes in at 20 and i am due to change the water today

Is there any way of removing micro bubbles if that is the prob??

is this tank cycled? cause if it is there should be no ammonia or nitrite unless you recently added new fish like in the last few days.

like i say the levels aren't too bad... when i clean it tommrrow they will be perfect.

I kinda get the feeling like you said that they are bubbles, cause when i looked close up they are shiney, why would it be happening if it was bubbles cause at least i could try to stop that??

 

[sparklefuzz]

ok so my levels are as follow

amonia .25
nitrite 0
nitrate 30-40 but tap mt tap water comes in at 20 and i am due to change the water today

Is there any way of removing micro bubbles if that is the prob??

is this tank cycled? cause if it is there should be no ammonia or nitrite unless you recently added new fish like in the last few days.

like i say the levels aren't too bad... when i clean it tommrrow they will be perfect.

I kinda get the feeling like you said that they are bubbles, cause when i looked close up they are shiney, why would it be happening if it was bubbles cause at least i could try to stop that??

Ammonia at .25 IS bad if you have fish in there. Anything over .1 is too high.

 

[gyther]

ok so my levels are as follow

amonia .25
nitrite 0
nitrate 30-40 but tap mt tap water comes in at 20 and i am due to change the water today

Is there any way of removing micro bubbles if that is the prob??

is this tank cycled? cause if it is there should be no ammonia or nitrite unless you recently added new fish like in the last few days.

like i say the levels aren't too bad... when i clean it tommrrow they will be perfect.

I kinda get the feeling like you said that they are bubbles, cause when i looked close up they are shiney, why would it be happening if it was bubbles cause at least i could try to stop that??

Ammonia at .25 IS bad if you have fish in there. Anything over .1 is too high.

Its prob where i changed all the water bout 4 weeks ago to try to get rid of these flaming bits... I have got ammo-lock so i could go with that, how bad is .25??

 

[sparklefuzz]

ok so my levels are as follow

amonia .25
nitrite 0
nitrate 30-40 but tap mt tap water comes in at 20 and i am due to change the water today

Is there any way of removing micro bubbles if that is the prob??

is this tank cycled? cause if it is there should be no ammonia or nitrite unless you recently added new fish like in the last few days.

like i say the levels aren't too bad... when i clean it tommrrow they will be perfect.

I kinda get the feeling like you said that they are bubbles, cause when i looked close up they are shiney, why would it be happening if it was bubbles cause at least i could try to stop that??

Ammonia at .25 IS bad if you have fish in there. Anything over .1 is too high.

Its prob where i changed all the water bout 4 weeks ago to try to get rid of these flaming bits... I have got ammo-lock so i could go with that, how bad is .25??

If as you say, your tank is fully cycled, I would change 25% of the water daily until your ammonia drops below .1

I had this dust type stuff on my water surface, but when I looked closely it was tiny white bugs.. harmless apparently.. could that be it? Mine jumped which is how I realised they were bugs and not 'dust'.

 

[gyther]

ok so my levels are as follow

amonia .25
nitrite 0
nitrate 30-40 but tap mt tap water comes in at 20 and i am due to change the water today

Is there any way of removing micro bubbles if that is the prob??

is this tank cycled? cause if it is there should be no ammonia or nitrite unless you recently added new fish like in the last few days.

like i say the levels aren't too bad... when i clean it tommrrow they will be perfect.

I kinda get the feeling like you said that they are bubbles, cause when i looked close up they are shiney, why would it be happening if it was bubbles cause at least i could try to stop that??

Ammonia at .25 IS bad if you have fish in there. Anything over .1 is too high.

Its prob where i changed all the water bout 4 weeks ago to try to get rid of these flaming bits... I have got ammo-lock so i could go with that, how bad is .25??

If as you say, your tank is fully cycled, I would change 25% of the water daily until your ammonia drops below .1

I had this dust type stuff on my water surface, but when I looked closely it was tiny white bugs.. harmless apparently.. could that be it? Mine jumped which is how I realised they were bugs and not 'dust'.

Ok

I have had a close inspection and im quite sure that they are tiny tiny bubbles as there is more as you go up the tank and they rise to the surface... I will change the water over and over to combat the amonia problem which should be sorted within a few days right?? but that still leaves the buring question of how i get rid of the several million tiny bubbles floating around in my tank, i think i might just cry?!?!?!?!?!?

 

[ox5477]

Dude, its ok, the bubbles won't hurt anything.....my 55G has them all over the tank and if anything is good cause it show me that I have still have the current I want going in my tank. Don't fret as the bubbles arnt hurting anything

But I guess if you wanted to get rid of them, figure out where they are being originated from and then solve the prob by stopping what ever disturbance is causing the bubbles