The Colour Of Water

[frewind]

Hi,

New to all this, so really please to find this forum, great site.............

The water in my tank is discoloued, misty white, I started to notice it when the light was on, but now you can tell the waters misty with the light off.

I have a Juwel Vision 180 that's been running for a couple of months. I stepped up the water changes to one every other day, but this appears to have no effect.

I have 12 fish in the tank and they appear to be OK.

Thanks in adavance....

Darren

 

[WILDER]

What type of fish do you have in the tank it will help.
Water stats would be good in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

How often do you do a gravel vac and water change.

 

[ShoC]

Sounds like a Bacterial Bloom,
Do 25% water change then do another the next day,

Unsure if I'm correct on this buit I think a Bacterial Infection medication will clear it but not the best solution (IGNORE THIS COMPLETLEY LINE)

Just have to ride it out I'm afraid unless Some one else knows better (which is probably likely)

 

[WILDER]

Why do they need to use a bacterial med for it can cause bad water quality.

 

[ShoC]

Why do they need to use a bacterial med for it can cause bad water quality.

Unsure if I'm correct on this buit I think a Bacterial Infection medication will clear it but not the best solution

READ what I said....

Unsure and if so not best solution I.e NOT good

and

Just have to ride it out I'm afraid unless Some one else knows better (which is probably likely)


Ride it out let nature take its course as thats sometimes best

 

[WILDER]

If unsure don't mention it as some members will act on the information.
Not having ago.

 

[ShoC]

If some one acts on something that mentions

Unsure. Not best solution and Ride it out.....
then I don't know where education is going these days

but true enough I'll edit my post

 

[raptorrex]

Why do they need to use a bacterial med for it can cause bad water quality.

Unsure if I'm correct on this buit I think a Bacterial Infection medication will clear it but not the best solution

READ what I said....

Unsure and if so not best solution I.e NOT good

and

Just have to ride it out I'm afraid unless Some one else knows better (which is probably likely)


Ride it out let nature take its course as thats sometimes best

using an anti-bac without properly identifying, if it is truly needed, is not really a good way to do things. and in this case, i personally, don't think it would be of any use. please don't take offence, it is common knowledge now that anti-bionics are vastly over used, and therefore becoming less and less effective.
frewind:
did this just happen, or was it after a filter clean? at six weeks your tank is still young. i think some water stats and a bit more information may help.

 

[frewind]

Sorry can't remember all the proper names. but have 2 large male mollys, 3 large female mollys, 1 blue balloon molly and 2 female balloon mollys, 1 Guppy, 3 Catfish (sucker ones) and 3 (which we call) bottom dwellers (eat all the crap from the floor) look like cat fish but don't suck on glass. Will do the ph and let you know results

 

[raptorrex]

Sorry can't remember all the proper names. but have 2 large male mollys, 3 large female mollys, 1 blue balloon molly and 2 female balloon mollys, 1 Guppy, 3 Catfish (sucker ones) and 3 (which we call) bottom dwellers (eat all the crap from the floor) look like cat fish but don't suck on glass. Will do the ph and let you know results

did you do a fishless or with fish cycle? there seem to be a lot of fish for a six week old tank.

 

[frewind]

Right,

Should have pointed out the couple of months up and running is the point a which the fishless cycle completed (if thats the right way of saying it). I followed the post on this site and it appeard to work well. Can't quite remember, but I think that took 6 or 8 weeks.

Just done a 50% water change and taken the new readings. The water is still a little misty. I'm using a Nutrafin Test Kit.

Ph 7.5 Ph has always been between 7.5 and 8
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 20
Nitrite 0.1

Cheers Darren

 

[raptorrex]

Right,

Should have pointed out the couple of months up and running is the point a which the fishless cycle completed (if thats the right way of saying it). I followed the post on this site and it appeard to work well. Can't quite remember, but I think that took 6 or 8 weeks.

Just done a 50% water change and taken the new readings. The water is still a little misty. I'm using a Nutrafin Test Kit.

Ph 7.5 Ph has always been between 7.5 and 8
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 20
Nitrite 0.1

Cheers Darren

ok no problem, if it had been a with fish cycle, the stock would have been too much at this time. should be ok with a fishless though.

 

[MHunt]

Bacterial blooms can happen for a number of reasons. Make sure you're not overfeeding as the waste food will quickly break down and foul the water. Your water stats aren't that bad, but i'd keep doing the water changes till the bacteria is so dilute it can't sustain itself.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Any reading for nitrite is bad news, there's a link in my sig about bacterial blooms which will go some way towards explaining it for you.

In your case the presence of nitrite combined with a bacterial bloom indicates something has gone wrong with your cycle, did this occur after a filter clean or heavy maintenance? Also be honest with us, have you kept up your weekly maintenance? How much are you feeding? This could be caused by too much uneaten food/waste in the tank.

Either way the solution is the same, you're basically in a fish-in cycle although probably a mini cycle that wil only last a few days, so water changes every day to keep nitrite as close to 0 as possible, if you've not kept up with maintenance then do a good gravel vac each day as well. When you reach the point that ntirite can hold itself steady at 0 with no water changes then the milky water will clear up in a few days by itself.

(also some of the people who have offered advice on how to deal with bacterial blooms, it may do you some good to read it as well, not havign a go or anything, but some of your advice is off and if you read it you'll see why and can then advise correctly in future cases)

 

[petertr]

Well said Wiggle.