Urgent Help Plz

[vicmitch]

Ive had my tank set up for 3month now with no problems untill 2 weeks ago, it started 2 get cloudy so i changed 1/4 of the water it just seemed to be getting worse, i was advised to buy a ugf so i did, i took 1/2 the water out all the gravel and put the ugf in toped up with fresh water. (im also usng a fluval 4 filter) This hasnt fixed it either im new to all this so dont have a clue what to do next.
Its a 27 gallon tank with
4 Silver sharks
3 platies
2 Moonlight gouramis
7 neons
1 plec
1 weather loach
1 angel
3 tetras
The pic looks greener than it actually is

Any help would great.

Thanx

 

[shelaghfishface]

have you tested the water? if so post te results
is anything dead and stuck begind something?
have you been gravel vac-ing?
is the temp ok?

it maybe a bacterial bloom, these genrally clear up after a few days 5 tops, but if you do water changes they tend to start all over again
test the water if everything is fine then maybe look to see all the fish are accounted for, then you may hve to leave it to see if it will settle, annoying i know from expereince,


edit, i wuldnt have sed a UG, they tend to trap a lot of crap , the fluval would take care of that tank with that stocking no problem

 

[vicmitch]

Ill get a test kit 2day and post results, like i said im new so dont know wot ill be looking for, ive not lost any fish since it started to get cloudy, best to take the ugf out?? the local fish shop advised me to get it, sounds like he was just trying toget cash out of me.

 

[shelaghfishface]

yeah sadly thats probably true

i would be inclined to take it out to be honest, but dont worry about that just now, lets concentrate on the test results,and cloudiness first, taking it out would mean stripping the whole tank down and starting over basicaly,so we can worry about that later


post the results and we can go from there
the most of us on here use and recomend the API freshwater master testing kit, dont get strips as they are very inacurate

 

[vicmitch]

Right i took a sample into the shop as im a newbie i dont know wot im looking for, he did 4 test 3 of em were fine but 1 of was dark purple, he started talking jiberish 2 me lol, basicaly he said 2 much light, there is no direct sunlight to the tank and the tank lights are only on for about 5rs a day, he said its light in general doesnt have to be direct sunlight.
He told me to change about 20 to 30% of water once a week for 2 weeks then 10% once a month, he also gave me some green away to add to the water, hopefully that will work

 

[m00se]

I hate it when fish shops don't give people actual numbers. You need to get your hands on a proper liquid test kit. You in the UK? Check your local fish store, otherwise pets at home stock the API Master test kit for £20ish. With no numbers to go on, I have no idea whether that's good or bad advice from the fish store, but it sounds like nonsense to me (although at an educated guess, the dark purple was probably the nitrIte, and dark purple is bad news). In case it was a high nitrIte, I'd do a large volume (80% or so) water change now, get yourself a test kit straight afterwards, and test the water as soon as you can.

 

[vicmitch]

I hate it when fish shops don't give people actual numbers. You need to get your hands on a proper liquid test kit. You in the UK? Check your local fish store, otherwise pets at home stock the API Master test kit for £20ish. With no numbers to go on, I have no idea whether that's good or bad advice from the fish store, but it sounds like nonsense to me (although at an educated guess, the dark purple was probably the nitrIte, and dark purple is bad news). In case it was a high nitrIte, I'd do a large volume (80% or so) water change now, get yourself a test kit straight afterwards, and test the water as soon as you can.

It was pets at home who did the test

 

[m00se]

*facepalm*

lol wouldn't you just know it...the irony! Pets at home are not immune from inventing gibberish to sell products, unfortunately.

Just buy one of their API Master test kits and bring it home, then you can avoid the people in there talking nonsense and you can let us do it instead It seems expensive to buy the kit but it'll last you a good year.

 

[shelaghfishface]

any news. is it starting to clear?

 

[vicmitch]

any news. is it starting to clear?

Im doing a black out of the tank atm, put it under cover yesterday, ill take it of 2mora and change some water, been told that will work (hopefully)

 

[Geoff1991]

Do a large water change (80%) leave the cover on for 3 days then do another big water change and it should be ok.

Im doing a blackout as well, i have problems with BGA

 

[Spishkey]

i dont think a black out is your answer, i do believe you are experiencing a bacteria bloom. how much do you feed your fish?
for the next few days dont feed them at all (they will be fine honest!!) get yourself a gravel vac and do the best gravel vac you can ......without removing 'too' much water if poss!
try not to do any water changes, this will make it 10 times worse.

should see improvements in a few days

Do a large water change (80%) leave the cover on for 3 days then do another big water change and it should be ok.

Im doing a blackout as well, i have problems with BGA

if it is a bacterial bloom and he does those kinds of water changes..he'll be making it a lot worse!

think we need to suss out if its a BB or algae problem

 

[Geoff1991]

It looks more like algae than a bacterial bloom to me, looking at pictures of it and then of a guy who had green water from algae... In that case a blackout may work, but who knows

When i had a bacterial bloom it wasnt green in the slightest

This doesnt prove anything but heresa a picture of green water from algae. Taken from [URL="http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk"]http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk[/URL]

Description This is a unicellular algae. Water goes cloudy. Sometimes just a green tint, other times it can look like pea soup.
Cause Ammonia is often the main cause green water. There may have been an ammonia spike that isn't detected with test kits. Other possible causes are an imbalance of nutrients and/or low CO2 levels.
Removal Large water changes do not seem to always help. If there is an imbalance in nutrients then fixing it will sometimes make it go away by itself after a while. A three day blackout followed by a large water change will hit it hard and sometimes may clear it. A UV steriliser/clarifier or diatom filter will clear it up very quickly and is often the only way to clear it.
A new method is to use freshly cut 1-2 year old willow branches about 0.5-1cm in width. Place these in your tank vertically so they go from the substrate to a few centimetres above the water's surface. After a few days they will start to grow roots and the green water should start to clear. When cleared remove the branches from the water.
Don't confuse this with a bacterial bloom which gives the water a white haze.

 

[Spishkey]

mine wasnt either, it was cloudy, but the guy said in his opening post the tank isnt so green as in the pic and its cloudy, which makes me think BB.



can you confirm if you have an algae growth in your tank please vicmitch? is the water green or just a white cloudy colour?

 

[vicmitch]

mine wasnt either, it was cloudy, but the guy said in his opening post the tank isnt so green as in the pic and its cloudy, which makes me think BB.



can you confirm if you have an algae growth in your tank please vicmitch? is the water green or just a white cloudy colour?

The water is green but looks worse in the pic, just found out when ive been working 12 hours a day the wife has had the tank lights on all day, think that could be the problem, just hope the black out works