Water Problems

[CentricOregon]

Hi, this is really bugging me and I don't have a clue why my tanks doing this. I have a Juwel Rio 180 and i have had it for 5 or 6 months but over that time my water has been sparkling 3 times. I managed to keep it free from cloudiness up intill 3 weeks ago when the cloudiness came back and I just can't get rid of it. Theres probably a million answers to this but what the hell is causing this and how can i get rid of it? it isn't effecting my fish, there still fine and swimming about but it really bugs me.

Thanks

 

[Scotty001]

Hi, this is really bugging me and I don't have a clue why my tanks doing this. I have a Juwel Rio 180 and i have had it for 5 or 6 months but over that time my water has been sparkling 3 times. I managed to keep it free from cloudiness up intill 3 weeks ago when the cloudiness came back and I just can't get rid of it. Theres probably a million answers to this but what the hell is causing this and how can i get rid of it? it isn't effecting my fish, there still fine and swimming about but it really bugs me.

Thanks

what are your water stats ??? there is a possability it is a bacteria bloom if the tank is going through a mini cycle.

If not then by adding some new filter floss to the filter media to clear out the v fine particles that may cause the cloudiness.

Have you been using any chemicals in the tank ?

what substrait do tou use, if its sand you may be getting a fish or two geting spooked for some readon which could kick up sand and cread a little sand storm which can take a few hrs to a day to re settle dependant on the filter make and model.

 

[CentricOregon]

Hi, this is really bugging me and I don't have a clue why my tanks doing this. I have a Juwel Rio 180 and i have had it for 5 or 6 months but over that time my water has been sparkling 3 times. I managed to keep it free from cloudiness up intill 3 weeks ago when the cloudiness came back and I just can't get rid of it. Theres probably a million answers to this but what the hell is causing this and how can i get rid of it? it isn't effecting my fish, there still fine and swimming about but it really bugs me.

Thanks

what are your water stats ??? there is a possability it is a bacteria bloom if the tank is going through a mini cycle.

If not then by adding some new filter floss to the filter media to clear out the v fine particles that may cause the cloudiness.

Have you been using any chemicals in the tank ?

what substrait do tou use, if its sand you may be getting a fish or two geting spooked for some readon which could kick up sand and cread a little sand storm which can take a few hrs to a day to re settle dependant on the filter make and model.

I dunno what my stats are as my water is always fine and havn't ever had any problems with it, i knew to start with it was a bacteria bloom but that should have finished by now. i only put chemicals in my tank if my tank doesn't clean so i put green away, stress zyme and filter start in. i know i overdone it there but i guessed it couldnt get any cloudier than it already was. usually when i clean my tank i put salt in but thats it. do you think i should take my water right down fill it up and drain and fill it up again? also my fish suck so bad at eating so alot of the food goes to waste which then just sits in the gravel and rots away.

 

[CentricOregon]

Hi, this is really bugging me and I don't have a clue why my tanks doing this. I have a Juwel Rio 180 and i have had it for 5 or 6 months but over that time my water has been sparkling 3 times. I managed to keep it free from cloudiness up intill 3 weeks ago when the cloudiness came back and I just can't get rid of it. Theres probably a million answers to this but what the hell is causing this and how can i get rid of it? it isn't effecting my fish, there still fine and swimming about but it really bugs me.

Thanks

what are your water stats ??? there is a possability it is a bacteria bloom if the tank is going through a mini cycle.

If not then by adding some new filter floss to the filter media to clear out the v fine particles that may cause the cloudiness.

Have you been using any chemicals in the tank ?

what substrait do tou use, if its sand you may be getting a fish or two geting spooked for some readon which could kick up sand and cread a little sand storm which can take a few hrs to a day to re settle dependant on the filter make and model.

heres some pics

 

[Scotty001]

yeah i would do a 50 / 60 % water change strait away, and a major gravel vac. if you have loads of rotton food and poop in the gravel that will be strainig the filter like mad which is a probable cause of the cloudy water, your filter may be overloaded and cant cope with what its being asked to do. what filter and size tank do you have, also what fish are in the tank,

You cant tell that the water is fine just by looking at it, i would recomend going strait to your lfs and etting a Liquid test kit ASAP something like API Msaster test kit, dont bother with the test strips they are useless, a good test kit will cost you aprx £18 - £20 but worth every penny !!!!!!!! you need to make sure gou get atleist tests for, AMMONIA, NITRITE & NITRATE !!!! these are the most importand, the water may look ok but can be in bad bad condition !!!

Take a sample of your tank water to the lfs too if poss this afternoon and ask them to test it, most lfs will do this free of charge for you, then write down what the stats are, (do this before the water change).

Try to use the least ammount of chemicals as poss in the tank.

Why are you using filter start ??? if the tank has cycled you shouldnt be needing this at all and from experiance i used it once and it made my water v v cloudy

what is your normal cleaning and maintainance routine ??

cant see any pics

 

[CentricOregon]

ok pics didn't work, don't have a clue how to do it

 

[Scotty001]

ok pics didn't work, don't have a clue how to do it

If you want to mail them to me scottrobson001@hotmail.com, ill have a look and post them up for you

 

[st24rsap]

i am having the same problem in one of my Juwel breeding tanks at the moment with very cloudy water, the water stats are find as checked daily and as there are fry in the tank it has a 10% water change nearly every day. I have an additional aquaball filter as well as the standard juwel one but am struggling to resolve the problem.

 

[Scotty001]

i am having the same problem in one of my Juwel breeding tanks at the moment with very cloudy water, the water stats are find as checked daily and as there are fry in the tank it has a 10% water change nearly every day. I have an additional aquaball filter as well as the standard juwel one but am struggling to resolve the problem.

It may be worth doing one huge water change up to 80% and see if the water turns cloudy again, may alo be worth cleaning the filter media out in the old tank water just to make sure that isnt causing the prob, as well as adding some more filter floss which pics up the fine particles much better than the sponges do.

how long has the other filter been in for, is it possible its having a little bit of a bacteria bloom ?>

 

[CentricOregon]

yeah i would do a 50 / 60 % water change strait away, and a major gravel vac. if you have loads of rotton food and poop in the gravel that will be strainig the filter like mad which is a probable cause of the cloudy water, your filter may be overloaded and cant cope with what its being asked to do. what filter and size tank do you have, also what fish are in the tank,

You cant tell that the water is fine just by looking at it, i would recomend going strait to your lfs and etting a Liquid test kit ASAP something like API Msaster test kit, dont bother with the test strips they are useless, a good test kit will cost you aprx £18 - £20 but worth every penny !!!!!!!! you need to make sure gou get atleist tests for, AMMONIA, NITRITE & NITRATE !!!! these are the most importand, the water may look ok but can be in bad bad condition !!!

Take a sample of your tank water to the lfs too if poss this afternoon and ask them to test it, most lfs will do this free of charge for you, then write down what the stats are, (do this before the water change).

Try to use the least ammount of chemicals as poss in the tank.

Why are you using filter start ??? if the tank has cycled you shouldnt be needing this at all and from experiance i used it once and it made my water v v cloudy

what is your normal cleaning and maintainance routine ??

cant see any pics

lol yea i dunno what on earth to do to upload some pics, my usual cleaning routine is take plants etc out, clean the filter side of the tank as it's most dirty, i take 5 buckets from that side, fill it up and then take another 5 out from the other side and fill it up, wash media clean plants and put everything back together again and clean front and side of glass, and i do that every friday. i dunno why i use filter start really, i don't usually. i would buy a test kit but i have no money whatsoever and i'm currently looking for a job to get myself back on track but right now i'm pretty much struggling to do anything. heres my list of fish, it sounds more crowded than it actually is

clown knifefish
black ghost knifefish
kissing pink
red tail black shark
clown loach x2
cory x5
bristlenose plec x3
whiptail plec x3
common plec
bumblebee malawi
yellow lab malawi x3
yellow peacock
jack dempsey x2
daemon eartheater x2
green severum
gold severum
parrot cichlid x2
rusty malawi
upside down cat
marble convict

none of them are overly big apart from clown knife which is 10", common plec 10" roughly, upside down cat 5-6" and green and gold severum 6" and 5" roughly, even there sizes make it sound crowded but if i could upload a pic you'd see it's not

 

[Miss Wiggle]

oh boy, well that stocking list is your problem, the tank is massivley overstocked and 9i'm sorry to say this) obviously not being well maintained (comments about uneaten food just being left to rot, addition of chemicals you don't need, no knowledge of basic water chemistry levels) so it's no wonder the water isn't clean.

However that being said, you are in the right place for some help and providing you're willing to take our advice we'll get this mess sorted out for you no problems.

First thing you need to do is learn your basic water chemistry, it's the cornerstone of fishkeeping and without even a basic understand youre not going to get anywhere. Take a look through this topic, it explains in laymens terms what the different levels are, how they affect the fish and what you need to do to get them right. http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...eady-have-fish/

Once you've read that you'll see why you need to go out and buy a test kit, then when you've got some water stats we can confirm exactly where the problems lie.

The second thing to look at is your stocking list, you should calculate stocking on roughly 1" of fish per US Gallon of water. This is based on the adult size of the fish, your tank is roughly 50 gallons, the fish you have are as follows

clown knifefish - 10"
black ghost knifefish - 18"
kissing pink - 12"
red tail black shark - 8"
clown loach x2 - 24"
cory x5 - 10"
bristlenose plec x3 - 18"
whiptail plec x3 - 6"
common plec - 24"
bumblebee malawi - 3"
yellow lab malawi x3 - 12"
yellow peacock - 4"
jack dempsey x2 - 12"
daemon eartheater x2 - 12"
green severum - 6"
gold severum - 6"
parrot cichlid x2 - 20"
rusty malawi - 4"
upside down cat - 6"

so that's around 215" of fish, you should have around 50"........ there's no arguing that your tank is massivley overstocked. several of the fish get too big for your tank and are also not compatible with each other. You seem to like cichlids, but you need to chooose african or american cichlids (you have both and they shouldn't be kept together). If you let us know which fish you really want to keep we'll then try and work out a suitable stocking list based around those fish so you can then re-home the rest of them.

here's a guide to weekly tank maintenance as well, i'd advise you set aside some time to follow the instructions and give the tank a good clean asap http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...ly-Maintenance/

 

[Scotty001]

Pics of CentricOregon's tank

thats some stock you have in there, what size filter are you running, also when you say you clean the filter media how are you doing this ??? i would deff sugest getting a sample of your tak water and taking it to your lfs, most are more than happy to test it for free for the Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrates. this will also give much needed ifo to help you a little more especilly when the more experianced chaps come along too.

 

[CentricOregon]

oh boy, well that stocking list is your problem, the tank is massivley overstocked and 9i'm sorry to say this) obviously not being well maintained (comments about uneaten food just being left to rot, addition of chemicals you don't need, no knowledge of basic water chemistry levels) so it's no wonder the water isn't clean.

However that being said, you are in the right place for some help and providing you're willing to take our advice we'll get this mess sorted out for you no problems.

First thing you need to do is learn your basic water chemistry, it's the cornerstone of fishkeeping and without even a basic understand youre not going to get anywhere. Take a look through this topic, it explains in laymens terms what the different levels are, how they affect the fish and what you need to do to get them right. [URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...eady-have-fish/"]http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...eady-have-fish/[/URL]

Once you've read that you'll see why you need to go out and buy a test kit, then when you've got some water stats we can confirm exactly where the problems lie.

The second thing to look at is your stocking list, you should calculate stocking on roughly 1" of fish per US Gallon of water. This is based on the adult size of the fish, your tank is roughly 50 gallons, the fish you have are as follows

clown knifefish - 10"
black ghost knifefish - 18"
kissing pink - 12"
red tail black shark - 8"
clown loach x2 - 24"
cory x5 - 10"
bristlenose plec x3 - 18"
whiptail plec x3 - 6"
common plec - 24"
bumblebee malawi - 3"
yellow lab malawi x3 - 12"
yellow peacock - 4"
jack dempsey x2 - 12"
daemon eartheater x2 - 12"
green severum - 6"
gold severum - 6"
parrot cichlid x2 - 20"
rusty malawi - 4"
upside down cat - 6"

so that's around 215" of fish, you should have around 50"........ there's no arguing that your tank is massivley overstocked. several of the fish get too big for your tank and are also not compatible with each other. You seem to like cichlids, but you need to chooose african or american cichlids (you have both and they shouldn't be kept together). If you let us know which fish you really want to keep we'll then try and work out a suitable stocking list based around those fish so you can then re-home the rest of them.

here's a guide to weekly tank maintenance as well, i'd advise you set aside some time to follow the instructions and give the tank a good clean asap [URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...ly-Maintenance/"]http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...ly-Maintenance/[/URL]

even though you say there not compatible everyone of my fish get on fine with each other, they all do there own thing, the clown knife and the plec usually hide until lights out or when i feed them.i was planning to sort my tank out when i get a job, i was gonna get a house, get a bigger tank for the knife fish cos he grows to 3 feet, was gonna put the severums,eartheaters, plec and parrots in the big tank and keep the malawis in the 180ltr.my parents have a 260ltr tank with a mix of everything and they get on fine aswell and there tank is sparkling every week. there fish are good eaters though so not alot goes to waste

 

[Miss Wiggle]

even though you say there not compatible everyone of my fish get on fine with each other, they all do there own thing, the clown knife and the plec usually hide until lights out or when i feed them.i was planning to sort my tank out when i get a job, i was gonna get a house, get a bigger tank for the knife fish cos he grows to 3 feet, was gonna put the severums,eartheaters, plec and parrots in the big tank and keep the malawis in the 180ltr.my parents have a 260ltr tank with a mix of everything and they get on fine aswell and there tank is sparkling every week. there fish are good eaters though so not alot goes to waste

ok, as i said, if your hear and willing to listen to advice we can help sort this out, it seems your just going to do your own thing regardless of what we say so there's little point us offering our advice.

I'm not trying to make out that I'm right in every instance, no one's perfect. But your tank is a disaster waiting to happen and I'm sure many other posters will back me up on this.

If you want our help then stick around, listen to the advice and we'll do what we can to help you.

If you're just gonna say 'yeah but such and such' based on no factual info or knowledge of fishkeeping then there's really very little we can do to help you.

 

[CentricOregon]

Pics of CentricOregon's tank

thats some stock you have in there, what size filter are you running, also when you say you clean the filter media how are you doing this ??? i would deff sugest getting a sample of your tak water and taking it to your lfs, most are more than happy to test it for free for the Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrates. this will also give much needed ifo to help you a little more especilly when the more experianced chaps come along too.

i usually just clean them under the tap, well the shower because its more powerfull and gets the gunge bits of lol.you know, i think i might actually clean the sponges a bit to much, i usually clean them so that there really clean but thats just gonna cause a bacteria bloom again isn't it?