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fish tank cloudy as no other?
i've had a 55 gal fish tank for about 8 months now. i've had fish tanks in general all my life. recently my husband and i have been have mega proplems with this one. the tank was cycled properly and i do routine water changes every week and a half.
just this week however my pH took a huge nose dive. from around 7.0 to 6.2. fish are definatly suffering from it so i went to my lfs and talked to the person who i've gotten really good advice from before. she told me to use a pH buffer and after a few days of that there was no change. it was actually getting alittle worse. down to 6.0.
so we went back and talked to her agian and this time she said to do 50% change then add pH buffer. usally i'm really hesitant to do such a big change because it brings bad results but this time i tried. we did the change put in all nessecary chemicals and that was that.
when we woke up this morning we couldnt see throught the water it was cloudy.i couldnt even see the fish. it looked almost solid. i am continuing to have pH problems, not quite as severe and the ammonia has jumped from almost none to pretty bad.
i've never had a problem like this before so i'm really worried. i have three filters in the tank, all adding up to about 60 gals of filtration. i've had filtration problems recently so maybe its related?
any help would be great
just to clarify:
i change the water every week. 20% like you should. whoever said change half: thats 50%. thats too much.... i also add the appropriate chemicals when i need to, including salt. and "put it next to a window"???? um NO! you dont ever do that "if its too cold"! that causes major draft and algea proplems and if its too cold, thats what a heater's for.
a tank is considered established when its 6 months old. my tank has cycled for quite awhile and the parameters were perfect until last week. its not like i dont know how to care for the tank. i've done this the majority of my life, so please dont tell me how to clean the fish tank, i've pretty much got that down by now, and please dont get on here and say "i dont know that much about fish but...." thats just not helping. sorry if i sound rude, but im a tad bit over aggrivated.
thanks for any help
this is a freshwater tank, sorry if i didnt mention that, my bad. but no, i always stay away from coral in freshwater because it will make the calcium too high and the water too hard.
also, i have tried a number of pH buffers, including powder and liquid of all brands etc. nothing is giving me any results. just checked agian and its up to 6.3 but at this rate i'll have to use 5 gals of pH buffer....
also, after such a drastic water change, i'm aware the filtration will need time to catch up, which will cause mild coudyness. but this much? wow, thats nuts. so is it just that the filters need time to catch up or is it something more severe? i reiterate: the water is almost impossible to see into! not exxagerating.
for the filter problems i've had:
i've had the same filters for about 3 years and one went out one day. it took about 20 different filters to replace because every one i tried was so increddibly noisey. i finally just fell back on a cheap back up filter i had laying around
i had tried filter after after filter after filter. i found nothing satisfactory that cleaned the water AND i couldnt hear all the way downstairs with the door shut. the noise level is crazy. now i have a whisper 20, a tetra 20 and a tetra 40 in the tank and it seems to be ok. not great but adequate. i tried to go with the newer whisper systems, but those were the noisest thing out there.
if you can suggest a good filter that doesnt make that god awful buzzzzzzzzzz i'll try it, but right now, those are the quietest ones i can find
8 Answers
- catxLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
What were the filter problems you had?
It sounds like your tank has crashed, as well as new tank tank syndrome, established tanks can suffer old tank syndrome, have a read through this:
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Old_tank_syndrome
Although I wouldn't really call 8 months that old...
I would recommend another 50% water change if your ammonia has started to sky rocket as you will lose fish. Drastic times call for drastic measures!
- 1 decade ago
I'm not that much of a fish expert, but I do have some Goldfish. My Tank used to be cloudy, but now it's okay.
1. Your tank could be cloudy because your Tank is new, but that can't be the case, since you've had it for 8 months.
2. Every week, take out half of the water, and refill it with add new, tap water. Then add the right amounts of:
"Aqua Plus: Tap Water Conditioner"
"Cycle: Reduces Fish Loss"
"Waste Control: Organic Waste Eliminator"
You should add those 3 chemicals weekly, too.
3. Clean the Filter out, weekly, and if the sponge is too dirty, get a new one.
4. If the tank is too cold, you could put it near a window, and keep the fish tank light on. If that doesn't work, try heating up the water before adding it in the fish tank during your clean out.
5. Clean out the bottom of the Fish Tank, dirt can get trapped in the rocks.
If those don't work ... then ask a vet.
- 1 decade ago
have you tried any chemicals for clearing up the water? I used "clear water" made by jungle and it worked pretty well.
also, I have heard the "ph up" stuff isn't that great. it will raise your ph, but then slowly go back down after a couple days, so its not consistant. You can use crushed coral as your substrate, or mix it with you gravel and that should keep your ph at a high level of about 8. use about 10 pounds per 55 gal.
- silenderLv 44 years ago
you're over feeding. Left over nutrients motives risky micro organism that consumes oxygen. Oder is likewise brought about with the aid of micro organism. (to no longer be puzzled with constructive micro organism) as a result pass that chemical. boost your filter out length. Feeder fish nor any fish are had to start algae. gentle is (the extra gentle the extra & speedier algae boost). you apart from mght might have presented to many fish to promptly in the event that they're gold fish feeders as they have a tendency to be "grimy" with the aid of nature. additionally widely used rule a million" of fish consistent with gal. of water. I take you advise DE-CHLORINATOR no longer chlorine chemical compounds as chlorine kills fish. If the water have been left as long as you reported chlorine remover does no longer be needed. Chlorine might deplete interior of 40 8 hours at well-known room temperature. In new tanks by using fact no constructive bacterial have yet developed a shocking intro of that many fish ought to certainly initiate clouding with little filtration. The aeration is help finished save it going. Given approximately 5days with much less nutrients the tank ought to sparkling up. you should use a chemical like "sparkling" that motives "airborne dirt and mud" molecules to bond and be filtered out extra certainly or sink to the backside, in spite of the undeniable fact that it is going to sparkling without it. decrease back to a million or 2 pinches an afternoon and make sure they consume it in under 5 minutes. placed your money right into a extra useful filter out and purchase chemical compounds basically whilst nessary. do no longer sparkling the tank & filter out on the comparable time. in case you do your doing away with each and every of the constructive micro organism at as quickly as and you will might desire to start the technique over as quickly as extra. sparkling one or the different wait 5-7days and then sparkling the different. you will no longer might desire to purchase starter em-zines. Do use declorinator whilst doing water alterations or addind fish earlier 40 8 hrs. except you have nicely water.
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- 1 decade ago
I've got a 10g tank and I put some melafix/medicaion and my water went cloudy in 5mins
- ;)Lv 51 decade ago
i think ur fishes are dead...just talk to "the person who i've gotten really good advice from before" cause i really don't know much about fish tanks