# help! cloudy water



## slidercat (Feb 10, 2008)

if anyone could please help me. I have has my new/used 80 galloon tank up for about a little less then 3 months now and it will not clear. I don't think it is a bacteria bloom because that water is usually a whitish color and mines a yellowish to brownish color. I do not know what to do. When I test the water everything comes out fine except the pH and the hardness it is high, but I thought that was okay with cichlids? Then I started thinking well maybe it was my Texas Wholely Rock I have in the tank. It was one big piece and I had my father cut it into smaller pieces. Maybe the particles off of thoses pieces are doing this. I don't know? If anyone has any ideas how to fixes this please let me know. Thank You all.

Just to let you know I have an Eheim 2215, that came with the tank (new media in it, with two home made cardon bags at the top) and a top water skimer (has little basket at the time to hold media in, but no cardon in it).


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

It sounds like you may have an algae bloom rather than a bacterial bloom.

Is the tank in direct sunlight? How long are you leaving the lights on daily?

Did you use new substrate? Did you wash the holey rock well or soak it before adding it?


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## slidercat (Feb 10, 2008)

Yes I used new substrate, but iI spent hours cleaning that off. Yes I weted the wholely rock, but did not really scrub it.

The tank is not in direct sunlight, but the Odysee lights stay on all day. Sometime 8 am to 1 am. I am a student so I like to hev the tank on when I study at night. The light switchs from clear to blue, just FYI.

I do have like a brownish algea growing everywhere in the tank too. Could that be doing it? I have a great pleco that eats it like crazy, but a fast as he eats it, it grows again.


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## JessiLou (May 31, 2008)

Did you put any wood in the tank? I added a piece of drift wood in my tank and the water turned brownish for about a month. The fish loved it though. The fish that normally only came out at night were out all the time.


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## slidercat (Feb 10, 2008)

No I did not put any wood into the tank, but I went to the LFS and asked one of them what they think. They told me to add carbon to the top skimmer and then if that does not work try using the bottle water and if that does not work then it might be my wholely rock and I may have to try some different types of rock. What do yall think?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The carbon may remove the discoloration, but it would not tell you the cause so you could remove it.

Plus carbon will remove tannins which come from wood, but tannins are clear yellow-brown and your discoloration is cloudy yellow-brown, right?

Bottled water? That will only help if the cloudy yellow-brown is coming from your tap. Is your tap water clear?

Clean holey rock does not create discoloration, half the posters on the forum use it. If you did not clean it well (scrub, boil, etc.) when you added it to your aquarium, it might be worth your time to remove it and do the cleaning now.

As cichlidaholic said, usually the cloudy water that does not settle out in a day or two is bacteria or algae growing in the water. Bacteria is white and algae is green. In case it is algae, I would keep the lights off for a couple of days as it needs light to grow. Not sure how long it will take as I've never had a "bloom". Maybe someone else will chime in with that.


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## slidercat (Feb 10, 2008)

okay. I did not know what to do. It is my first time with a big tank like this and I got worried I thought by now it would clear up. But I will try turning the light off for a few day. FYI it is not green, but a yellow-brown color.

How do I clean the wholely rock?


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## slidercat (Feb 10, 2008)

Sorry to answer your question: yes I used tap water, well it was water from the garden whose. I don't know what to do. I mean I got home and it looked like it got worse. I went to Petsmart today(7/13/08) and they said it was just new tank syndrom and it will run its corse. The lady I talked to said that in her 30 gallon it took hers 3 months to clear out right. So I am assuming that it will take about 6 months or more for my 80 gallon.

For the rock do I just scrub it with a scrub brush or do I add something or do something more?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

What kind of test kits are you using? Are they liquid reagent or the strip kind? How old are they? Have they been open longer than 6 months?

What are the exact water parameters on the tank?

I'd be very concerned if it took a tank 3 months to lose the cloudiness...

How long has this tank been set up?


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## slidercat (Feb 10, 2008)

I use the test strips, they have be open for about a well, not for sure how long, but they have lids on them.

Not real fore sure what you mean by parameter?

I would be too, if it took my tank 3month to clear.

My tank has be up since the end of May and it cleared, but then I added my hongi and it got all cloudy again and has been cloudy ever since.

I decided to leave the tank light off and stop feeding, hopefully that will help.

What do you think about adding bottle water? Would that make a difference?


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## slidercat (Feb 10, 2008)

Could the heater have anything to do with it? Because I do not think it is working right, I mean I do not see the light coming off and on.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

The heater wouldn't affect your water in a cloudy respect.

Bottled water can cause a huge shift in ph, so that's not the thing to do.

Keep the lights out and do some extra water changes and see if that helps.

Test strips aren't worth taking home, IMO. Pick up some liquid reagent tests! Throw away all tests that have been opened for over 6 months.

By "parameter", I'm referring to ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph readings.


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## slidercat (Feb 10, 2008)

I just tested it with the test strips that my brother had it said that the 
nitrate = safe (between 0-20 ppm mg/L) 
nitrite = safe (none)
total hardness = hard (100 ppm mg/L)
total chorine = 0
total alklinity = high (300 ppm mg/L)
pH = between 7.8 to 8.4
ammonia = stressful

So no bottle water.

Do I do a 10% water change with tape water?

What about the rock? How do I clean it? Because like I said before I just rised it off I did not scrub it, would that have made a difference?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

The first thing you need to do is start with your water changes...Don't worry about the rock for now.

The ammonia reading can do long term damage to the fish.

It may be necessary to do several partial water changes. You want the ammonia to read zero. Make sure you use a good dechlorinator - Prime would be great since it will detoxify ammonia. I would do 30% water changes with a few hours in between each until you get the ammonia reading back to zero. Then you'll need to monitor the water closely.

Feed sparingly until you get the ammonia under control!


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## slidercat (Feb 10, 2008)

Okay. Is tape water okay?

Could the ammonia be on stressful because I let my cichlids eat little tweleve cent fish I got from the store to get my tank going?

Would the ammonia be making the tank cloud like that? Because it was clear then after I added the hongi it clouded again. It really is upetting me becasue I have never had this problem before. :-?


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## slidercat (Feb 10, 2008)

how long do I wait before doing the next water change? One hour two hours, what?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Tap water is fine, but I'd be worried about adding it from the garden hose. It may not match the temperature of the water in your tank. What is the temp, by the way? You may need to replace your heater if it isn't working.

These fish shouldn't be fed feeder fish. You're risking exposing them to disease with the feeders, and many mbuna are herbivores. What species are you keeping?

Are you certain there aren't any dead fish in the tank?

What is your tank maintenance routine? Have you been doing water changes during this 3 month period? (If not, this will explain the ammonia level...)

It's really easy to overfeed. How often are you feeding? What are you feeding? How long does it take them to consume the amount you feed? (Excess waste can also contribute to the ammonia level...)


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## slidercat (Feb 10, 2008)

Currentlly the tank temp. is at 80. It uselly starts out about 78 and during the procces of the day it moves to about anywhere from 80 to 82. I used to have a smaller tank and I liked to keep the tank between 75 and 78, but this big tank I can not seem to get to to stay at that temp.

I only feed the feeder fish to them once and never again! I did it on the opion of my father who has been doing tanks for quit sometime, but now I am thinking it was the worest thing I could have done. No there is no more dead fish because I just moved all the rocks around and cleaned the substrate.

I was told that I did not have to do water changes, but once every few months, is that wrong? If so how often and how much?

I feed my fish Hikari Cichlid Staple mini floating pellets once a day and skip Sundays and they eat it all. they never let anything float to the bottum or leave floating at the top and if they do I clear it out right away.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I do water changes weekly, at about 30-40%.

Basically, depending on your filtration (how good it is) you should monitor your water and adjust to your feeding habits for awhile to determine how often you need to change the water. Once those nitrates get above 20, IMO, it's time to do a water change. If they hit 40, I need to do one _now_.

Since you haven't been doing water changes, I would start by doing smaller water changes so you don't shock the fish too much. Do 25% now, and try doing another 25% water change before you go to bed tonight. Check your water parameters tomorrow and we can determine how much further you need to go with them.

Try to keep the water you replace within a couple of degrees of the water in the tank. And don't forget your dechlorinator!


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## slidercat (Feb 10, 2008)

okay i will try that. Doing a 30% water change weekly in my 80 gallon tank will not make my fish (11 fish) sick?

FYI i have a Eheim 2215 and a top water skimmer.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The most common water change amount/frequency among cichlid keepers is 50% weekly. Your fish will be extremely healthy with fresh clean water as long as you match the parameters as closely as possible. Cichlidaholic is giving you great advice.


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## slidercat (Feb 10, 2008)

would that get my fish sick? I mean 40 gallons of water out every week would case diseases to start forming would it?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The dirty water you are removing with all the ammonia and nitrate can weaken your fish and make them more susceptible to disease.

The clean water you are adding would not cause disease.


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## slidercat (Feb 10, 2008)

I unstand that, but what about ick?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Ich is not caused by fresh water. There are a lot of theories, but the one that seems to be held by a lot of fishkeepers these days is it is common after too large of a temperature change (especially a drop). When you do your water change, match the temperature of the fresh water to within 1-2 degrees of the water that is already in the tank.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

As DJRansome has said, water changes are to keep your fish healthy and happy. As long as you use a good dechlorinator with the water changes, you're actually doing them a favour!


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