# NEED HELP!!!!



## slim_deathpunch (Feb 11, 2008)

I have white spots on the glass of my tank, the water has been cloudy. I've done water changes and all my levels are fine. any help on what this is and how to fix the problem would be great. thanks


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

White cloudy or green cloudy? Sometimes its hard to tell unless you look at some tank water in a clear glass.

Bacterial blooms, (white cloudy) and algae blooms, (green cloudy), are nothing to be concerned about in themselves but you've got to be 100% certain that your water parameters are where they should be. White cloudy water can indicate an ammonia spike and algae blooms often occur when the tank is over-stocked, the fish are being fed too much or the water changes are not being done on a regular enough basis. If your nitrate is over 40ppm then you're more likely to get an algae bloom.

My advise to you is to double check your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings and then if they check out continue to do small DAILY partial water changes of 20% and see if that helps the cloudiness. Rinse your filter media out in a bucket of tank water every couple of days, too.

How are your fish? How many fish and what size tank?

Robin


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## slim_deathpunch (Feb 11, 2008)

it's a white cloudy, and the white spots seem to be slimmey i can see the water moment kind of swaying them, if thats the right way to say it. my fish seem fine. its a 100 gal with a 20 gal sump. i have 13 mixed cichlids and 1 eel in the tank. all fish are all young and the biggest is prob. 4 -5 inches. i've been changing the filter pad for the overflow once a week and do weekly water changes. i havent had any fish die other then the small ones the eel has eaten. the tank has a sand bottom, if that makes any difference. i would really like to know if i have any real concerns to worry about


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

For the most part if the water parameters check out then white cloudy water is not a problem. It can be pretty annoying though as it can get so thick that you can't see your fish. And it may take awhile to go away. A month or more. If you do a search for 'bacterial bloom' you should find some threads discussing the various methods people used to get rid of it.

Are you completely replacing filter pads every week? If so it would be better to merely rinse the pads off in a bucket of tank water.

Robin


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## Oneeyedgeckz (Nov 30, 2005)

I agree with Robin completely on this.. don't replace your sponges.. instead just rinse them out. I never replace any of my sponges unless they are breaking down. The sponges in your filtration system host a beneficial bacteria that break down fish waste/extra food. You replace them, you don't have that beneficial bacteria. The longer you have the sponge, the better it filters.

How long has your tank been set up? Often when a tank is cycling, or you change something in your filtration you may have an algae bloom.. Check your water parameters.. if they are ok then it's probably just a bloom that will pass.. annoying? yes.. but it happens

Also.. what type of filtration do you running in your sump? And how much gph? You may need to up the filtration to keep up with the bio load of the tank.


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## Oneeyedgeckz (Nov 30, 2005)

Thought of a couple other things... test your phosphate level. If you don't have a kit for it.. take a water sample to someplace that sells saltwater and they should be able to test it for you. Another thing.. if your tank is in direct sunlight it could contribute to the algae problem.


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## slim_deathpunch (Feb 11, 2008)

the tank has been set up for roughly 2 months, i run a little giant pump i think it pump like 1000gph and i run the max the fish really enjoy the return current. i also only have 1 return should i add another return?


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## Oneeyedgeckz (Nov 30, 2005)

Sounds like the perfect amount of flow. You should only need one return, although I can say, on my saltwater tank I split my return so that it comes in on both ends. It creates random current throughout the tank and the fish love it.  Since your tank has only been up for roughly 2 months I'd say that your filtrations is probably playing catch up to your bio load and that the algae bloom will pass once everything has equalized.

I also remembered that I was having problems with algae like your having with my 140 gallon after it had been running for about a year. I added a fluval 404, I put the carbon in the bottom basket and then instead of using everything else that comes with it, I packed the rest of the baskets with Lee's bio balls. Haven't had a problem with it since. So if the algae bloom doesn't pass in a month or two, you may want to up your filtration. One thing I've learned over the years, you can never have too much filtration.


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## Oneeyedgeckz (Nov 30, 2005)

I just remembered that pumps lose gph when used as a return pump. This is because of gravity and the constriction from pipes. They lose approximately 5-10% of gph per vertical foot of pipe, however this varies per brand. This is called head height. You may be able to find a chart online for your pump.

For example, our mag 18 which has 1800gph of flow open, has only 1200 gph at four foot head height. Which means, you may want to add another return, circulator or filter to make up for the difference. If the problem persists.


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