# Cloudy Water? And high PH



## lauren_101 (Mar 21, 2012)

It seems every time I start feeding flakes/pellets my water clouds up really bad. Not in a way of me over feeding...I only give them a pinch, and it's mostly gone before it gets to the bottom. 
First it happened in my 50 gallon tank, but it cleared up after not feeding for a day or two/changing the water. Then I started giving them frozen krill(and algae wafers), and their water has been clear ever since...still giving them pellets occasionally. I know they should be eating more pellets than krill.

And in the 110 gallon I fed frozen krill the first day, a worm the second day, then veggie flakes with a boiled zucchini the third, and today I fed some cichlid pellets...water was CLEAR, went out for a few hours, and came home to cloudy water! what's causing this?! Is it my pelleted food brand maybe??

I've been using the Aqueon pelleted food goldfish formula, and cichlid formula. 
Omega one veggie flakes.
Tetrafin gold fish flakes occasionally.
Hikari algae wafers.
Tetraveggie algae wafers. 
Sometimes I'll throw in some Omega one freeze dried shrimp. They never eat it(so I end up cleaning it all out) and I end up just feeding that stuff to my frog.

The frozen food I feed is the Hikari brand also.
And the zucchini is from the grocery store 

The fish don't seem stressed about the cloudy water...but it can't be good either. I plan to change the water as soon as I'm done with this post. 
Any thoughts on what is causing the water to go cloudy like this?

When it happened in the 50 gallon it cleared up after about three days.

~Also my PH is at 8 in my 110gallon. I live in Houston, Texas, so we have really hard water. So changing the water might not exactly help...? Is there anything safe to put into the water to help lower the PH? I want it at 7. 
I've heard the PH up and downs are kind of bad. Is this true?

Again, the fish don't seem stressed about it. But I would prefer the best conditions for my EBJD seeing as they are so sensitive and easily die...

PLEASE HELP ! Thanks


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Could be a heterotrophic bacteria bloom. How long has the tank been setup? Have you done a thorough cleaning recently including filters? You may have caused a mini cycle.

If you don't feed for a couple days and water stays clear you either likely have a hetero bloom, lack of proper mechanical filtration or you could have some food that clouds the water.

What filters are you using on both your 50 and 110?


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## lauren_101 (Mar 21, 2012)

It's just recently set up. I had the filter running in the 55 gallon(so I had two running in the 55 at once while my cichlids were in it), then I switched it to the 110 gallon...let it run in the new water to get some of the bacteria in there. Cleaned the filter after two days of it running in there. Also had put some of the Tetra Safe start in the tank trying to get it more "safe" for the fish.... I know it's not recommended to do it that way.

I've been putting in fish in new tanks for years with out knowing that it's actually not safe to do it. xD they've all lived long lives, then died years later.

My filtration systems are really awful(not that awful, but they're hang on filters). Money wise, I can't do any better yet. I plan on getting better filtration systems asap.  But I know the good ones can be 100$ or more.

50 gallon has a 60 gallon filter
and 110 gallon has a 100 gallon filter(off by 10 gallons I know)

So what should I do about this cloudy problem? No food? Water changes?


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

What filters are your running specifically?

It sounds like you have a cycle issue and on top of that not enough filtration either biological or mechanical.

Do you know your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate readings on a good test kit not using strips? I am not sure your filters were properly seeded to begin with and cleaning them only makes it worse.

I would suggest first...if you don't have accurate water parameter readings then I would have to guess it is a cycle issue and that you need to feed very lightly, do 35-40% water changes every couple days, depending on how stocked these tanks are, until ammonia and nitrite is at zero and you have some nitrate readings. You should also consider buying Seachem Prime and using this as well. You can cut back on the water changes a bit and dose with prime to make the ammonia and nitrite less toxic while giving a chance for your nitrifying bacteria a chance to reproduce and grow.


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

Put some tank water in a clear glass and hold it up to a piece of white paper. What color is the cloudiness? White or green? Green is an algae bloom, white can mean high ammonia/bacteria bloom. 
In either case you still need to test the water for ammonia/nitrite. If either your ammonia or nitrite is high--_shows any reading at all_, then you need to do daily partial water changes and use Prime as 12razorbacfan has already advised. 
If the water parameters are where they should be, (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and low nitrates), then it may take some time to get rid of the bloom. Small daily water changes are sometimes better than large as the larger ones can actually 'feed' the bloom. I've had success with getting rid of algae blooms by placing a diatom filter on the tank. This actually filters the bloom out of the water. You may get the same results simply by placing an additional HOB filter on the tank with fresh carbon in it. There's nothing wrong with HOB filters. Adding another HOB to your 110 gallon would be a good idea regardless of the bloom as it will not only add extra filtration but it will increase water movement in the tank. Even a cheap one will work--and if you shop around on line you may find a good HOB that's not too expensive. 
Also you want to make sure there's no build up of waste in the gravel--unlikely I know since the tank is newly set up.

I wouldn't use anything to alter the PH. Ideally you want to choose fish that prefer the ph that comes out of your tap but most fish will adjust to whatever ph you have. The important thing with ph is to keep it at a consistent level--a ph that fluctuates is very stressful for your fish.

Robin


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## lauren_101 (Mar 21, 2012)

Thanks for the information guys 
I've been doing everything you've said. Tank looks better already, and the ammonia levels went down some already.
I'll continue with the water changes and monitoring the levels of everything.

As for the filters I'll look into it asap ~Maybe within the next week or two. But I just had to go and by things to aerate the tank/help with the ammonia that cost around 90$ itself xD

And are there any ideas on why the ammonia got so high so quickly? They were on 0 the day before. I don't over feed either. (It got to 0.25 approx.)
When I vacuumed the tank mostly what came up from the rocks was poop, and the occasionaly cichlid pellet...they have more trouble getting those than the flakes since the sink quicker.
Is it just the fact that my filter is crappy?

Any filters you would recommend looking into?


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

lauren_101 said:


> Thanks for the information guys
> I've been doing everything you've said. Tank looks better already, and the ammonia levels went down some already.
> I'll continue with the water changes and monitoring the levels of everything.
> 
> ...


The hetero bacteria converts organics fairly quick so that is probably why you saw a spike coinciding with the bloom. The bloom is the heterotrophic bacteria reproducing in the water column and feeding off of the organics and converting them to ammonia. While they are reproducing they can consume massive amounts of oxygen thus slowing the growth of the autotrophic bacteria as they are being smothered. Daily or every couple day water changes until ammonia and nitrite are at zero and you have some nitrate readings. Again...using prime helps as well.

The bloom usually goes away fairly quick as long as you are not messing around with your filters and not overfeeding. Allow the tank to stabilize and you will be fine.


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## lauren_101 (Mar 21, 2012)

Thanks  I went out and bought Prime today and used it during my water changes. I'll keep y'all updated


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

lauren_101 said:


> Thanks  I went out and bought Prime today and used it during my water changes. I'll keep y'all updated


 :thumb:


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