Halibut

I cant quite put a finger on this issue just yet, I have white cloudy wateratleast I think its white, sometimes you can look through the side of the tank and see a green tint. These would indicate a bacteria or algea bloom or maybe both but I would expect water parameteres out of whack. My water parameters are good at 0/0/5-10(beaten not stirred). I have been doing pretty much 2 50% changes each week(Prime is the conditioner) but my water stays cloudy. I dont use carbon only uncutfilter pad I bought from drfostersmith and a bag of purigen. I do have drift wood that has been in the tank for about 3 weeks now and was boiled before being placed in the tank. I am if anything understocked with 8 tiger barbs 1 rainbow shark and 2 pleco's(1 BN and 1 L-92 since I cant pronounce it). Lights are on for about 10 hrs with about 3-4 hrs off in the afternoon.. I have vacuumed to the point I am concerned about messing with the cycle and have wiped down the walls to clean off algea. I would prefer not to buy new filters for this tank but sometimes I gotta wonder if thats what it will take. I'm currently running 2 Penguin 350's. Any idea's?

Butterfly

If you think it's algae you could always do a three day total black out. Won't hurt your fish or plants.
On the other hand it may just be a bacteria bloom and will go away on it's own when the bacteria catches up with the bioload of your fish.
Carol

Halibut

For a blackout do you mean to cover the tank so that absolutely NO light gets in? or just leave the lights off? I had removed my 2 cichlids from this tank and moved them to my 29G, would that mean I have too much bacteria for the fish I have in the tank currently?

Shawnie

funny, mine was the same for a few weeks...readings were fine, and water changes the same..although I have no driftwood..prior to taking out the carbon a few weeks ago, I have had the perfect tank since I cycled it....I decided at least on the 75 I was going to put the carbon back in......so now im going to run the carbon in that tank, and change it out every 2 or 3 weeks..seems to be much better ..I am overstocked so it works best for me for now...not really sure what to tell you because you arent over stocked as you say...hmmm goodluck with it tho!

treehugr

Hi, it sounds like the problem we had. We got our tank (our first) in December and had been battling the water since January. It was cloudy and had a slight green tint to it (which got more green as time went on). It's not like we'd neglected our tank: we did 10-20% water changes every week and tested the water (which always came out fine). I thought maybe it was the driftwood so I took that out - no change. I thought it might be the coral rock, took that out - no change. Thought it might be the food, stopped using that brand - no change.

We were going to Uncle Al's but they either gave us stuff that didn't produce any results (and may have actually killed two of our fish) OR gave us the old "give it time, it will work itself out" line.

So, after nearly 4 months of wasting our time and money with Uncle Al's, we tried a small pet store nearby. The guy gave us some liquid (for free, no less) that coagulated the algae (it then drops to the bottom and you can vacuum it up), which cleared the water by 60% within 24 hours! But then it started getting a little less clear (not a lot, but we didn't want it to revert) so we went back and he showed us the product he used - it's a water clarifier - you use it every two days until the water is cleared up. Also, he gave us some red liquid that he said was a "concoction he adds to bad water" (his helper said it was iodine) so we added another dose of the clarifier along with the iodine and BAM - crystal clear water the next day. We went on vacation a day later and the whole time I was wondering how our fish were doing - whether the water stayed clear or not. Honestly, I expected to walk in the door and see the thick green water we were battling the last few months BUT the water was still clear! Hoo-ray!

Needless to say, we won't be going back to Uncle Al's - they NEVER suggested anything that actually worked and we just wasted our money with them.

You may want to ask your LFS about the clarifier (and even iodine). Like I said, we tried everything Uncle Al's suggested for 4 long months and got NO results and then what this new LFS suggested did the trick overnight. Amazing. I wish we had switched our LFS four months ago - our fish wouldn't have had to go through months of green water and we would have saved ourselves not only money but headache, frustration and worry.

Butterfly

Yes total black out- Cover the tank with blankets, towels or whatever it takes to block out all light. leave it untouched for 3-4 days, don't even uncover it to feed the fish. It WILL NOT hurt the fish or plants.
after uncovering do a large water change and feed the fish lightly. You may have to do this twice but usually not.
treehugr-Using chemicals to get rid of algae can be dangerous for your fish, glad it worked for you.
Carol

treehugr

Information on Algae...

http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/algae.htm#types

Butterfly

Good article. Here is another
http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9
Carol

treehugr

Hmm, looks like the same article and pics, just another Website.

Halibut

cool thx for all sugestions. I had turned off the lights yesterday but did not cover the tank. We have covered the tank with a blanket today. I'll be leaving them covered untill wed or thursday depending on schedule, my grandfather wants to get his boat in the water this week so I have to help out with that.

treehugr

Be careful not to cover any air vents; I believe I read somewhere that it would burn out the pump motor.

Halibut

Pulled the blanket off of the tank today and did a 50% water change. Water parameters were 0/0/5 and water is about as clear as I could ask for. Total blackout did the trick.

Butterfly

Yes Ghazanfar Ghori had reproduced the article with George Booths permission and added a couple of pics(The ones outlined with red were added.)
Halibut - I'm glad it worked so well for you.
Carol