eventSecurity

Hi

I have a 60L tank, with 1 dwarf gourami, 2 scissortail rasboras, 3 neon tetras and 2 mollys. They have been in the tank for a few months now, last addition was the dwarf gourami.
About a week ago, the water has gotten very cloudy.
My readings are as follows:

pH: 8.4
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 10
Temp: 26 C

the ph is high bu the fish have adapted to it.
i use an Elite stingray filter, but i have never changed the filter media in it. I do rinse it weekly in the aquarium water when doing a water change.

I do a 20% water change weekly, and when this first occured i did a water change straight away. after 2 days it was the same so i did another, but again, water is still very cloudy.

I used to get algae on the rocks and tank, but havent since the water went cloudy.

any idea what could cause this or what i can do to rectify it?

aquarist48

Hello Event. If you are currently using activated carbon in your filter then I would have to say it's an algae bloom. Very common in tanks under 1 year old and will eventually go away on it's own.
Ken

eventSecurity

do i need to replace the filter cartridges?

Shawnie

I agree with ken...you do not need to rinse the media weekly..it is probably disturbing the bacteria colony ...rinse it about once every other month..unless you are overstocked or overfeeding, its really too much to do it weekly ...and no you do not need to change the cartridge until its totally falling apart..then id put a new cartridge in about 2-3 weeks before you remove the old one so the new one will be seeded

aquarist48

If you are referring to carbon filter cartridges they should be replaced every 3 weeks so they don't start leaking everything they have collected back into the tank. If you can...I'm not familiar with the "cartridge" so to speak, and the cartridge is a floss bag with carbon in it...make a slit in the bag and remove the carbon and add fresh. Keep the bag and use it until it's falling apart that way you won't lose the good bacteria.
Ken

eventSecurity

well the filter is an elite stingray

http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/cat...er-filters.asp



thats what it looks like open
there are two plastic cartridges each side and two foam filters that take in the water
the cartridges are carbon/zeolite

aquarist48

Hey there! Good morning. If there is nothing in the cartridge other than carbon (and that's what it looks like as far as I can tell) then I recommend replacing it. I'm sure you'll get some responses from members that have this filter as well.
Have a good day today!
Ken

eventSecurity

hi

so 2 days ago i replaced 20% water and replaced one of the carbon cartridges in the filter

did a water check and its below

PH: 8.4
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate : 0

water is still teh same though, cant see the fish sometimes

any ideas?

CHoffman

I personally don't use carbon. It's not bad to use and it does serve a purpose but it's not necessary and like ken said it does need changes. It can only hold so much on the crud it filters out before it can't filter anymore and starts putting the crud back in your tank...Carbon looks like little black rocks or charcoal. I would change both of them out, not just one. My tank did this once before as well. Is your tank sitting by a window??..Mine was and was getting alot of natural light, it started going cloudy and a week later I had tons of algae. It could be a algae bloom. It's weird that you have 0 nitrates though. In a cycled tank you always have nitrates, unless it's HEAVILY planted.

eventSecurity

no my tank isnt planted

its beside a window, but i have it covered from sunlight
and its been there for a a few months without this before. no algae on it now at all, just incredibly cloudy. ive changed the other cartridge now, so we'll se what its like on monday maybe

its so bad i cant see the fish at times