michelle26

i have a fish tank that is really cloudy, my tank is 90 gallons and i use prime and my tank has been set up for over a year. Lately my tank is really cloudy i have been doing water change for the the past week every other day and adding two capfuls of prime, should be doing water changes every day till it clears and i have add buffer in a sock as the fish store has suggested its been about 2 weeks, i am at the end of my rope not sure what to do next. Please help

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!!

whats your readings for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates? what test kit do you use?

adding the buffer could have done it..do you know what it was you added? pH is much better when its stable and usually fish will adapt to all different ranges as long as it doesnt change fast or often..

water changes with prime will not hurt anything and will only help ..running a clean carbon (if you use carbon) will also help but that needs to be changed every 3 weeks or so ...good luck!

michelle26

sorry it was buffer that i added it was Kent Marine phosphate Sponge and for testing my water i use Red Sea for ph and alk and Hagen for my nitrate levels and they are all ok, I just tested them. Should i remove that nylon of phosphate stuff and do a water change.

Shawnie

do you know your ammonia/nitrites? those are the killers and will let you know if you are having a mini cycle/bacteria bloom and what should be done next....what is your natural ph and what fish do you keep?

michelle26

my nitrate is at 5 and my ph is at 7.8 and i have a cichild mostly but i have a few other fish just semi agressive live an angel fish and 2 silver dollars a rainbow fish i slow changing over to cichilds.

Shawnie

I was asking about your ammonia/nitrItes not nitrAtes ..your 7.8 is with the buffer in there? or thats what your natural without the buffer is?

michelle26

i have never tested for amonia or nitrites and my ph reading is with my phosphate in. i have never had a problem like this before..

Shawnie

ammonia/nitrites can kill fish fast...I assumed you did where you said yes about the nitrogen cycle..sorry ....

id get an ammonia/nitrite kit asap and test the tank....API makes some great liquid ones that are very reliable...test strips are easier but less reliable.....i would start on 30-40% water changes a day with the prime until you can get a proper kit..the prime will detoxify the ammonia/nitrites for 24 hours to keep the fish safe until another water change will be due.......

as far as your buffer, ill see if i can find another member on that as i dont buffer any ph's and if i do, its more natural with driftwood to lower it or crushed coral to raise it....

michelle26

just teste amonia and my water is clear so no reading and i have no more solution for the nitrite test kit.

Shawnie

I would stop worrying about the ph and worry more for the ammonia/nitrites ...heres a link for the explination of the nitrogen cycle for you ..it will explain why i was asking all the questions and why the ammonia/nitrites are so very important to keep an eye on constantly...mini cycles can happen on tanks that have been running for years and can kill fish quickly if not caught
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

id still stick with water changes for awhile if it were me..with the prime ...good luck!

michelle26

should i add the 2 capfuls or just the amount from the water changes. Like if i do a 50% use only one capful

Shawnie

I would treat the entire tank

michelle26

i found that i do have a nitrite kit not sure how do use it i have a small vile that says nitrite #1 and a powder that says nitrate #2 and a vile that says nitrate reference do you know what that is?

michelle26

should i do water changes every day? till clear

Shawnie

I would at least until you can get a proper test kit ...what fish are in the tank ?

mathas

For the record, Kent Marine Phosphate Sponge is designed to adsorb phosphate and silicate, not alter pH. Why a store would recommend this to help with cloudy water, I'm unsure, but it's not really a pH buffer.

The product Michelle is using:http://www.kentmarine.com/products/kent-phos-sponge.htm
Kent's actual pH buffer: http://www.kentmarine.com/products/k...ble-buffer.htm

michelle26

cyclids and some other one like angel fish but i trying slowy to change to cyclids

Shawnie

ty mathas!! so probably her ph is 7.8 from her tap ? and is it needed in her tank?

what kind of cichlid? can you get pics for us? not that it would help the cloudywater, but we love pics

michelle26

ty for all your help and i am not sure of the kind that i have but will look them up and post pictures...should i remove that sponge stuff that i have in there.

michelle26

and my ph test is from my tank...not my tap

mathas

A pH reading straight out of the tap can be a bit misleading, but it's probably somewhat close to that.

If there is an excess of phosphates in her tap water it could help... but excess phosphates would be more likely to manifest as an algae bloom as far as I know, not cloudy water. Cloudy water in my experience, unless it's green cloudy water, is usually either bacterial bloom or some type of particulate matter (dust from unrinsed filter media/substrate, etc).