Constantly murky water

Hey guys! New problem for me here, our water is constantly murky in my 50 gal.

Current stock :
2 kissing gourami
1 platy
1 Mickey Mouse platy
1 common pleco (trying to rehome STILL)
2 Molly
1 balloon belly Molly
4 Bolivian Ram
1 neon glo tetra (about to move to 35 gal)

I believe that's it.

Planted on far right side, away from filter, near heater.

Filter : aqueon quiet flow 55/75 or whatever the numbers are for the one made for up to 90 gal.

Also contains 2 pieces of drift wood I found myself, 1 flat river Rock I also found myself, 1 artificial log/cave that the pleco absolutely LOVES.

Substrate is small gravel.

Tank IS located near a window which I read after placing the tank, that it a bad idea especially here in MississippI where it gets so hot during the day.. Thinning maybe that and sunlight may be a huge factor in our murky problem?

 

I think sunlight is a likely source of your murky water. Can you block or filter the light coming through the window?

 

What type of filter is on the tank?
What are your parameters?

Also whattype of drift wood is that, if it still has bark on it the decomposing could be a part of the murky.

How old is the setup?

 

I think sunlight is a likely source of your murky water. Can you block or filter the light coming through the window?

I have a thick blackout curtain between the tank and the window..

What type of filter is on the tank?
What are your parameters?

Also whattype of drift wood is that, if it still has bark on it the decomposing could be a part of the murky.

How old is the setup?

I stated my filter. I'll have to check parameters tomorrow. Idk why I don't check them before posting. I know every time I'm going to be asked that lol -- driftwood I'm not 100% on the type but I don't recall any bark remaining on it when I was boiling it out. HOWEVER! I will pull it out in the morning and remove any remaining bark that I come across. I super appreciate you guys!!

The set up is approximately 6 months old.

 

Can you tell the colour of the murk? Is it green or white?

 

Can you tell the colour of the murk? Is it green or white?

Okay this might be ridiculous, but the bottom half of the tank has a green murk and the top half is white. Maybe it looks green in the bottom half only bc it's refracting off the plants? I can't get a picture that really shows what I'm talking about.

 

That maybe withyour water level being a cpl inch fro. Top could be micro bubbles. But I'm guessing that the midway color change maybe the light filtering through water. Butimno expert.

 

OK I would like to chime In.
Too many dirty fish and driftwood. Its only thing I can think of if your water quality is good. Your stock has fish that produce waste machines. Plus driftwood. Bad filter or not enough to match the waste being produced by the fish.

 

What if you take a sample of the water in a glass and hold it in front of a white surface or a white light?

 

Might be algae bloom.

 

Has it been like this from the start or is this a recent development? You could use a second filter as that one alone won't be enough in the end. Also shorten the intake on it some, it shouldn't be on the bottom.

 

Hey guys sorry I haven't updated. Busy busy. So I JUST took the driftwood out to check for bark and decomposition. That wood was absolutely the problem. It's so porous. I did an awful job getting my own driftwood from the river! I can stick my thumbnail into these two pieces. They're so pretty but DEF not good driftwood for the tank!

 

Hey guys sorry I haven't updated. Busy busy. So I JUST took the driftwood out to check for bark and decomposition. That wood was absolutely the problem. It's so porous. I did an awful job getting my own driftwood from the river! I can stick my thumbnail into these two pieces. They're so pretty but DEF not good driftwood for the tank!

U can try to boil the driftwoods to rid it of the tannins and then put it back into ur tank. That in itself should get rid of the brown water

 

I boiled it before I put it in there the first time. I'm gonna have to go find me some better wood.

 

Cypress is good bog wood but it does have sap so don't boil in a pot you care about and I always used stumps exposed in rivers. But I have only got that Mylopian wood (excuse spelling) in my new tank and its crystal clear. I would only get it from the pet store and you gotta boil it a lot of times and leave it soaking in hot water for a few weeks at least before you use even that because they have a CRAZY amount of tannins and the pet store part is when you order them online you never know if ur getting a 4" piece that looks cool or a 12" block and they are all labeled "small" but ever since I went with the Amazonian Mylopian from the pet store I haven't had to worry about rotting or sinking and they brought my pH down just a little bit. Which my scavenged wood never did. But Cypress and Willow have been some good finds IME with scavenging for bogwood or driftwood.

 

Cypress is good bog wood but it does have sap so don't boil in a pot you care about and I always used stumps exposed in rivers. But I have only got that Mylopian wood (excuse spelling) in my new tank and its crystal clear. I would only get it from the pet store and you gotta boil it a lot of times and leave it soaking in hot water for a few weeks at least before you use even that because they have a CRAZY amount of tannins and the pet store part is when you order them online you never know if ur getting a 4" piece that looks cool or a 12" block and they are all labeled "small" but ever since I went with the Amazonian Mylopian from the pet store I haven't had to worry about rotting or sinking and they brought my pH down just a little bit. Which my scavenged wood never did. But Cypress and Willow have been some good finds IME with scavenging for bogwood or driftwood.

Thank you SO much! Very helpful information!