something fishy is going on

[GodFan]

So my 36 gallon bowfront seems to be having issues. I cannot figure out what though. I tore everything down and nuked the whole tank with bleach and replaced all the plants and substrate. After all of that the water had a film on it. I added an airstone and the film is mostly if not all gone. But now the water is cloudy! White haze. The tank is cycled I know it is! The fish seem ok. The leaf fish are a bit... I dont know its hard to tell with them. Everything else is ok. The pleco that I just took out was healthy enough to almost kill the banjo catfish. So any ideas? I am cleaning the filter tomorrow as I noticed the sponge is bowed for some reason. It shouldnt be to messy as I dont have anything that messy.
Also my anubias is looking pitiful. Getting wimpy lookin and is starting to grow black bushy algae.
This is wierd stuff. I am turning to the experts for help. I have only tested the water with strips but everything seems fine.
Thanks in advance and God bless!

 

[Zimmanski]

So my 36 gallon bowfront seems to be having issues. I cannot figure out what though. I tore everything down and nuked the whole tank with bleach and replaced all the plants and substrate. After all of that the water had a film on it. I added an airstone and the film is mostly if not all gone. But now the water is cloudy! White haze. The tank is cycled I know it is! The fish seem ok. The leaf fish are a bit... I dont know its hard to tell with them. Everything else is ok. The pleco that I just took out was healthy enough to almost kill the banjo catfish. So any ideas? I am cleaning the filter tomorrow as I noticed the sponge is bowed for some reason. It shouldnt be to messy as I dont have anything that messy. Also my anubias is looking pitiful. Getting wimpy lookin and is starting to grow black bushy algae. This is wierd stuff. I am turning to the experts for help. I have only tested the water with strips but everything seems fine. Thanks in advance and God bless!

What are the water parameters? How long are your lights on and what lights are they? What ferts are you using? How did you clean your tank with bleach and what steps did you take after cleaning? Any other info like substrate, maintenance routine, filter type/brand/model would all be helpful to lead us to diagnosing and correcting the issues at hand

 

[GodFan]

What are the water parameters? How long are your lights on and what lights are they? What ferts are you using? How did you clean your tank with bleach and what steps did you take after cleaning? Any other info like substrate, maintenance routine, filter type/brand/model would all be helpful to lead us to diagnosing and correcting the issues at hand

Ph is low 6 water is very soft. Nitrates under 10 ppm nitrites 0. Current usa satellite freshwater led+ and its on probably 12-14 hours a day. Although yesterday I tried to have it on dusk mode ror awhile before full spectrum. No ferts play sand substrate. I didnt rinse it but I have skipped rinsing before. Aquaclear 70 filter.
When I bleached it I took out all fish then poured a bunch of bleach in the tank and let it run for awhile. Then I threw away all filter media, substrate, and plants. Rinsed the tank and decor really well and then once filled I did a double or triple dose of prime.
I am thinking about putting some carbon in my filter to see if it helps.

 

[Zimmanski]

Ph is low 6 water is very soft. Nitrates under 10 ppm nitrites 0. Current usa satellite freshwater led+ and its on probably 12-14 hours a day. Although yesterday I tried to have it on dusk mode ror awhile before full spectrum. No ferts play sand substrate. I didnt rinse it but I have skipped rinsing before. Aquaclear 70 filter. When I bleached it I took out all fish then poured a bunch of bleach in the tank and let it run for awhile. Then I threw away all filter media, substrate, and plants. Rinsed the tank and decor really well and then once filled I did a double or triple dose of prime. I am thinking about putting some carbon in my filter to see if it helps.

If you threw all the filter media away and bleached the tank then are you cycling your tank again? When using bleach in a tank it is suggested to rinse extremely well, then let sit dry for several days, then when filling you should use 5x the dose of water conditioner, all without introducing fish. Bleach is harsh, probably had something to do with your problems. Also, leaving the lights on that long with no ferts will probably add to the issues later. The plants if new may be going through a transition phase but that would be my lesser concern if you're recycling the tank, and the cloudiness could be a bacterial bloom due to excess toxins

 

[GodFan]

If you threw all the filter media away and bleached the tank then are you cycling your tank again? When using bleach in a tank it is suggested to rinse extremely well, then let sit dry for several days, then when filling you should use 5x the dose of water conditioner, all without introducing fish. Bleach is harsh, probably had something to do with your problems. Also, leaving the lights on that long with no ferts will probably add to the issues later. The plants if new may be going through a transition phase but that would be my lesser concern if you're recycling the tank, and the cloudiness could be a bacterial bloom due to excess toxins

I seeded from another tank so I am cycled already. I got some seeded biomedia from my LFS and then that didnt seem like enough so I took a whole bag of it out of another well establoshed tank. I did not have the ability to let the tank dry but I rinsed very well. I have done a water change since then too.

 

[Rivercats]

If you have a milky haze it is a bacterial bloom which should clear up on it's own. Even with the seeded media it's not uncommon after such a big change to get a bacterial bloom. Also some of the haze could easily be from the new substrate.

As for the bleach, I've bleached tanks many times, rinsed them well, and dried them off some and used them right away without problems.

The BBA is most likely from running your lights way too long and lack of nutrients/ferts and CO2/liquid carbon in the water. You only need to run lights around 8 hours but for now you should spot treat the BBA and run lights only 6 hours until you get the algae under control.

Also I know you don't like to use ferts and such but you really should be dosing some ferts for your plants. Plants can not get all the nutrients they need from tank water.

 

[GodFan]

If you have a milky haze it is a bacterial bloom which should clear up on it's own. Even with the seeded media it's not uncommon after such a big change to get a bacterial bloom. Also some of the haze could easily be from the new substrate.

As for the bleach, I've bleached tanks many times, rinsed them well, and dried them off some and used them right away without problems.

The BBA is most likely from running your lights way too long and lack of nutrients/ferts and CO2/liquid carbon in the water. You only need to run lights around 8 hours but for now you should spot treat the BBA and run lights only 6 hours until you get the algae under control.

Also I know you don't like to use ferts and such but you really should be dosing some ferts for your plants. Plants can not get all the nutrients they need from tank water.

Ok so the haze should go away? Thanks! I may have to buy a timer because my family runs both tanks downstairs on a "Im up ligyts on" schedule lol would it hurt if I ran the dusk/dawn lights for awhile? I hate having a dark tank when Im in the room
Also on ferts. I have seachem flourish however I havent used it and Ive never had trouble with anubias before. I have it growing in my nano tank now in fact.

 

[Rivercats]

What exactly are you calling dusk/dawn lights? Are they moonlights?

Anubia's do need nutrients and if they are lacking in something they won't thrive. Try adding the Comprehensive weekly and see if it helps.

 

[GodFan]

What exactly are you calling dusk/dawn lights? Are they moonlights?

Anubia's do need nutrients and if they are lacking in something they won't thrive. Try adding the Comprehensive weekly and see if it helps.

No I have moonlights too but the dusk/dawn lights are an orangish pinkish light that is dimmer than tbe full spectrum.

 

[Rivercats]

You could try using that but depending on the amount of light you could still have some algae problems. Since I'm not familiar with these I can't say for sure so all you can do is try.

 

[GodFan]

You could try using that but depending on the amount of light you could still have some algae problems. Since I'm not familiar with these I can't say for sure so all you can do is try.

Ok cool. I just gotta reprogram my family lol

 

[GodFan]

I wonder if some frogbit would block enough light to leave them on that long? My family (and me when Im off) are never going to sit next to an unlit tank lol

 

[Rivercats]

Reprogramming a family means using a timer... lol!

If the frogbit gets thick enough it will block a significant amount of light but it could also block too much light. Your going to have to really play with it to find a happy medium.

 

[GodFan]

Ok thanks. I cleaned the filter and found a dead ghost shrimp. Not sure that would cause that much cloudiness lol Ill play with it. Frogbit wont be like duckweed that is impossible to get rid of is it?

 

[Rivercats]

Frogbit is large enough to easily remove when you want to.

 

[GodFan]

Frogbit is large enough to easily remove when you want to.

Cool thanks!