Plants causing issues. ?

[lisaz]

Hello all. I am sorry to jump here without introducing myself but I might have a problem
I have a 20 high tank. I have a lot of plants mostly betta seed pod growths and these corkscrew things you get in these seed pod kits from Petco:

PETCO.com - Grow Your Own Live Aquarium Plants customer reviews - product reviews - read top consumer ratings

About 2 months ago I bought some pods that said water lillies. They grew and at first were great but then they started to take over the top. I have a betta (Wallie) and of course he needs to come for air so I trimmed the bigger leaves. I just wanted to thin it out a little.

The next morning the tank was very cloudy, almost milky. I had to work but as soon as I got home I did a small water change. It seemed to help but the next day it was the same.

I had just changed the water (about 6 gallons worth) the night I trimmed and then about 2 more gallons then next night so I decided to wait. I figured it had to do with the trimming. I did not pull out the pod but I carefully took out the dying vines from the leaves I clipped and made sure to take any dead plant material out. I had hoped that the water would cycle out. I have a carbon filter and I changed that (even though it was only about 2 weeks old) at mid week.

Still cloudy.

I bought API Aqua Clear and gave it 48 hours, nothing.
I did another 6 gallon water change the next week and it was clear for about a night then cloudy again.

(I always use AquaSafe when I change the water and use tap water that has sat for 24 hours at least)

I change the water with a siphon that vacuums the gravel.

My tank is a few months old.
The test strips (yes, I know liquid is better, I will get one) says everything is in the safe range! Water is a little hard, but it has been consistent through out, the readings staying about the same as before this milk explosion.

My fish seem fine, except Wallie (betta) might not be eating as much, but that might be my imagination and paranoia.

In my tank I have:
My baby, Wallie. A Male Betta
1 bulldog pleco (hatter)
4 Neon Tetras (E,A,R and L - collectively Earl)
and
5 harlequin rasboras (M,A,R,D and I- Yep, Mardi)
>>I know, I am retarded, please do not hold that against my poor fish<<

In 2 days I was going to find that lilly pod, get it out then change water again and the next day the filter cartridge again, but I am afraid that I am going to stress out my fish too much.

I do not know what to do.
Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Lisa

 

[lisaz]

A little more info

The tank I have is one of those kits from Petsmart.

Size 20 (high) Glass Aquarium
Top Fin Power Filter 20 with Cartridge
24" Fluorescent Hood with bulb

Kit link:
Top Fin® 20 Gallon Starter Kit - Aquarium Kits - Aquariums - PetSmart

I also have an air pump on one side to add oxygen and water flow / current. The air pump is actually for the 5 gallon tank so it is not strong but with the filter it does keep the water flowing without creating waves.

I tested the water again and it is still saying everything is in the 'safe' range.
I removed the "lily" pod and roots and it stirred up a lot of sediment so I lightly cleaned the gravel and took out about 3 gallons of water, poured in double the amount of Aqua Safe (slime coat and chlorine remover) re filled tank.
The fish are still swimming, no gasping for air, no loss of color. They do not have any spots or marks on them and their fins look fine. They seem a little less active to me, but that really could be my imagination.
There is no foul smell in the tank and other than the cloudy water it looks fine (plants are growing no odd fuzz, bugs, algae.)
Could I have restarted the nitrogen cycle by cleaning the gravel too much? The last water change before the cloudy water I noticed a lot of 'gunk' being pulled out from the bottom. Again, it was not until I trimmed the leaves that the water went cloudy.
I really do not know what to do.
Should I keep changing the water in small amounts or do a larger change with another deep gravel change?
I keep the light on for about 12 hours a day, for the plants, should I keep it off until the water clears? Does it matter?
I do not have the heater on, the water temp stays around 80, it is still warm here in New Orleans and I do not want to 'cook' my pleco, but I guess if I need to make that tank warmer to clear it I can move the pleco to the 5 gallon (he is still small) for a few days. It has the snails and although it is not pristine it is clean and tests at normal. It just does not have a hidey, his driftwood would not fit and them move to and from would stress him out. I do not want to do that.

Any ideas or thoughts will be very appreciated!


Than you in advance,

Lisa

Tank in July

Tank today, right after water change.
You can not even see the fish init. Yes, in the tank there are 11 fish, small-ish, but you should be able to see them.

 

[mgamer20o0]

looks like a bacteria bloom. what was the actual readings of the test stripes?

plants wouldnt cause that issue.

 

[Deep Seven]

So you removed the plant you think caused it? I'd trim that plant and see if it bleeds a milky white substance. There are a lot of plants that do that, if it does bleed white that would be the number one suspect. I'd keep an eye on the fish and do a water change if they show distress or water parameters require it. I wouldn't do any more deep cleaning for now.

If you disturbed a lot of junk in your substrate it could be a bacteria bloom. As far as I know the fish should be okay, monitor water parameters and do water change as needed to keep everything in the safe range. It should clear up in a few days.

 

[lisaz]

Thank you

looks like a bacteria bloom. what was the actual readings of the test stripes?

plants wouldnt cause that issue.

Ammonia = 0
Nitrates = 20 - 40
Nitrites = 0
Hardness = hard (between 75-150)
pH= 8
Alkalinity = 120-180 (a little darker than

The Nitrates and the Alkalinity were both a little high than they normally are but in the safe zone.

So you removed the plant you think caused it? I'd trim that plant and see if it bleeds a milky white substance. There are a lot of plants that do that, if it does bleed white that would be the number one suspect. I'd keep an eye on the fish and do a water change if they show distress or water parameters require it. I wouldn't do any more deep cleaning for now.

If you disturbed a lot of junk in your substrate it could be a bacteria bloom. As far as I know the fish should be okay, monitor water parameters and do water change as needed to keep everything in the safe range. It should clear up in a few days.

The plant did have a 'slime' that came out when I cut them outside of the tank. (I was curious so I tried) but it looked clear not milky.
When I trimmed it in the tank it did not stay a neat cut. By the next morning there were 'threads' coming off the stalks where I had clipped them and they slowly deteriorated. I pulled them out an they were slimy.

Could the plant have caused a bloom or added to a bloom forming?
Is it safe to do small water changes everyday?
I am worried about tressing out my fish and them not being able to fight off an infection caused by the water.
Also, should I keep the lights on as long as I normally do or should I keep them off for longer times?

Thank you guys so much for the help. You made me feel better since you are both so calm about it.

 

[Deep Seven]

Cloudy Water - Cloudy Water Causes and Cures

This is a short article on cloudy water, if you have a bacteria bloom that section will help you understand what your dealing with.

The plant could have released nutrients into the water that would feed a bacteria bloom. I don't know how likely it is, but from what I know it's certainly possible. My guess is the plant released some compounds that are colouring the water, and they're too fine for accu-clear to work on.

If you want to do daily water changes that should be fine and probably recommended. If the plant did release something into the water I'd worry about it decomposing into something harmful (but not too worried ). A white cloudiness should not be affected by lights so reducing them won't affect the cloudy water, but if you feel shortening the light cycle will help the fish then I'd say go ahead.

As long as the water parameters are normal, and the fish aren't distressed I wouldn't be overly worried about it.

 

[lisaz]

Thank you!
I think I will do small water changes, 2-4 gallons just so there is clear water in the mix.
I am going to check out the plants I use much better. lol
Thank you so much!

*hugs*

 

[lisaz]

Yay!

My test kit came today!
Along with a bottle of Prime and my in the tank thermometer.
After a LONG day at work I came home and played scientist.
Test results:

Ammonia : 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5 ppm
pH: 7.6

I had done a 5 gallon water change.
Fish are still swimming. My pleco is hiding more but I think that is due to me doing small water changes every other day and him not liking my touching that tank.
LOL

The water is still very cloudy but everything I read says this can take weeks to clear up. I am fine (ish) with not being able to see my fish for a bit as long as they are healthy.
The high pH I do not worry about since the store is in the area according to my friend with turtles, that water probably has the same so the fish are used to it. I trust that since I have seen a few posts here that agree with him.

So, tests are good. The plant is gone. 3-5 gallon water changes every other day. Letting the bacteria level out.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks to SO many here that either answered me or answered on another post or wrote an article.
You have all been great!

 

[JohnPaul]

From the photo, looks like a bacterial bloom to me. I highly doubt any plant could account for what you are seeing, at least directly. As for the plant feeling slimy, well, every plant and every piece of hardscape in your tank that has been there any length of time will have a layer of biofilm growing on it. This is normal and desireable. I think that is the slimy feeling that you were feeling, the natural biofilm layer.

 

[lisaz]

Hugs to all!!

From the photo, looks like a bacterial bloom to me. I highly doubt any plant could account for what you are seeing, at least directly. As for the plant feeling slimy, well, every plant and every piece of hardscape in your tank that has been there any length of time will have a layer of biofilm growing on it. This is normal and desireable. I think that is the slimy feeling that you were feeling, the natural biofilm layer.

JohnPaul,

Thank you. Since I came on here and got pointed in the bacterial bloom direction I have read and read and you all are right!

I am doing smaller water changes (2-6 gallons) every other day, using Prime (was using Aqua Safe) water conditioner.
I just have to wait it out, I know that, sadly, patience was not a virtue that I was gifted with.

I will get through this, without dumping the whole tank and starting over, no matter what it takes.


I do not think that the plant was the actual cause of this situation. After all I read it seems that I did this.

The initial cloudiness was probably the plant being cut and leaking into the tank. If I had been patient that probably would have went away by itself in a few days.
Instead I did a water change in which I vacuumed the bottom like an insane person would and removed and cleaned decorations to the point of removing A LOT of the beneficial bacteria that was in there.
The next day I changes my filter media, again, removing a lot of beneficial bacterial.
Surprise! It did not get better!
SOOOOO,
Of course right after I removed what was left of that plant (roots and all), disturbing the entire bottom of my tank. Then I vacuumed more the next day since I was sure that the plant was poisoning my tank and I had to get all remains of it out asap!

Luckily I have other live plants that have roots and have helped. Plus, I did not scrub my filter like I was going to...

So, my lack of bacterial understanding, my lack of patience and my over abundance of insanity led to my screwing up a perfectly cycled tank!
WooHoo ?

LOL

Again, thanks to everyone here who stopped me, made me think, read, learn and take the right steps.

Tip to all new tank owners:
When in doubt STOP! Just do not do it (whatever it is) ask people, read any source you can find then treat the tank.....