Cloudy 10G

[sooju]

Okay, it's weird to post in this forum because I'm a salty, but I am helping my son's daycare room set up a new tank and I need advice.

The tank is 10 gallons and it is now fully cycled (took about 4 weeks). This morning's readings were 0 for ammon, nitrite, and nitrate. There's one zebra danio in the tank at the moment and I have given them permission to add 2-3 more fish.

The problem I'm having is that the water is cloudy. I've been doing 20-50% water changes once or twice a week and can't seem to get it to clear up. When it first finished cycling it was green cloudy and now it's white cloudy.

I put the lights on a timer for 8 hrs a day and the tank does get a little direct sun. The heater is set for 78 degrees. It has a small HOB filter, I'm not sure the brand. Filter media is from the original setup in September.

Would adding carbon to the filter help? I don't think a blackout is an option. I would consider upgrading them to a bigger filter if that would help. I'm just not sure what to try next??

THanks!!

 

[newfound77951]

If it's white and cloudy it sounds like a bacteria bloom. This is relatively common in new tanks and should just burn itself out. I don't think the filter is the problem. What kind of substrate and decos are in the tank?

You could try doing a 100% (or nearly so) water change and see if it comes back. The fish won't mind as long as you leave him some water to swim in!

 

[sooju]

Thank you! The tank has gravel (less than 1") and a few plastic decos. I'm also posting a sign next to the outlet so the cleaning people don't unplug the filter when they vaccuum. I suspect the filter was off for a whole weekend recently. I'll try a massive water change this week before adding more fish.

I wish they'd gotten hermit crabs.

 

[sooju]

Rats, I did a 90% water change this afternoon and against a white bucket the water wasn't white cloudy, it was green cloudy. Does that mean I have an algae problem? The filter they have is a Tetra Whisper. I pulled out the white bio bag (it was filthy green) and replaced it with a new one. I did not bother adding the charcoal, I figured I'd read up on it first.

1. Is this filter worth trying to figure out? Is it capable of resolving my green water problem?

2. Would upgrading their tank to an Aquaclear 20 or 30 help with the green cloudy water, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Thanks!

 

[Tommy Gun]

Hey newbieNY ~ sorry to hear about your troubles.

Does that mean I have an algae problem?

I feel that it is important to know that you may not have a problem with all types of algae, but the green water means you may have a problem with a single-celled version of algae. IMO, this is an important distinction to make because again, it will help you devise a more precise plan for dealing with the problem. For example...

Is this filter worth trying to figure out? Is it capable of resolving my green water problem?

...while I'd never say that adding or improving upon filtration, this is not an issue that stems directly from the type or size of filter you have. That being said, I don't think a different filter is going to solve the problem completely either. Additionally...

You could try doing a 100% (or nearly so) water change and see if it comes back.

...I have to respectfully disagree with both, the notion that one big water change can solve this issue completely nor do I feel as though this is a good time to be doing huge water changes because it would almost certainly create a large change in water chemistry that your fish may not be able to handle if it occurs suddenly.




However, I do think that performing smaller, but very frequent water changes is a good idea and will, over time, lead to a solution for the cloudiness. Here are some important points that may help you understand what is going on:

• I believe it would be accurate to say that this algae is almost, if not always present in our tanks and/or can easily find it's way into them.
• The reason we don't always have a problem with this type of algae is because the population is very small.
• The reason both algae and bacteria blooms occur is because there is an abundance of food, light, etc which allows for the population to grow.
• In general, the "food" tends to come in the form of detritus which is not removed.
• Unfortunately, both the algae and/or bacteria that is causing the cloudy water are able to reproduce extremely fast...which means the water could become cloudy again within as little as a few hours after a water change.
• In general, all you really need to do here is to remove that over abundance of food, light, etc.

IMO, you have at least a few good options that you can use, to include, but not necessarily limited to one or more of the following:

1. Since algae requires light, you could perform a 72 hour blackout.
2. As I mentioned, you can perform small but frequent water changes.
   • The key to performing these water changes is to understand that you are not necessarily doing it to remove the algae in the tank - although you technically will be doing that - but instead, you are trying to remove that food source by vacuuming out detritus.
3. While I would have a hard time with it, some people have done nothing more than stick to their usual maintenance 'program' and wait until the problem solves itself.
   • IMO, the important part of this "hurry up and wait" solution is understanding the underlying cause of the problem and fixing it. For example, while they are happy with waiting, the problem could be endless if they continue to over feed or over stock their tank.

FYI - If there is any good news here, it would be that both the algae and/or bacteria which cause these blooms poses little or no threat to your fish. HOWEVER, the underlying cause (e.g. over feeding, over stocking) can be very detrimental to your fish so it is important to address them.

 

[jsoong]

If the water is green, then it is likely an (unicellular) algae problem.

Your filter is really not the problem. Algae blooms is often due to a combination of light & excess nutrients. A blackout or increased pwc (nutrient control) as stated above might do the trick. Green water is also less likely in an established tank (supposedly because you develope a population of micro-organisms that will eat the algae), so waiting it out may be an option.

The only way a new filter may help is to physically remove the algae using a diatom filter (or the "Water polishing" filter of a Magnum). If you have one handy, by all means run it for a few hours to get rid of the bloom while you wait for the tank to mature & settle. A UV light will also kill the algae, but that is realy a pond solution.

 

[sooju]

Thank you for your replies. The tank looked pretty good this morning after yesterday's big water change and changing the filter media. I tested for ammonia and it was 0. Would I see signs of a mini-cycle already?

I did add one more fish so now there are two (danio and shark). I'll keep the stocking there until I get the algae thing under control. I turned the light off and will keep it off for the rest of the week.

As for nutrients - I've been doing a lot of water changes lately and the nitrates are 0. It's possible that they're overfeeding (it's hard to tell a bunch of 3 and 4 yr olds not to grab too big a pinch) but I have given them strict instructions to feed only once a day as little as possible, and there's no flakes lying around on the substrate so I think they're doing a good job. And the fish don't get fed on Saturday and Sunday.

Thanks again for all your help. I'll let you know if the algae returns in force. I'm happy to see that the freshies on this forum are as helpful as the salties.