Cloudy tank

[pcdebb]

Hello all,

My 55 gallon has been set up for a few years. Currently has my angelfish in it. For about a week, I've noticed that it has been cloudy. No reason for it, just turned cloudy. Nobody seems to be in distress at all. I removed most of the fake plants, did a 20 gallon water change, changed the filter media.

Parameters tested normal: Ammonia/nitrites are 0. NitrAtes around 5ppm. pH around 7. I use 100% ro/di in-house. No other tanks in the house have problems and are crystal clear so it's not the water.

Any ideas?

 

[tomtom14]

It could be the start of green water algae. This turns the water green and dramatically lowers visibility. Otherwise I don't have a clue to what it is.

 

[mrvincent]

This look like green water... It's a suspended micro algae, it's often due to excess lighting.

- Check no direct sunlight hit the tank at any moment of the day
- Put your light on a timer for 6hrs/day

I suggest you do a 50% WC, you turn light off for 3 days, you do another 50% WC, then turn back light on for 6 hrs/day.

Green water wont hurt fishs/inverts.

 

[pcdebb]

Yea, it does have a green tint to it. No direct sunlight to it at all, not near the window. I realized this tank is the only one with a flouresent bulb in it, all the others have LED lights. Come to think of it, my mom's 75 gallon might be having this issue as well. time to get better lighting for it. And i was getting close to doing a large water change, was getting the buckets ready......

 

[mrvincent]

Yea, it does have a green tint to it. No direct sunlight to it at all, not near the window. I realized this tank is the only one with a flouresent bulb in it, all the others have LED lights. Come to think of it, my mom's 75 gallon might be having this issue as well. time to get better lighting for it. And i was getting close to doing a large water change, was getting the buckets ready......

If the bulb is more than 1 years old, it need replacement. Make sure you're using 6500K bulbs.

Reducing photoperiod (at 6hrs/day) will help. Light is the biggest factor playing with green water.

Water change is to remove 50% of suspended algae, 3 days blackout is for stopping suspended algae growth, the second 50% WC is for removing 50% of the remaining green water, and 6hrs/days is to maintain this algae developpment low.

 

[pcdebb]

oh yea it's older than a year. Instead of replacing the bulb i'm going to replace the light fixture itself and get LED. My poor babies, hope they will enjoy the darkness

 

[mrvincent]

oh yea it's older than a year. Instead of replacing the bulb i'm going to replace the light fixture itself and get LED. My poor babies, hope they will enjoy the darkness

Fish don't care about light... They need to "sleep" (slow motion) a bit during the night.. That's it.

Plants grow during night. So your plants will be bigger in 3 days I already did this.


Edit: Ah you don't have real plants...

 

[Alan26]

what everyone else said...plus, if you don't already, you probably need to do a really good vacuum on your substrate.

 

[mrvincent]

what everyone else said...plus, if you don't already, you probably need to do a really good vacuum on your substrate.

Yeah, nutrients control.

 

[pcdebb]

what everyone else said...plus, if you don't already, you probably need to do a really good vacuum on your substrate.

I vacuum the substrate every time i do a water change. if I didn't they'd be floating

I changed out 30 gallons tonite, so that's slightly over 50%. Cleaned the glass and cleaned the filter (canister) for good measure, and lights out. I've only turned them on long enough to feed them and check on things.

 

[Alan26]

may also keep covered in blanket, cut back on feedings (maybe even skip a day or two), and everything else you're doing should have it back to clear fairly soon...it is a slow process...

 

[pcdebb]

yea, i can see the heater light on and they swim in front of it, looks spooky lol. only feeding once.