Cloudy water after wc

[Coleallensmom]

Ok. Ill do that. You said that once the nitrites are under control that once a day is enough. Is that only during cycling?

Testing will let you know if you need a water change or not, but while cycling 1x per day is typical. The reason you have such a high nitrite spike is likely due to the fact that you weren't doing PWCs often enough. Once your tank fully cycles, once per week should be often enough.

 

[tyspot1000]

Dont test right after you do the PWC though. The water conditioner messes up the results and gives you different readings. Test a few hours after the change.

 

[roydooms]

Testing will let you know if you need a water change or not, but while cycling 1x per day is typical. The reason you have such a high nitrite spike is likely due to the fact that you weren't doing PWCs often enough. Once your tank fully cycles, once per week should be often enough.

Ok. I just did my pwc and the water is less cloudy. I'll wait a couple of hours before I yet the water again.

The petsmart guy told me not to change the water for atleast 3 weeks and just once a week after that...

Should I do a pwc again tomorrow morning? I won't be home tomorrow night and I won't be back until Saturday afternoon and I'll be gone whole Sunday. So I won't be able to do pwc on Sunday but I'll be able to do it Saturday and everyday on weekdays.

When ammonia and nitrites are controlled and I am still cycling, how much wc should I do everyday? Thanks.

 

[roydooms]

Good advice from Alisha.

Yes, only during cycling... once it is cycled you can go 2-3 weeks between water changes depending on how your tank does (and how you decide to dose ferts).

She is right about nitrites... your fish won't last more than a few days at 5ppm. Nitrites are even more toxic to fish than ammonia, and 5ppm is very high... emergency mode on the PWCs is right.

If you are Dosing ferts do you have to do wc more often? Should I add ferts after every pwc? Or should I wait for the cycle to finish?

 

[Coleallensmom]

Ok. I just did my pwc and the water is less cloudy. I'll wait a couple of hours before I yet the water again.

The petsmart guy told me not to change the water for atleast 3 weeks and just once a week after that...

Should I do a pwc again tomorrow morning? I won't be home tomorrow night and I won't be back until Saturday afternoon and I'll be gone whole Sunday. So I won't be able to do pwc on Sunday but I'll be able to do it Saturday and everyday on weekdays.

When ammonia and nitrites are controlled and I am still cycling, how much wc should I do everyday? Thanks.

I'm sorry, I've found that info from petstores is often misleading (usually because they want to make a sale). Three weeks without a water change in a cycling tank IMO would = dead fish. Without benefical bacteria to control your ammonia and nitrite, the fish are depending on you to keep the levels down for them which means water changes are a must. Definitely test and do another water change in the morning and again on Saturday when you get back. With nitrites that high, you need to stay on top of the situation.

Testing really is the key. If you keep getting ammonia and nitrite levels higher than .50ppm, bigger PWCs will be needed. Once they start staying down around .25ppm, then smaller PWCs should do the trick. Try to keep both ammonia and nitrites as close to <.25ppm as you can get it. Eventually as the bacteria in your tank multiplies, both nitrites and ammonia will drop to consistant 0ppm and then you can relax the daily testing/water changes.

 

[roydooms]

I'm sorry, I've found that info from petstores is often misleading (usually because they want to make a sale). Three weeks without a water change in a cycling tank IMO would = dead fish. Without benefical bacteria to control your ammonia and nitrite, the fish are depending on you to keep the levels down for them which means water changes are a must. Definitely test and do another water change in the morning and again on Saturday when you get back. With nitrites that high, you need to stay on top of the situation.

Testing really is the key. If you keep getting ammonia and nitrite levels higher than .50ppm, bigger PWCs will be needed. Once they start staying down around .25ppm, then smaller PWCs should do the trick. Try to keep both ammonia and nitrites as close to <.25ppm as you can get it. Eventually as the bacteria in your tank multiplies, both nitrites and ammonia will drop to consistant 0ppm and then you can relax the daily testing/water changes.

I just tested the water:

Ammonia: <.25 it's closer to yellow than the .25 color.

Nitrite: 2.0ppm

Nitrate: 5.0

The nitrate went down as well? The PRIME also detoxify the nitrate. You said not to worry about the nitrate for now

Should I do another 50% tomorrow or more/less?

 

[ejaramillo01]

Great job
Your efforts doing PWC is working, still high level of Nitrites, the nitrates came down due to the water changes also, but don't worry about those as suggested by Coleallensmom.

Yes, do another water change, 50%, mainly because you will be out some days, better safe than sorry, also I think that your cycle keeps moving in the right direction.

 

[Coleallensmom]

While not good and still stressful to your fish, 2ppm is so much better than 5ppm. Do another 50% PWC today as suggested. That should lower that number a bit more. Do another Saturday when you're back home and see where that leaves you. <.25ppm is ideal, so you've still a ways to go.

 

[hdultra]

Did anyone check or ask about maybe over feeding? Just wondering \ to much feeding causes these problems also.

 

[roydooms]

While not good and still stressful to your fish, 2ppm is so much better than 5ppm. Do another 50% PWC today as suggested. That should lower that number a bit more. Do another Saturday when you're back home and see where that leaves you. <.25ppm is ideal, so you've still a ways to go.

I just did a 50% pwc. I will test the water in 2 hours.

@hdultra: I feed my fish once a day or sometimes twice. Just enough for them to finish in a minute or two.

 

[hdultra]

I fought the same problem as you. (a while back), everything they are telling you will reduce the levels. Fish do not need to eat as much as we think. Fish can go without food for up to 30 days.

Not saying that you do that. Try reduceing feeding, will reduce the amount of waste in the tank.. Thus reducing the amount of ammonia and nitrites. Do everything in the above post and reduce feeding for a few day's you will gain control real fast. The biological filter will recover or establish much faster.

What filters are you using. How often do you replace the media in them.

I look at you profile and could not see any of your tank info.


Good filtration is also very important to remove and trap fish waste. I have a 55 Gallon tank and I over filter my water. I run 2 Marineland 280 and 1 Fluval 405 Canister.
Good mechanical filteration is a must. I'm filtering about 900 gallons an hour.

 

[Coleallensmom]

I just did a 50% pwc. I will test the water in 2 hours.

@hdultra: I feed my fish once a day or sometimes twice. Just enough for them to finish in a minute or two.

Keep up the good work

The above poster is correct, less food is better (especially when cycling and trying to control ammonia levels) but if you're only feeding a small amount once a day, then most of your current issue is most likely due to the lack of water changes. With a tank as large as yours, you should be able to keep your amonia and nitrite levels at a decent level with 1x daily water changes.

 

[roydooms]

I fought the same problem as you. (a while back), everything they are telling you will reduce the levels. Fish do not need to eat as much as we think. Fish can go without food for up to 30 days.

Not saying that you do that. Try reduceing feeding, will reduce the amount of waste in the tank.. Thus reducing the amount of ammonia and nitrites. Do everything in the above post and reduce feeding for a few day's you will gain control real fast. The biological filter will recover or establish much faster.

What filters are you using. How often do you replace the media in them.

I look at you profile and could not see any of your tank info.

Good filtration is also very important to remove and trap fish waste.

I have a 125g tank. I have 2 marineland penguin 350 filters. I haven't replaced the media. I was told here that to only replace the media when they are really bad and to just clean it with old aquarium water. I will also reduce the feeding until my filter catches up. Thanks.

 

[roydooms]

Keep up the good work

The above poster is correct, less food is better (especially when cycling and trying to control ammonia levels) but if you're only feeding a small amount once a day, then most of your current issue is most likely due to the lack of water changes. With a tank as large as yours, you should be able to keep your amonia and nitrite levels at a decent level with 1x daily water changes.

The amount of pwc will depend on the test results? I will test the water in a hour and if you could let me know how much pwc I need to do. Thanks.

 

[hdultra]

I have a 125g tank. I have 2 marineland penguin 350 filters. I haven't replaced the media. I was told here that to only replace the media when they are really bad and to just clean it with old aquarium water. I will also reduce the feeding until my filter catches up. Thanks.

Yep thats right. do the 350's have room 4 two filters in each.

I have 2 filters in my 280's if you do you can have both of them in there.
I replace 1 every thirty day's and move the one in the back forward while putting in a new one. this keep the biological filtration intact. Most of them have carbon, wich only last about 30 days anyway. It may be overkill but my water is always within parameters for my cichlids. I have a total of twenty.
Hope this may help you, I know what it's like.

Keep up the good work.

 

[roydooms]

Yep thats right. do the 350's have room 4 two filters in each.

I have 2 filters in my 280's if you do you can have both of them in there.
I replace 1 every thirty day's and move the one in the back forward while putting in a new one. this keep the biological filtration intact. Most of them have carbon, wich only last about 30 days anyway. It may be overkill but my water is always within parameters for my cichlids. I have a total of twenty.
Hope this may help you, I know what it's like.

Keep up the good work.

Yes, the 350's have room for 2 filters in each. So for both filters= 8 size c filters. Plus I add those white filters that you cut up to fit. 2 on each side.

About carbon, does it absorb ferts? I know it clears your water and absorb bad smell. Anything else that the carbon do? Thanks

 

[hdultra]

They do, but unless the actual filter material is completely beat and torn up,some people say there's no need to replace it. The carbon in those isn't very much anyway, so it won't consume much and when it's full, it's full.
Carbon also removes medications used to treat disease.

I like carbon because I don't like the odor.

If you don't want to replace:
Rinse it during your maintenance cycle (be sure to only rinse it in either old PWC water, or dechlorinated water to not kill the bacteria) to get the debris out of it, then reuse. Manufacturers state to change it every month.

Some people never change there filters.

 

[roydooms]

They do, but unless the actual filter material is completely beat and torn up,some people say there's no need to replace it. The carbon in those isn't very much anyway, so it won't consume much and when it's full, it's full.
Carbon also removes medications used to treat disease.

I like carbon because I don't like the odor.

If you don't want to replace:
Rinse it during your maintenance cycle (be sure to only rinse it in either old PWC water, or dechlorinated water to not kill the bacteria) to get the debris out of it, then reuse. Manufacturers state to change it every month.

Some people never change there filters.

I have some driftwoods and I bought some carbon for the tannins. The water is not turning brown or anything though. I might just take the added carbon out so it won't absorb the ferts.

I'm thinking of buying a canister filter. Do you have any recommendations?

 

[hdultra]

I like Hagen Fluval product. They offer a good media choices and make it easy to clean and operate the unit.
Try this link Aquatic products

There is a model above this one. FX5

 

[roydooms]

I like Hagen Fluval product. They offer a good media choices and make it easy to clean and operate the unit.
Try this link Aquatic products

There is a model above this one. FX5

I asked on another thread about the fluval fx5 because I heard that it is the best. I was told that it is too much for my tank. That it will create too much current. Something like that. I need to review that again.