Cloudy water help! I think its algae

[iamaj]

Hi! I have just planted our 20 gallon hex tank. All the plants are doing great and show new growth. But my water is still very cloudy. It was planted over three weeks. I think its a algae problem. The water isnt green or brown nor is there any algae growth visible.

heres my tanks specs
20 gallon hex tank
18 watt flourescent on a 12 hour timer (i have it on 8 hours now)
a penguin 110 filter
laterite fertilizer
3 angels (now dead i did a water change today and the water i put in was a little warmer then the water in the tank, i think i screwed up and that killed them)
Hagen c02 system
ph is at 7.0 ammonia isnt present

Heres a picture, it does look a little cloudier in person then in the picture

 

[Guest]

Do you know what the nitrate levels are in the tank? Do you know what the phosphate levels are? And your lighting is very inadequate for your tank. You are under 1 watt per gallon and with the stem plants you have in there you really should be at more like 3 watts per gallon. I'm betting you are also having a hard time keeping the plants alive?

And the death of your fish is not temperature related. How often and how large are your water changes? BTW, three angel fish in a 20 gallon hex tank is about 2x overstocked.

 

[iamaj]

actually, the plants have grown quit a bit since i planted them. And that is the largest light i could find for a 20 gallon hex. I am not sure of my nitrate or phosphate levels. After reading a little bit more my cloudy water seems to be syptoms of a bacteria bloom, does that sound acurate? Yes i will get some test kits to test for nitrate and phosphate levels.

Normally i only do about a 40% water change but i did about a 70% i beilive i may have just made it to unstable

aj

p.s. has any one ever tried algone?

 

[purplestarfish]

If the cloudy water is algae, there's a simple solution; just cover it with a thick (like woolen) blanket for 72 hours. It deprives the algae of its energy source - light - oh that's right, I forgot to say you have to turn off the lighting as well. If the algae isn't all gone within those 72 hours, wait another 72 hours and try again. If the original blanket period got rid of no cloudiness, then it's probably not algae. If you do try this "blanket solution," be sure no light reaches the tank. The plants should be fine, the fish will be fine (so long as they were fed before the blanket was put on but even there they'll be okay). If not, I don't know what to advise, I'll leave that to the experts.

 

[iamaj]

Well i placed an order with Algone, i got the water tester kit, and the algone algea remover packets. My PH is good, water hardness is good, NO2 is at 10 PPM, and NO3 is ok.

Algone is suppose the clear water, help remove nitrates and help stablize it. Just put it in today so im going to see what it does.

aj

 

[TankGirl]

You have a mini-cycle going here, with those nitrites. I would bet the nitrites killed the angels, and that would account for the cloudiness. You are going to need some fish or some ammonia to complete the cycle. The Algone is probably not going to solve anything right now, until you get the cycle done, with zero nitrites and trace nitrates.

 

[iamaj]

Well i got two neons today. Im not sure if thatll help out with completing it or not. WHat do you think? I just didnt want to get to many becuase i dont want to have a whole school of them once i get some other fish.

aj

 

[TankGirl]

I am concerned about the neons, as they do not tolerate water problems very well. Some zebra danios might be a good choice, as they are very hardy and I have used them to cycle tanks. On second thought, as you have a tall tank and zebra danios like a lot of room to swim, a couple of larger tetras, like black phantom, would be a better choice, and will do well if you go with angels again. I know you didn't ask, but I would limit 2 angels to that tank in the future. If you get 5 very tiny ones (like nickel size or so), you will likely get a pair out of them, then return the rest for store credit. A pair will coexist quite peacefully. Good luck!