Hi. I will try to be brief and thanks in advance for anyone who can help
I have a 10 gallon Aqueon freshwater tank (bought a kit). I cycled the tank properly (all levels great) and just have 3 small fish a molly, platy and a swordtail I think (may not be a molly).
For 2-3 months the tank was great. Crystal clear, no issues.
a couple of months ago the water got cloudy (appears more whitish than greenish to me so I don't think algae). I went to the internet and followed advice - water changes, vacuum gravel, don't feed 1 day a week, etc... for a month or more nothing helped at all.
Eventually I thought maybe the filter was not good enough, so I installed a brand new Fluval 20 gal tank filter. In a day everything cleared up and I was thrilled!
This lasted about 3-4 days, then the cloudiness all came back. has been back for 3-4 weeks.
I called a local fish store - this guy tells me do NOT do water changes, do NOT clean the gravel, because you are removing bacteria. if this is bacterial bloom it seems waiting for weeks and months is not working.
At this point I am completely lost as what to do. I don't know if I should do frequent water changes or none at all. Should I clean the gravel or not?
Checked ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, all good. only thing maybe off is PH is around 7.6.
Because the new filter system cleared everything up initially I was thinking the tank was just dirty as it cleared up instantly. but now back to cloudiness.
I really don't know where to go from here. Would really appreciate anyone who can point me in the right direction.
Thanks.
Jonathan
I have a 10 gallon Aqueon freshwater tank (bought a kit). I cycled the tank properly (all levels great) and just have 3 small fish a molly, platy and a swordtail I think (may not be a molly).
For 2-3 months the tank was great. Crystal clear, no issues.
a couple of months ago the water got cloudy (appears more whitish than greenish to me so I don't think algae). I went to the internet and followed advice - water changes, vacuum gravel, don't feed 1 day a week, etc... for a month or more nothing helped at all.
Eventually I thought maybe the filter was not good enough, so I installed a brand new Fluval 20 gal tank filter. In a day everything cleared up and I was thrilled!
This lasted about 3-4 days, then the cloudiness all came back. has been back for 3-4 weeks.
I called a local fish store - this guy tells me do NOT do water changes, do NOT clean the gravel, because you are removing bacteria. if this is bacterial bloom it seems waiting for weeks and months is not working.
At this point I am completely lost as what to do. I don't know if I should do frequent water changes or none at all. Should I clean the gravel or not?
Checked ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, all good. only thing maybe off is PH is around 7.6.
Because the new filter system cleared everything up initially I was thinking the tank was just dirty as it cleared up instantly. but now back to cloudiness.
I really don't know where to go from here. Would really appreciate anyone who can point me in the right direction.
Thanks.
Jonathan