Milky water after tank move..

[Livetodayjon]

Hi all..I had to move my 30 gallon across the room the other day. I had just done a ten gallon water change the week before, so I just pulled 10, moved the tank and replaced the 10 gallons of tank water. I also replaced my old hang-on filter with a new Penguin 200 as the old filter was not moving much water. Powerhead was running in aerating mode. I did add some rocks that I had used before. Powerhead was running in aerating mode. Next morning I had a milky tank and two deceased rainbow sharks. All other fish were in distress, mostly my large angel (palm-sized). Ammonia and PH test normal. I removed the rocks I had placed. The milky water plugs the Penguin real quick, so I am keeping filters changed. I did a 10 gallon change, helped but still milky..I know it's a bacteria bloom, but would like some ideas on how to clear it up, any ideas are greatly appreciated..

 

[hdultra]

It may just take a few day's for it to clear up. If all your water chemistry is good maybe you should wait it out and see. JMO

You may want to post your water results. It will help everyone to determine what's going on.

Are you replacing filters with new filters?

I don't know why you lost fish.

 

[Coleallensmom]

I'm sorry about your fish losses. Was this a previously cycled tank? How often do you normally do PWCs? I doubt that the new rocks have anything do with your issues. Sounds like a water quality issue to me. While you still have bacteria living in your substrate, all the bacteria living in your filter was lost when you replaced it with the new filter. As the majority of your bacteria can live inside your filter, your tank will most likely experience a mini-cycle of sorts. As hdultra said, it will help us if you post your water parameters.

Ammonia?
Nitrites?
Nitrates?

What do you mean by "keeping filters changed"?

 

[FLFishFanatic]

You also may have:
- Kicked up bacteria resting in your substrate, if you have not be cleaning it.
- Not rinsed the aquarium rocks before adding them.

 

[Livetodayjon]

Ok..Test strip shows the following..
PH-6.8
Nitrate-80
Nitrite-0
Hardness-150
Alkalinity-0

Hope this helps..Tank is clearing a little. I was changing the filter pads because the filter would back-up some,causing the water to flow thru the overflow, but stopped changing to allow Bio to build up. Most water is moving thu pad..Thanks..Jon

 

[Coleallensmom]

If your filter materials get clogged up again, just rinse them in a bucket with old tank water to clear them a bit. You should rarely have to replace them. Those test strips are ok, but they can be inaccurate and do not tell you your ammonia level (which is important). If you can purchase a liquid test kit, it would really benefit both you and your fish. (API Freshwater kit is a popular one.) Like FishFanatic mentioned, here could be several things going on, but it is very possible that you will/are experiencing an ammonia spike in your tank because of the new filter. Until you know for sure what your tank's ammonia reading is, I would really recommend doing daily PWC's until your new filter has time to build up some new bacteria. At 80ppm NitrAtes, you should be doing a PWC anyway. Anything under 40ppm is acceptable with NitrAtes but <20ppm is ideal and PWCs are the best way to get that number lower.

 

[Livetodayjon]

Thanks Alisha..I do have an Ammonia test kit and it shows ammonia at 0 ppm. Going to do another 10 gallon PWC.
How much PWC is bad? Just did 10 a couple of days ago..

 

[Coleallensmom]

I do 50% 1x per week on all three of my tanks and they are fully cycled. Daily or even 2x daily PWCs will not hurt if there are issues with water quality. It would be good if you can get that Nitrate reading a bit lower.

 

[Livetodayjon]

Ok, I will do a 10 g PWC this afternoon and see how it goes. Tank is still cloudy but the fish aren't in as much distress..Thanks for the swift reply,,Jon

 

[Livetodayjon]

After multiple PWC's my tank is still milky, fish sluggish but still alive. My large angel is not happy but still moving. I've been changing 10 gallons every couple of days and am not sure if I'm changing too much to often. Cloudiness won't go away. Nitates are down,which is good,and all other tests are in normal range...Any suggestions?..Thanks in advance.