Not a regular cloudy water thread.

[Zagz]

My step mom has a 44 gal corner tank for her fancy goldies. Some of you may remember the upgrade from the 15 gal 8O . So here is the story and the problem, I'll try to keep it short. We used seeded media when first setting up the tank and kept the nitrates high to slowly acclimate the goldies to lower nitrates as the nitrates were extremely high from the 15 gal. It has been a couple of months and the fish are healthy, ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, nitrates 20ppm, temp 72 F. Filter AC 500, with regular charcoal changes and filter floss and ceramic rings. No decorations at all but black gravel in the tank and a bubble wand. No plants, feeding twice a day, only as much as they eat in a couple of minutes. Since the addition of the AC 500 the water has cleared dramatically but still very cloudy.Yesterday it had a bluish tint but that may have been the reflection of other things in the room. The pic will show the cloudiness anyway. Any other suggestions as I have read every cloudy tank thread and still haven't come up with a solution. My last and only thought is the gravel is cheap and causing this. Now that the tank has stabilized and there are ceramic rings in the filter, maybe we should change substrate? TIA, and so much for being short.

 

[BillD]

It appeare from the picture, that you have green water which is an algae bloom. I would stop feeding for a few days, do some large water changes, of 50% per day, and if that doesn't cure the problem, throw a blanket over the tank for a few days.

 

[Zagz]

The water is not as green as it appears in the pic. It is however still quite cloudy. The greenish tint to the water has just appeared over the last 2 days. She was keeping cukes in the tank for several days at a time. She is no longer doing that, as a matter of fact she hasn't had a cuke in there for several days. The water used to be so cloudy you couldn't even see the fish. Since she got the AC 500 2 weeks ago the water has cleared up well over half of what it was. Is it possible the cloudy water was an algae bloom in it's beginning stages? The water has actually got a rather bluish/green tint to it, rather than all green. The cloudiness before was very whitish in nature. I have been at my wits end because none of my tanks have this issue. She has it located where there is very little lighting from windows and no direct light at all. She doesn't keep the lights on very much at all. Thanks for the quick response, all additional advice is appreciated.

 

[Hara]

I would still say it is algae bloom. I would do all the treatment at once. Quit feeding(or cut back to very sparingly every other day), do a large water change and totally blackout the tank for a week.

 

[Zagz]

I will tell her to give that a try. Boy I hope you guys are right, she will be so ecstatic if you are and that fixes it!

 

[malkore]

I also think its a light greenwater bloom. Keeping leftover food in the tank would have produced more ammonia, and eventually nitrate. Many suspect that a sudden spike in ammonia that the biofilter can't deal with, is what triggers greenwater (as the free floating algae spores suddenly have a perfect source of nitrogen in the ammonia: NH4)

Left over veggies should be removed at the end of the day, or if feeding nocturnal fish, first thing in the morning.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I have always done a blackout to clear that up, typically a 50% PWC with the lights off, then a blanket and a bubble strip (tho not important with surface breathers), 3 days and remove the blanket to find the water has cleared up, then another 50%PWC to remove the dead algae and turn the lights back on.

You may want to review where the tank is located and how much daylight hits it, or how long the lights are on.