Hiyas, I'm hoping you can help my noobieness
I've had a 62L (2ft x 1ft) coldwater tank running for approx 4 years now. Its undergone two house moves but its never really settled after the last one in October last year. Originally I had it placed near a window at the back of the house (not in direct sunlight), but as the warmer weather came so did the algae, so I've now moved it into a different room away from any windows and my algae problem resolved itself.
However, my water has never been right since we've moved. I've battled what only can be described as white cloud throughout the entire tank which my brother thought was bacteria bloom. After searching on here and discussing with my brother, it seems I was clearing the filter too frequently and thus creating a permenant 'new tank syndrome' cloud effect. I've now not cleaned the filter (Fluval internal, bought with tank) for 3 weeks, but do a 5-10L water change every week.
And yet its still cloudy and I can't honesty say I've seen any improvement. I quality tested the water tonight and was pleasantly surprised!
pH 7.8 - 8 (is this ok? Not sure)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm (at our old house it was off the top of the scale...)
So, my water quality is ok, right? What on earth is my cloud? I've had to turn the light off as the bulb was on its way out (buying new one tomorrow) and thats been off for the last 2 weeks. I removed the gravel some time ago and now there is nothing covering the bottom of the tank.
Theres only 3 fish in there now. 'Tank' our enormous fantail - approx 4 inches not including fins. 'Rocky' another fantail approx 2-3 inches and Bubba the shububkin, again 2-3 inches. Rocky is poorly at the moment (about to post about that elsewhere) but I don't think its down to the water.
Any suggestions welcome. My thanks in advance for your help
Tils.
I've had a 62L (2ft x 1ft) coldwater tank running for approx 4 years now. Its undergone two house moves but its never really settled after the last one in October last year. Originally I had it placed near a window at the back of the house (not in direct sunlight), but as the warmer weather came so did the algae, so I've now moved it into a different room away from any windows and my algae problem resolved itself.
However, my water has never been right since we've moved. I've battled what only can be described as white cloud throughout the entire tank which my brother thought was bacteria bloom. After searching on here and discussing with my brother, it seems I was clearing the filter too frequently and thus creating a permenant 'new tank syndrome' cloud effect. I've now not cleaned the filter (Fluval internal, bought with tank) for 3 weeks, but do a 5-10L water change every week.
And yet its still cloudy and I can't honesty say I've seen any improvement. I quality tested the water tonight and was pleasantly surprised!
pH 7.8 - 8 (is this ok? Not sure)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm (at our old house it was off the top of the scale...)
So, my water quality is ok, right? What on earth is my cloud? I've had to turn the light off as the bulb was on its way out (buying new one tomorrow) and thats been off for the last 2 weeks. I removed the gravel some time ago and now there is nothing covering the bottom of the tank.
Theres only 3 fish in there now. 'Tank' our enormous fantail - approx 4 inches not including fins. 'Rocky' another fantail approx 2-3 inches and Bubba the shububkin, again 2-3 inches. Rocky is poorly at the moment (about to post about that elsewhere) but I don't think its down to the water.
Any suggestions welcome. My thanks in advance for your help
Tils.