Water changes

[BmxBandGeek]

ok, i did a water change 20-25% and my nitrates went up to 10ppm and the water is cloudy again...is this normal? or am i doing something wrong?..i have a 37gal eclipse tank...3 goldfish, 6 zebras, 2 red taild sharks, and a pleco..and plant buds

 

[medge00]

Has your tank cycled yet? Are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle? Here's an article:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=21

Water can often get cloudy during the cycle. Its normal. It clears up with the cylce is done. Is your tank white cloudy? green cloudy? slightly cloudy? green cloudy is usually an algae bloom, white cloudy can be a bacteria bloom.. .

What are your readings for Amonia and nItrite?

 

[BmxBandGeek]

slightly white cloudy..ammonia is 0, same with nitrite..and yes, its been cycled for about a week, i was just wondering if the cloudiness and nitrAte spike was normal

 

[tmurphy171]

A few things for you to consider.

Now and then my tanks get slightly cloudy after a water change. It disappears in less then a day.

3 Goldfish in a 37g tank is ok if they were by themselves but its not a good idea to mix them with other fish. Goldfish and tropicals have different temp requirements as goldfish are cold/cool water fish and trops are warm water fish. Goldies don't do well in constantly warm water, and they require a large amount of o2 un the water. The warmer the water is the less o2 is available.

Goldfish also produce large amounts of waste. I think your ok for now bio-load wise as I assume the fish are small but goldies grow fast and your tank will become stressed to handle the load with the other fish in there.

 

[Menagerie]

Even though the tank may be cycled in the fact that ammonia and nitrites are zero and nitrates are increasing--it really takes 6 months to get a tank stable and established. Cloudiness is a sign of a new tank. It should work itself out.
I agree with tmurphy, you need to separate the fish because they do not have the same needs.

 

[BmxBandGeek]

u guys need to talk to my mom..ive tryd to seperate the fish, but my mom threw them right back in the tank

 

[Christmasfish]

Three golds when added also put that tank in the official OVERSTOCK category....

cloudiness is ALSO a sign of an overstocked tank. And it will take longer to stablize.

Golds require a minimum of 10 gallons per fish! 15ea is preferred by most serious keepers. You may get away with half of that if they are still small (under 3 inches) or you change you water every OTHER day. Especially since you have big fish in sharks adn plecos.
Golds require more pristine and harder water for health and coloration. Certain times in development , you might want warmer water to contol color patterning and general shape, but golds really need water that is stable BELOW 75.
The fish must be separated.....most type plecos are bad news for gold fish as they get larger. They have a bad habit of sticking to the side to suck of the slime coat off. This stresses them and opens them up to ever-present opportunistic bacterias.
Oxygen depletion may stunt thier growth, but with the smaller size comes disfigured internal organs and falling ill easy and likely spreading something through the tank with their demise.

And I believe sharks need more space to stay peaceful, and golds definitely need more space for surface requirements. In the current set up, I will be surprised if the tank stays stable for more than 30 days straight at a time (as each growth spurt unbalances the parameters). Work out the inches..most of your fish should hit full size pretty fast except the pleco maybe.
Sorry to say it but the tank owner's fish should stay and the rest get a tank of their own. Or arrange start sharing in the water change schedule that will need stepping up for the sake of the fish vitality (cheaper than treating from a disease cropping up). I know it is always a bummer to hear that ones seeming empty tank is almost overfull...but rivers, swamps and lakes are ever-replenishing and dont have that many animals /gallon either. And have A billion times better bio filter !


ps:next time she throws in the golds, if the tank is yours? ask"Are they to be feeder fish now? Don't you like em anymore? My pleco will appreciate it ^_^, Thanks!" 8O )

 

[Menagerie]

Well, there you go, BmxBandGeek! Print this out and tell your mother that fish care is serious and you need to fix the tank you have now. I hope this helps!
FYI--Both Christmasfish and I have our birthdays listed in our prolifes. Not only do you have a lot of fish keeping experience, but there's a lot of life experience in our advice.
Back to the topic--has the cloudiness gone down in your tank?

 

[GoldiesNGuppies]

I have a water change question. I belong to an e-mail group for tropical fish and one member wrote saying they had heard not to use warm tap water during water changes. Well, I have always used warm tap water at approx. the same temp as the tanks water temp when doing a change for my Guppies and Gouramis. I just use a thermometer to get the temp close to what is already in the tank and then add dechlor. Has anyone ever heard of this, to not use warm tap water? Just curious.

Pam

 

[tmurphy171]

they had heard not to use warm tap water during water changes. Well, I have always used warm tap water at approx. the same temp as the tanks water temp when doing a change for my Guppies and Gouramis. I just use a thermometer to get the temp close to what is already in the tank and then add dechlor.

I'll confess that I too have done this when I've removed more water from the tank then planned. I don't know a specific reason why you shouldn't. Maybe someone will chime in.

Speculating... maybe its based on the belief that hot water tanks hold sediments such as dirt, rust or metals. I don't know how this is any different from sediments in water pipes, holding tanks, storage tanks or water towers. On the other hand it may not contain as much dissolved O2 due to the higher temps.