Dirty tank help

[dilger]

Hi I got a 4ft 150l tank
I have 21 cichlids and couple bn
Foxtail fern drift wood and gravel base
The tank water is always dirty I can do 20-30% water changes every week yet the water will still have a goldy green tinge to it
I have a 1800l/ph internal dual element pump running with air on outlet I have cotton and boi sponge in the filter
I can't get it Anywer near clean
Would it be better to run 2x 320lph bio sponges
I'm trying to avoid canister filters...

 

[fishyfriends3]

Seems your overstocked and under filtered. Which cichlids are they what there maximum adult size plays a part in the bio load they are producing. Why avoid canister filters they work very well for cichlids as they have a larger capacity for holding media and flow rates are generally high.

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[SonicsDC25]

The gold color is also due to the tannins in your driftwood, so you should probably take it out and clean it. As fishy said and ask, what cichlid do you have and what are their sizes? There's a good chance you're overstocked with insufficient filters.

 

[dilger]

Majority of the cichlids are about 7-11cm consisting of peacocks hongi yellow blue Lombardi crabro
Also got two Cory's and two small bn the drift wood all came out of other tanks that have been set up and havnt learnt about dw tannins yet :/
The internal pump circles the water abit 11 times and hour .. Would you sudjest changing the filter element to something else?
Trying to avoid canisters cause don't have the cash ATM due to my daughter arriving couple weeks ago

 

[chevypride]

To me it sounds overstocked. Try doing 50% water changes ever 5 days, my tank is overstocked as well and doing this always keeps it clean. To get it clean I would do 25% or so everyday until it is clean, and then keep up with the 50% every 5 days. Try switching there food as well, this can cloud water and make it look gross. Also make sure your not overfeeding. I feed twice a day (my fish all pool up in the feeding zone when they're hungry, if they don't do it they don't get fed, so sometimes they get fed once a day, or sometimes 3 times a day, but usually twice). I used to feed just a bulk cheap food, and when I switched to Omega I was actually shocked at the difference, and this is when I realized high quality food makes a huge difference.

 

[dilger]

Yeah I mainly use hikari sinking and they all hover the top as soon as they see me get home from work but I only feed them wat they eat throw a bunch in by bunch until there not eating anymore