100 percent water change :(

[TenaciousTriggerFish]

Doing a 100% water change today on a thirty gallon and switching the sand out for rocks.... Only doing it because we can't see through it and there is NO LOGCAL REASON THE TANK SHOULD BE LIKE THAT it's quite dis heartening so that's what I've resorted to any tips on doing a 100%? Let me know

 

[Calypso77]

Can't see through what?

 

[jlbfish]

How long have you had the sand? Did you rinse the heck out of if first?

 

[TenaciousTriggerFish]

How long have you had the sand? Did you rinse the heck out of if first?

Absolutely this is a friends tank an for some reason (tank set up for prob 5 months ) it was clear for the first month then started getting. Cloudy I have done everything logical so now she wants to get rid of the sand mine looks fantastic still! It's been set up a little longer... Here is mine still don't have it exactly how I want it!

 

[jlbfish]

What kind of sand did she use? Same as yours or different?

 

[Zimmanski]

Tip for 100% water change: 5 gallon buckets, put your fish in them along with way decorations you're keeping. Also, what's the age of the filter pad? You say it's been running for 5 months are you sure the friend has been keeping up with routine maintenance? Just spitballing here. Another thing, although most of your BB resides in your filter pad there are a lot in your substrate as well so after you make the change be sure to monitor your parameters just to be safe and make sure you don't get any crazy spikes that could harm your fish. When I switched substrate it was a lot easier because I switched from gravel to sand, I didn't have to remove any fish or all the water but to get all the sand out of a tank to switch to gravel removing everything is probably normal. I would assume though that its not the sand that's the problem and you might want to try and figure that out first before going to all that hard work dealing with sand removal

 

[Aqualady40]

Do you have a pic of your tank your thinking of doing the WC on so we can see what you see?

 

[blert]

Cloudiness that won't settle after a couple of days is not related to sand. It's a bacterial bloom caused by excess nutrients in the water column. It will go away on its own.
What is your friends PWC schedule?
How much is your friend feeding?

 

[Zimmanski]

How long has this been going on? Bacterial bloom shouldn't last 5 months right?

 

[tamtam]

How long has this been going on? Bacterial bloom shouldn't last 5 months right?

It shouldn't but if she's not doing proper maintenance or has effected her cycle it would make sense.

I don't see how it could be sand unless it wasn't rinsed well enough and there is a lot of current stirring it up.

I just put sand in my 30 gallon and it was clear right away. I rinsed it well and put a plate down on the bottom to break the flow of water from buckets and it was clear the whole time. It would take a cuple minutes to settle after a fresh bucket of water but I have my filters on and fish in the tank in an hour. Most of that was adding decor. I was surprised at the lack of clouding actually as I expected it to take a few hours at least.

I had the same thinking as Blert. There are things she may be doing that she doesn't even realize that are allowing the bacteria blooms to happen.

 

[TenaciousTriggerFish]

Neither of us test or do pwc I never have so I never have her do it either

 

[jlbfish]

What kind of sand is it? Is it on top of another substrate? Looks like there are some black spots. Are there plants?

+1 to bacterial bloom she could have started a mini cycle

 

[Calypso77]

Neither of us test or do pwc I never have so I never have her do it either

You Never change water in your tank?

 

[Mrc8858]

You Never change water in your tank?

Wow...well there's your problem

 

[Calypso77]

Wow...well there's your problem

Bingo.

 

[Zimmanski]

Neither of us test or do pwc I never have so I never have her do it either

Those poor fish, and ew/gross/disgusting. Makes me sick, would you drink water that's been sitting out for 5 months? Or better yet, how would you like to live in a toilet your whole life? You need to keep the commitment you made or figure out an alternative solution, that's just cruel

 

[Calypso77]

Those poor fish, and ew/gross/disgusting. Makes me sick, would you drink water that's been sitting out for 5 months? Or better yet, how would you like to live in a toilet your whole life? You need to keep the commitment you made or figure out an alternative solution, that's just cruel

+1 to you. Some people

 

[Mrc8858]

If there are living fish in this tank most likely you will shock them with all the new clean water.. I would do daily 20% changes for a week or 2 and then stay on a 25+% water change every week

 

[Dreadz]

+1 for the last two posts! Get yourselves an API master test kit and start doing regular PWC's. both are an absolute necessity. The cloudiness is almost certainly caused by an algae bloom which will be down to excess nutrients in the water which would either be consumed by live plants or removed with PWC's. Don't know a massive amount about plants, have only just planted my tank for first time but am pretty sure duckweed is good at fighting algae blooms. Perhaps someone else can confirm or deny that and suggest some more possible choices

 

[TenaciousTriggerFish]

Before calling me cruel... Etc the tank I posted first that is super clear.... Never tested never done a water change... My 65 gallon saltwater never tested never done a water change (besides getting the salt level correct before adding fish)
So my ways are different? Yes! Are they perfect? No! Do I have great fish living a happy life? Yes! I am just having trouble with one tank! ONE.... Anyways no its just the sand... Same sand I use yes... And u have come to the conclusion it's a oh imbalance but obviously it's an assumption what is a bacterial bloom? And it was not cycled... (I don't do that either)