35 gallon Hexagon Aquarium

[Shadow91]

I have a 35 gallon aquarium with 6 fish in it so far (1 Blood Parrot (Very Friendly), 2 Silver Dollars, 2 cannot think of the name fish, 1 Molly, and 1 approx 4 inch Trinidad Pleco Algae eater and 6 live plants) The tank is reasonably new. I ran the tank for a week with the plant seeds in it. Ran all the tests on it the PH was the only thing high on it. I then put originally 2 mollies in the tank to see if the water would be good and to set the tank up. After a couple of days I checked the water and again the PH was the problem. I then added more fish, and let the tank run. after a couple of weeks I tested the water again same result with the PH but every thing else was fine. I added "Proper PH 7.0" to the tank and also to my 10 gallon rectangular tank both were cloudy after adding the proper PH but the next day the 10 gallon was clear and the 35 gallon was still cloudy. I waited a couple of days but the water did not clear up. I tested the water again and the PH went down like it should. put the Nitrate and Nitrite was up a little. I cleaned the filter and added the Nitro-sorb bag like the test kit booklet suggested. (I rinsed it out before adding it) It made the water very cloudy and has remained the same since. What should I do? I have a hanging filter wich is rated up to 50 gallons but the tubing that sucks up the water doesn't even go half way down into the tank. My local pet store said that is fine. I also have airation going aswell. Anyone have any ideas? I do not want to lose any of my fish especially when I spent alot of money on them and hope to be able to get more fish.
And just to mention, both my 35 gallon and my 10 gallon aquariums use the same type of filtration both having the own separate hanging filters.
Thank you and I appreciate any help you can give.


35 Gallon Hexagon Aquarium with stand
Hanging filtration rated up to 50 gallons
Submersible heater
1 Blood Parrot (Very friendly),2 Silver Dollars,2 cannot think of the name fish,1 Molly, 1 approx 4 inch Trinidad Pleco Algae eater, 6 live plants

10 Gallon Rectangular Aquarium
Hanging filtration rated for 20 gallons
Hanging heater
1 Blood Parrot (He's the Bully between the 2 blood Parrots), 1 approx 2 inch Trinidad Pleco Algae eater.

 

[loganj]

How long has the 35 been set up? Have you checked for ammonia? With the info you gave, and assuming the tank has been set up long enough to have cycled, my guess is that you have a bacterial bloom going on. They will usually clear up by themselves. I would caution you about using the Proper pH as I believe it adds phosphate to the water which will eventually cause algae problems. What is the pH of your tap water? Most of the time, tap water can be used without adding pH modifiers. A stable pH that's a little out of the preferred range is better than having it bouce up and down as you add chemicals...this stresses the fish. What are your water parameters now? Ammonia? Nitrite? Nitrate? pH?

 

[TankGirl]

I'm with Logan. When setting up the tank you should get an idea of your tap water pH, but otherwise it is not something that needs to be tested regularly. pH is a relatively constant value assuming you have regular water changes, and especially in a newish tank. Most fish are fine with most pH levels, even very high ones.

What needs to be monitored is ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. The tank needs to go through a cycle, and that is basically a "hurry up and wait" type enterprise. Don't clean the filter, don't take any measures to control anything EXCEPT water changes to keep levels of ammonia and nitrite low, which may take up to 6 weeks to completely resolve.

The LFS will try to sell you all kinds of fixes for this and that, but stay away from that and just keep doing water changes and wait, and watch the ammonia and nitrite. Once those two values are zero, and you are showing nitrAte then you are cycled and the tank should remain clear and the fish happy, provided you keep doing water changes regularly.

 

[Menagerie]

Just wanted to say~
[center:1966d05872] Welcome to AA, Shadow91! [/center:1966d05872]