55 Gallon filter and cloudy water help.

[AMSisme]

HI, im new to any type of forum so i hope im doing this right lol.

I have recently upgraded to a 55 gallon fish tank, where I now only have a large bala shark, juvenile tiger oscar, medium pleco and a pictus catfish.

The problem is the oscar is beginning to create ALOT of waste as expected and i only have a large internal filter, which is now making the water very cloudy and algae gets a crazy growth on when given the chance.

I do regular water changes, cleaning of the filter but I believe my filter is not strong enough and large enough to keep up with waste which is being created and i therefore cannot get the water clear.

So before I go and buy a Fluval 205 canister filter or something similar, I would like to know that this would help clear the water and hopefully reduce the rate that algae grows.

This is mainly so that i have clear water and secondly so that my girlfriend does not think im wasting all that money on a canister filter for nothing. lol

Thanks for your time x

 

[NYgiantsRP]

Is it a common pleco? If so then you should just get rid of it now. It jst poops like crazy and dosent really eat much algae. When did you setup this new tank, exactly? Couple days, two weeks, a month? Do you test you water parameters? How long do you keep your light on? When you clean your filter do you use tap water? How much and how often do you feed?

With all these questions answered everyone can help you better.

 

[AMSisme]

Yeah it is a common pleco, ill be getting rid of it soon as its getting huge. Its been going between a year and 6 months, .... i used to have 6 barbs instead of the oscar but recently got rid of them in exchange for the oscar. The light is on couple hours a day, ive literally tried everything but the filter. My filter gets really dirty in a couple of days!

Im totally up for any helpful ideas x

 

[NYgiantsRP]

How much do you feed and how often? Do you clean your filter with tap water?

 

[AMSisme]

Once a day, and yeah put it under the sink because amount of crap they produce

 

[NYgiantsRP]

You shouldnt clean it with tap water because the chlorine will kill all of the benificial bacteria. Always clean the filter peices in a bucket of tank water.

You seem to be good with feeding, and lights. So the filter getting cleaned with tap water might be the reason. Just make sure you use a gravel vac to get all the poop and stuff from the bottom. With oscars i would do about a 75% weekly water change every week.

 

[AMSisme]

75% ? is that not absolutley crazy? i normally do like 30% lol

So is a bigger filter a bad idea? As i just found a guy on gumtree selling a fluval 205 for £40 brand new

 

[NYgiantsRP]

Well you have these big fish, in a not so big tank. They have alot of big poop. So 75% a week is not crazy at all. Some people do 50% twice a week or more. You could get a bigger filter if you have a good deal on it, it wont hurt. BUT more filtration dosent mean your water is going to be clear. You need to make sure you clean filter pieces in tank water, becasue you will kill the benifcial bacteria with tap water. That is most likely the reason.

If i were you i would get the bigger filter AND do 75% water changes a week and make sure you get into the gravel to clean it out, and dont use tape water to clean the parts. Do that for a few weeks and your water should be clear and healthy. Also get yourself a API test kit to check water parameters.

If you have any problems after a few weeks come back on and tell us whats goin on.

 

[AMSisme]

Okay cool thanks alot ill do that and hopefully should work.