Ok, so I have a fifty five gallon tank that has been up and running for about 6 months. There are 10 four to five inch chiclids in it, and for they all seem to be happy. But I just cannot keep the water clean. This is my first tank so I am still learning. My tank was set up with the grates on the bottom and power heads, and I still had milky water issues. I was told to get rid of that and get a high quality hang on filter, wich I did. It has three stages to it, foam, carbon, and media rocks. I was performing 50% water changes every week to try and keep it clean, wich would work for about 2 days, then it would be white again. I was told that was to often so I cut it down to every other week, but that did not help. I have put cycle, or good bacteria supplement in the tank and that has not helped. It was bothering so bad the other day I did a big water change and that evening my fish were not looking to good, 1 died right away, another got white fungus all over and then died. I do rinse my media rocks off with tap water, just read that I shouldnt be doing that. I dont no what to do and I feel like just giving up. Oh yeah, have the test strips with 6 test on them, and everything looks great, thats another reason why I am feeling so confussed.
Help milky white water!
- Thread starter salvajero
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
taylorodw
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Hello, and welcome to AA.
I am sorry to hear about your troubles with the tank. I hope you don't give up - if you push through an initial "crash course" phase with aquariums, you can learn to keep fish healthy, and how to stock your tank, no problem. From there, how much you want to learn is all up to you. It won't be this hard forever
There are a few things going on in your tank. I've got a few questions:
When you changed from the powerhead/grate filtration to a hang on back unit, how did you do it? By the way, we call those Under Gravel Filters, or UGF. Can you take me through the process, from when you removed the UGF to when you installed the HOB (Hang on Back) filter?
What filter do you have on there now?
Generally, you can't do too many water changes. I perform a 50% once a week on my tanks, and have sometimes changed water daily.
Cichlids are messy fish so it is possible that they are polluting the water quickly due to poor filtration (I will be able to tell you more once I know what filter you have, it could be good). 50% twice a week isn't poor care, it can be healthy in a well-maintained tank. That said, I do 50% once a week on my tanks.
When you performed your big water change, and your fish died, did you use a dechlorinator? which one? Exactly how long was it before the fish died? 15 minutes, 4 hours, the next day? Also, was the white fungus ich?
That is what a fish with ich looks like. Or was it another disease?
Lastly, you are right about not rinsing your bio-media in tap water. Do you know about the nitrogen cycle? This is what affects what you should be testing for (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels). While we're on the subject, the test strips can be off by up to 2 ppm according to a review by a user here. 2ppm is a potentially deadly level of ammonia or nitrite (depending on a bunch of factors). That's why we like to use a liquid test kit, like API's Master Fresh Water test kit. You can find it on the Wal-Mart website if you are in the US.
Okay, that's enough for one post Tell me what you think.
I am sorry to hear about your troubles with the tank. I hope you don't give up - if you push through an initial "crash course" phase with aquariums, you can learn to keep fish healthy, and how to stock your tank, no problem. From there, how much you want to learn is all up to you. It won't be this hard forever
There are a few things going on in your tank. I've got a few questions:
When you changed from the powerhead/grate filtration to a hang on back unit, how did you do it? By the way, we call those Under Gravel Filters, or UGF. Can you take me through the process, from when you removed the UGF to when you installed the HOB (Hang on Back) filter?
What filter do you have on there now?
Generally, you can't do too many water changes. I perform a 50% once a week on my tanks, and have sometimes changed water daily.
Cichlids are messy fish so it is possible that they are polluting the water quickly due to poor filtration (I will be able to tell you more once I know what filter you have, it could be good). 50% twice a week isn't poor care, it can be healthy in a well-maintained tank. That said, I do 50% once a week on my tanks.
When you performed your big water change, and your fish died, did you use a dechlorinator? which one? Exactly how long was it before the fish died? 15 minutes, 4 hours, the next day? Also, was the white fungus ich?
That is what a fish with ich looks like. Or was it another disease?
Lastly, you are right about not rinsing your bio-media in tap water. Do you know about the nitrogen cycle? This is what affects what you should be testing for (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels). While we're on the subject, the test strips can be off by up to 2 ppm according to a review by a user here. 2ppm is a potentially deadly level of ammonia or nitrite (depending on a bunch of factors). That's why we like to use a liquid test kit, like API's Master Fresh Water test kit. You can find it on the Wal-Mart website if you are in the US.
Okay, that's enough for one post
Tell me what you think.
Welcome to AA!
When you did the big change that was followed by the death, did you dechlor the water? Temp match?
It sounds like you are doing most stuff exactly right and just need to figure out the one little thing that's going wrong. If the water is definitely whitish, it's bacterial and I would recommend leaving it (no changes) for 2-3 days to see if it disappears. Are you changing your filter media out? If so, stop. Rinse and reuse until it falls apart.
and +1 for the liquid kits over the strips.
When you did the big change that was followed by the death, did you dechlor the water? Temp match?
It sounds like you are doing most stuff exactly right and just need to figure out the one little thing that's going wrong. If the water is definitely whitish, it's bacterial and I would recommend leaving it (no changes) for 2-3 days to see if it disappears. Are you changing your filter media out? If so, stop. Rinse and reuse until it falls apart.
and +1 for the liquid kits over the strips.
Mark Hewitt
Aquarium Advice FINatic
What are your test results? For Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate.
How often are you feeding your fish and how much? Over-feeding is the most common cause of cloudy water issues. So cutting that right down is always the first step.
From what I've seen the 6 in one test strips don't test for Ammonia, which is the most important factor!
How often are you feeding your fish and how much? Over-feeding is the most common cause of cloudy water issues. So cutting that right down is always the first step.
From what I've seen the 6 in one test strips don't test for Ammonia, which is the most important factor!
lisaz
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
My tank is also going through a milk stage.
*pouts*
I was given some excellent advice here just like you.
Deep Seven also gave me link that helped A LOT.
Cloudy Water - Cloudy Water Causes and Cures
Good info there.
Don't give up. Keep you head tight and take your time. Seems like hasty actions causes more fish deaths than anything else.
Good luck, keep reading and ask, ask, ask.
Great people here.
*hugs*
Lisa
*pouts*
I was given some excellent advice here just like you.
Deep Seven also gave me link that helped A LOT.
Cloudy Water - Cloudy Water Causes and Cures
Good info there.
Don't give up. Keep you head tight and take your time. Seems like hasty actions causes more fish deaths than anything else.
Good luck, keep reading and ask, ask, ask.
Great people here.
*hugs*
Lisa
water still milky
Thank you for all your replies, in response to Taylorodw, when I changed from the ugf to the hang on filter I basically just did a quick carless job of it. I simply pulled all the decorations out, lifted the grates off the bottom and used the gravel vacume to pull about 70% of the dirty water out. Of course the water was extremely dirty so I did another 40% water change the next day. The hang on filter I put on there is a AquaClear power 70.
When I did the big water change I believe I did not use enough dechlorinator, I was low on it and just tried to get by with enough for about 5 gallons, when I replaced about 27 gallons. I use a brand by top fin, sorry cant remember the name right now and I am away from home. The fish died about 30 hours after the water change and from the pictures you sent it appears it did have ich.
I am learning a little bit about the nitrogen cycle but honestly I am just getting confused, I do believe that I am probably over feeding the fish but I just cant tell how much to give them. People say don’t let the food rest on the bottom, but how can I do that? I mean the fish are not going to get every piece and the hang on filter disturbs the water making the flakes sink.
Thank you for all your replies, in response to Taylorodw, when I changed from the ugf to the hang on filter I basically just did a quick carless job of it. I simply pulled all the decorations out, lifted the grates off the bottom and used the gravel vacume to pull about 70% of the dirty water out. Of course the water was extremely dirty so I did another 40% water change the next day. The hang on filter I put on there is a AquaClear power 70.
When I did the big water change I believe I did not use enough dechlorinator, I was low on it and just tried to get by with enough for about 5 gallons, when I replaced about 27 gallons. I use a brand by top fin, sorry cant remember the name right now and I am away from home. The fish died about 30 hours after the water change and from the pictures you sent it appears it did have ich.
I am learning a little bit about the nitrogen cycle but honestly I am just getting confused, I do believe that I am probably over feeding the fish but I just cant tell how much to give them. People say don’t let the food rest on the bottom, but how can I do that? I mean the fish are not going to get every piece and the hang on filter disturbs the water making the flakes sink.
I try to imagine the size of their stomach in relation to the amount of food I put in. An eyeball size portion of food is plenty for just about any fish. There are feeding rings that are easily made or purchased to keep floating foods contained so that the fish can eat without the food being disturbed by the filter output.
Maybe worth a read. The author's a fool, but there's some decent info in it.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now-116287.html
Maybe worth a read. The author's a fool, but there's some decent info in it.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now-116287.html
DragonFish71
Great white snark
Another factor is that you changed out the UGF plates without giving the new filter time to build up it's bio-load.
All filters need to build up the bacteria as well. By taking out the UGF plates and adding the brand new filter you basically re-started the cycle.
And...
10 4-5 inch cichlids was way too many for that tank. You might want to consider re-homing a few. That can also be part of the cloudy water issue. You put that many larger sized, messy, high bio-load producing fish into a tank with inadequate filtration and you will have problems.
You might want to consider adding a second filter. You can never have too much filtration. When our 55 was still a cichlid tank I had an UGF with power heads and 2 HOBs that were rated for 60g tanks each. It still wasn't enough to be honest.
All filters need to build up the bacteria as well. By taking out the UGF plates and adding the brand new filter you basically re-started the cycle.
And...
10 4-5 inch cichlids was way too many for that tank. You might want to consider re-homing a few. That can also be part of the cloudy water issue. You put that many larger sized, messy, high bio-load producing fish into a tank with inadequate filtration and you will have problems.
You might want to consider adding a second filter. You can never have too much filtration. When our 55 was still a cichlid tank I had an UGF with power heads and 2 HOBs that were rated for 60g tanks each. It still wasn't enough to be honest.
DragonFish71
Great white snark
HN1, the new title looks good on ya'
Similar threads
