High PH 7.8 - 8.0 & cloudy water

[Dbnsa]

Ok,

So i made the bnig decision to go bigger last year october. So i moved from a 28 litre tank to a 120 litre tank.

Talk about headaches!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have had my big tank for 4 months. I have been battling with everything that could go wrong. From poor cycling to Algea and high PH. In this hole time i have had fish in the tank. Some how these fish have survived.
The fish i have is, 1 Angel, 4 tiger tetras, 5 red barbs and 2 bottom feeders. the names eludes me right now.

At the moment i have a tank that is cloudy with a PH ranging from 7.8 - 8.0.
I have put in a piece of driftwood on Sunday to try and lower the PH.

My gripe is the cloudy water. I have been reading articles that suggest a 50% water change will do the trick. My problem is that if i do the water change the PH is going to remain high.

With regards to the algea problem i had in early December, i went and saw my local pet store and they gave me algaway. Which did a brillient job. It cleared the water to sparkling in 24 hours. I have been using it on and off since. but it hasn't improved the water quality at all. So my thought is that it is not an algea problem.

Your assistance would be greatly appriciated.

 

[The Trooper]

Was the tank you bought second hand, perhaps an old marine tank?

I've read somewhere something that grows in marine tanks (i believe coraline) can cause havok with FW tanks in terms of PH and cloudiness.

 

[Dbnsa]

Was the tank you bought second hand, perhaps an old marine tank?

I've read somewhere something that grows in marine tanks (i believe coraline) can cause havok with FW tanks in terms of PH and cloudiness.

Hi, No i bought the tank new from a reputable pet store.

 

[Ryan24]

What colour ? And also three things that can cause it is too much lighting (also causes algae boom) over feeding (organic) and or bio load ( biological ) . Did you make sure you rinsed out your substrate well in hot water ? And also any pictures ?

 

[Ryan24]

Also how much do you change the water ? And why filtration do you have for the tank ?

 

[enrgizerbunny]

What is your tap PH? Have you looked into ro/di water? What fish do you have in the tank?

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Dbnsa]

Also how much do you change the water ? And why filtration do you have for the tank ?

What is your tap PH? Have you looked into ro/di water? What fish do you have in the tank?

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

What colour ? And also three things that can cause it is too much lighting (also causes algae boom) over feeding (organic) and or bio load ( biological ) . Did you make sure you rinsed out your substrate well in hot water ? And also any pictures ?

Hi guys, I would usually change about 20%. Once a week if needed. The color is white which would suggest a bacterial bloom. But this has been going on for about a month. It has turned slightly brown but it is only because I have put in some drift wood to try lower the ph.
The lighting isn't the issue. I have blacked out the back of the tank which would get sun light for about an hour in the morning. I have now added to that a blanket which blocks out any light and heat from the sun. The lights I only switch on between 3pm and 4pm and switch off about 10pm when I go to bed.
Feeding I only feed once a day in the morning. I ensure it is only enough to last about two minutes.
The substrate is silica sand which I have used in other tanks. I put in new sand when I got this rank but from the same source. Rinsed it well.

I have two in tank filters with power heads. One filter is a cascade 300 and the second is a 500 cascade.

I haven't checked the tap water ph yet lately. I did test it some time ago. It was high enough for me to be concerned. I went out and bought ph down.
I haven't used ro water yet. My next step is to collect rain water in buckets.
The fish I have in the tank are 5 ruby barbs, 4 tiger tetras, 2 cat fish and 1 angel.

These are all fish that shouldn't be surviving in this ph level.

One thing I haven't mentioned is that I do have live plants.

I'll take a photo for you guys.

Thanks guys

 

[Dbnsa]

Here is the photo of my tank. Let me know what you think.

 

[mrvincent]

Put some tank water in a white buck. Then you'll see if it's more a bacterial bloom or green water. They're differents... Green water appear white often, so it's why you need to put tank water in a white buck, you'll see if it's green or white water.

Is your tank new ?

Don't try to lower the PH with PH minus, it's an acid and the suddent PH change will make more harm than good. The best way to lower PH is to lower KH, and to lower KH you need to cut your tap water with RODI/distillated water.

 

[Dbnsa]

I have taken some water out using a cleAr glass. When looking at it in light it looks white. But I'll look at the water in a white bowl. But my question is if I have been using algaway, why would I still be getting algea?

What I find frustrating is that I emptied my old tank and left it outside for about a month. I then had to restart it due to some fish not getting on in the big tank. This smaller tank cycled and has ever since been clear. I haven't had one moments problem with it. The water I filled the tank up is from the very same tap I use for my big tank. And the small tank ph is around 6.8 - 7.0

 

[mrvincent]

I had green water problems, and I was sure it was bacterial bloom due to the white cloudy color of the water under my lights...

I won't use any algae killer in aquarium tank... This is poison !
Nutrients/light control is the best algae killer !

Excel carbon and peroxyde is the best for treating spot algaes problems IMO...

 

[Dbnsa]

You're right about the algae killer it is poison. But it worked.
I think I need to take a sample into my pet store for analysis and check perimeters.
In South Africa you can't get all in one test kits. They are all separate kits and they cost a fortune. If I wanted test everything I would need to get about 4 or 5 different kits which would cost in the region of R1500.

 

[mrvincent]

I bought 5 tests kits for 50 US$

Anyway, you have to determine if it's green of white water with the white buck.

 

[gilpi]

Algae though it could be unsightly it does not have to be a bad thing, you can scrub it off the front glass and ornaments, perhaps your lighting is way too strong?

I recommend you stop using algaway or any additives in your tank, you could be creating an imbalance making things worse. Do lots of partial water changes from now on and I'm pretty sure things will stabilize. BTW a pH of 7.8 is not that bad. I raise discus and angels in 7.6-7.8.

You'll be OK!

Good luck.

 

[Dbnsa]

Thanks for the Advice.

When you say partial water changes I would assume it should be 20% everyday.

 

[gilpi]

It would not hurt to do 20% water change daily until things stabilize and your fish would love you for it!. Its hard to diagnose the problem though since you mentioned poor cycling but you had the tank for 4 months, hard to tell what is going on in the tank... lighting, filtering, overfeeding, adding additives etc these are all things that can offset the quality of your water.
I would stick to just water changes for now and I would stay away from algae killers.

The benefits of water changes are far beyond any chemicals you can use in your tank and dont forget to use a good water de-chlorinator/conditioner when doing the water changes.

What filtering are you using?

 

[Dbnsa]

What about the ph level?

The filters I'm using is to in tank filters. One on each end of the tank. They are both Penn Plax Cascade internal filters. One is a 300 and the other a 600.

 

[Dbnsa]

I'll go out and buy another bottle of dechlorinater and change water every day unit the water is clear. Thanks guys for all the assistance.

I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[gilpi]

I can't say enough about water changes! BTW Prime seems to be the top water conditioner used and I'm using it as well but many other brands do the job also.

A tip about the filters.... Don't change the filter media inside of them, just rinse it in aquarium water and only when needed, the only thing inside the filter that needs changing is carbon if you are using it, and only every few months.
The filter media is what holds your beneficial bacteria that process the ammonia into less harmful nitrates so you don't want to mess with it.

I hope some of this helps!

 

[mrvincent]

I use Nutrafin Aqua+ as dechlorinator... It appear to contains natural plants stress coat.