I've had this tank for about a year and things have been going rather smoothly...Till recently. The water's cloudy and I'm trying to figure out how...
My tests say the phosphates are off the chart. There's some amonia but they seem rather low levels.. But even then, a few weeks ago there wasn't any at all. The Ph used to be 6.4, 6.6, and now it's a low 6, maybe lower. There's nitrates, nitrite... I managed to lower them a bit. Went from a bright flashy pink to paler. But I think they're trying to go back up.
I have two neon tetras and two white tetras in my tank with a...fish thing...who likes cleaning my windows and plants. I can't remember the name of it in english.
I started adding some algae tablets for food about 2 months ago. In my last visit to the pet store, I complained that my plants weren't doing very good and the lady sold me those sticks I put in the gravel next to the plants for nutrients. (Plants are doing good... That's one thing that's doing good.) I keep being told by relatives that these sticks are the cause of all my problems but I have huge doubts on that considering the tests. I wish I remembered the brand name.
My filter is an Aquaclear... I use some Biomax, foam and there's also that peat I use. I used to have a high pH before but decent everythings. So I started using that to lower it. Seemed to work... And I had a stable pH now.
I'm trying to figure out a plan of action but I'm wayyy too lacking in knowledge to figure it out myself, and all I get from people at the petstore is "Buy this thing, buy that thing to lower that", etc.
Can anyone help?
My tests say the phosphates are off the chart. There's some amonia but they seem rather low levels.. But even then, a few weeks ago there wasn't any at all. The Ph used to be 6.4, 6.6, and now it's a low 6, maybe lower. There's nitrates, nitrite... I managed to lower them a bit. Went from a bright flashy pink to paler. But I think they're trying to go back up.
I have two neon tetras and two white tetras in my tank with a...fish thing...who likes cleaning my windows and plants. I can't remember the name of it in english.
I started adding some algae tablets for food about 2 months ago. In my last visit to the pet store, I complained that my plants weren't doing very good and the lady sold me those sticks I put in the gravel next to the plants for nutrients. (Plants are doing good... That's one thing that's doing good.) I keep being told by relatives that these sticks are the cause of all my problems but I have huge doubts on that considering the tests. I wish I remembered the brand name.
My filter is an Aquaclear... I use some Biomax, foam and there's also that peat I use. I used to have a high pH before but decent everythings. So I started using that to lower it. Seemed to work... And I had a stable pH now.
I'm trying to figure out a plan of action but I'm wayyy too lacking in knowledge to figure it out myself, and all I get from people at the petstore is "Buy this thing, buy that thing to lower that", etc.
Can anyone help?