Smelly Tank - White water

[Ady1397]

Help

I have a 72 Bow with 12 Goldfish in it.
2 Fluval 404's
1 Eheim 2128
2 Wisper HOB
2 402 Powerheads with Quick Filters
Constant temp 77
PH 7-7.4
Amonia 0-.2
Nitrate 0

My tank has been running for about 5 weeks with regular 15-30 percent waterchnges every 3-4 days. I clean the tank and have changed some filter media already. I dont know what else to do. My water started to stink last week and the cloud in my tank is not going away. I dont think I overfeed them and I definately have enough filtration.


Should I get a tap water filter?

Any additives?

Where can I get Bio-Spira? (Website)

Help Me!!
Anything is appreciated

 

[QTOFFER]

Wow, you have alot of filtration on that tank and that's a good thing since goldies are so messy.
What are your readings for NH3. NO2. and NO3?
Was the tank cycled before your cloudy water problem?
Did the cloudiness occur after you changed some of the filter media?

You probably have a common heterotrophic bacterial bloom. Just keep doing your water changes and it will go away. Changing the filter media is generally not recommended unless your flow is severely reduced. Even then, you should not replace more than 25% of the media to avoid losing beneficial bacteria.

It is far better to simply rinse the filter media or cartridge in a bucket of dechlorinated tank water. That gets rid of the gunk and spares the good bacteria. I do this every month or so with my Penguin mini HOB filters. I have not touched the media in my Eheim 2026 yet and the tank has been running for 5 months.

For BioSpira, try Bernie ( http://www.fishstoretn.com ). If you live on Long Island, try:

Tropical Showcase
372 West Old Country Road
Hicksville, NY 11801
(516) 433-0988

 

[AtodaJ]

Wow!... I mean... wow!

Filter - GPH

Fluval - 340
Fluval - 340
Eheim - 277
402 Power Head - 270
402 Power Head - 270
Whisper - 145
Whisper - 145

Total - 1,787

Tank Volume - 72

Water Turnover 24.8

So... can your fish even swim or do they just ride the currents! LOL

 

[tkos]

Good advice from QTOFFER. I would start with that.

 

[Ady1397]

Thanks for the advice.

One thing I did notice is that when i fill up my spare 30 gal with cold water it runs clear but when I turn on the hot water it comes out cloudy then the cloud dissapates. I wonder what that is?

I hope thats not the problem. I dont think it is but I use the cold just in case and let it come to room temp over night

I did add some more EhfiSubstrate but I rinsed. I guess i didnt rinse good enough....

What about the smell.
It has never been that bad before...

I conected the two fluvals together so there is only one intake and one out.
one fluval does most of the mech filtration and the other does the Bio....

I try to stay away from carbon because my tank wont cycle that way...Is that wrong..
Should I use carbon..?
I usually put it in my two wisper HOB filters .
I did that for three days and the water didnt clear up at all.

Im just worried cause I dont know if Im changing the water too much or not enough and if that is the problem..

Maybe I should leave the tank alone for a whole week and see what happend..???

i dont know what to do

 

[Devilishturtles]

Ady, don't worry about the hot water, cold water thing, that is not your problem. Everyone's hot water is cloudy due to pressure bubbles and all that sciency stuff, but it should clear up right away.

I think it could be your lack or carbon. Your running no carbon what so ever in the tank? That means that no harmful pollutants (coming from wherever) are getting dissolved. No suspended particles, no NOTHING is getting disolved. I say start to use some carbon and just let the tank run for a while.

 

[Ady1397]

Carbon it is then.....

does carbon remove ammonia ????
or is that only AmmoCarb that does that??

 

[noteworthy]

Carbon does not remove ammonia (from what I know)

Products that neutralize ammonia should also be avoided. I see people buy products like Clear Cloud, Ph Up/Down, Stink B Gone.. etc and I wonder how healthy are their fish?


Water changes will help on stabilizing lethal ammonia levels.


8)

 

[AtodaJ]

Your tank is currently cycling correct? How big are the gold fish?

I suggest you re-read QTOFFER's advice. You just have to be patient and keep up with the water changes and testing the water. I am not surprised at all that your tank is cloudy. You are cycling your tank using 12 goldfish. They are very messy and you really shouldn't have put so many in the tank so soon. When you cycle a tank using a full bio load you will have cloudy water. Just be patient and with diligant water changes it will clear up.

EDITED ADDITION:

Hehe... looks like you have also been putting Cycle into the tank. Guess I know why you have a full bio load in there now... lol. No more Cycle will help alot. Should clear up in no time.

 

[Menagerie]

I would follow QTOFFER's advice, but I also recommend putting carbon in a new tank. All of my tanks are established and I don't use carbon unless meds are used. It will not hurt anything and just may help clear things up. After that, patience is key. How are the fish through all this?

 

[Devilishturtles]

Ady, I'm pretty sure that REGULAR activated carbon will not remove ammonia BUT, it does remove many organic compounds and such that can raise ammonia levels. All in all, it is essential to have!
AmmoCarb is highly activated and also contains zeolite (which absorbs ammonia) , which is not found in most regular activated carbon, so that is why it is succeful in removing ammonia.

Check out this link for all you need to ever know about carbon:

Activated Carbon

BTW, this probaly isn't your main problem, and like others, I suggest Q-Toffer's advice also.

 

[Ady1397]

My fish are fine ....
I did add a whole basket of carbon to one of my Fluval 404's
The 2 Fluvals are hooked up together so there is only one in and out..
I have coarse mech filtration in the first one and 3 baskets of Bio filtration,1 carbon, in the second one. The flow is great so far and I dont plan on cleaning them anytime soon..
I also have the Eheim which has lava rock, ehfi substrate bio max and some fine filter media...
3 canister filters on a 72Bow front should be fine!!!!
I did a 30 percent water change and will stop using cycle...

I had a 30 gal that was cycled and i used that water to start my 72 Bow
I also used the filters, rocks and plants from the old tank
I have
1-4inch Oranda
1-3inch BlackMoor
2-3inch Rhyukins
2-2inch Oranda
6-1inch Assorted
2-Plecos
1-Snail

They dont seem stressed at all.
They eat like pigs and I do admit I feed them a lot, But thats why I have a 25+ water turnover with all the filters I have...


I also have 9 geckos, 2 cats and a tarantula

 

[Ady1397]

The cloud is gone and the smell went away........
Crystal clear water and all tests are fine so far

 

[AtodaJ]

Good to hear... now the fun begins!

 

[Ady1397]

Im afraid that the fun was short lived.

The water looks beautifull but the fish seem a little lathargic. They arent very happy to see food unlike always. Some of the smaller ones do eat but the bigger ones just dont seem too interested.

Half the fish are on the top swimming around or just floating in one area looking confused. They dont gasp too much but seem to gravitate towards the top. The other half just sit on the bottom. The snail went to the top too. :?

My temperature has remained constant at 25.5C or 77F and I havent done a large water change in about 4 days. I usually change about 5 gallons at a time every 3-4 days which I get from a 30gal(no fish no plants) that is constantly running. i use this tank to filter my tap with carbon and to condition the water before hand.

I had a bloom or whatever and I am pretty sure that the tank is cycled. I did not do water tests during the process and I had a problem with the fish a week ago. I found Four of them floating upside down gasping when i woke up in the morning. I did a water change and they recovered. None died to my surprise

I just recently bought a Test kit. I think my Ph might be getting low but i never had a problem with it before. Im not sure what to look for but ill keep doing tests daily. Here are my readings for three days so far. It might be too early to tell.

day 1
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
Ph 6.7
Gh 107.4ppm
day 2
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
Ph 6.7
Gh 107.4ppm
day3
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
Ph 6.6
Gh 107.4ppm

Im not sure if the tank is fully cycled or not at all...It has been running for over 9 weeks with a full bio load.

I have a 72 galBow
2 Fluval 404's in Line
1 Eheim 2128
2 Wisper 40's
enough Filtration?I think so 8)

3-4inch Ryukins
1-4inch Oranda
1-3inch BlackMoor
2-3inch Rhyukins
2-2inch Oranda
6-1inch Assorted
2-Plecos
1-Snail

I dont know what else to type....
Help
..
.

 

[Allivymar]

Do you have a nitrate test? That will let you know for sure if the tank is completely cycled. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and measureable nitrates are what one looks for to determine a tank is cycled. Nitrates should be kept below 40ppm.

Your tank is actually overloaded (I know, it prob doesn't seem that way). But because of the bioload goldfish and plecos put on the system, its recommended 1 goldfish per 10g. Even with all your filtering it may not be enough. I doubt it, but its a possibility so I want to mention it.

Your pH is a little low, but not horribly so. I kinda doubt thats the prob.

I wonder if the problem isn't water parameter related, but illness. Thing is, what? Can you give us any more info on their behavior, the changes, and if there are any visual differences? When was the last fish added?

 

[Ady1397]

Ahhh Nitrate..The test didnt come with it
Ill check tomorrow


I added three new goldfish but they are healthy
they were treated beforehand

no ich
no clamped fins
no rubbing
minimal gasping
inactivity
loss of appetite

 

[Allivymar]

Heh, got that AP freshwater test kit eh? It doesn't come with nitrates. Makes no sense to me...and they claim its complete. Go figure.

How did you treat the new guys? How long were they in QT before they moved into the tank? It may not be them of course, it may be something thats been festering and just now rearing its head, but illness would be my strongest culprit here; again, water parameters don't seem to be the issue (although getting those nitrate tests will help us know for sure). Oh, and it doesn't sound like a parasite, more like some sort of infection.

 

[Ady1397]

Im still having a problem

Most of the fish are constantly at the top

There is redish brown algea on the rocks and on the plants.

They wont eat

I still havent checked for nitrates but i did do a water change with no results.

Ill get a nitrate test today..

 

[Menagerie]

Nitrates are basically plant fertilizer and with the growth of algae it sounds like there is an abundance of nitrates. How's your pH--still going down?