sweet merciful crap...

[LjGar]

So I had my tank looking satisfactory, and was feeling pretty good about leaving it alone to do it's thing. I wake up this morning and go to check on my system, and notice the water was a little bit cloudier than it was last night before I went to bed. So I make a mental note to do a 25-50% water change either tomorrow, or the next day, and go on about my work. I get home from the animal hospital about 9 hours later, and find my tank to be at least 10 times cloudier than I left it. Immidiately I kick myself after testing the ammonia and finding it through the roof again. So........ before I start treating the water the way I did last time, I would like to get some advice from you guys on how to get the levels down, and to stay down. Please help.

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

well, don't know much about your setup, but the best i can say is read up on aquarium water chemistry and find out why you are having an ammonia problem--ammonia in itself doens't necessarily cloud the water, i suspect a bacterial bloom in a new tank, in addition to your nh3---best of luck!

 

[LjGar]

Well, I probably should have started treating the water last night. When I woke up at 8 this morning, I found my gar floating, and the water was so clouded that I couldn't see the other side of the tank. I most definately agree that i'm dealing with bacterial problems as opposed to chemical ones. So I spent 5 hours doing a very maticulous cleaning and 75% water change, while allowing my fish to swim around in an elektrolyte solution to help them bounce back from the stress. After filling the tank half way and letting the filter run with carbon-it for a couple of hours, I hit it with a dose of penicilin, removed the carbon from the filter, and filled the tank the rest of the way. I then added some aquarium salt, and shortly after returned the fish. It's been an hour since I finished all of that, and the fish have come back to much healthier looking color, and the breathing doesn't seem as labored. I've scheduled a 25% water change, the second dose of penicilin, and the return of the carbon to the filter for Thursday. If anyone else has any other ideas of something I can do to help knock out this bacteria colony, please help me out. Thanks

 

[Anemoneman]

I suspect this is a new setup. If not, I agree that you need to find the source of pollution ie. dead fish, overfeeding, insufficient bio filter, etc.
Be careful with the use of the antibiotics. The bacteria are beneficial and necessary for nitrification but there is simply an overpopulation issue. As the pollution is removed or consumed, the cloudiness will go away. Cut back on feeding and keep it aerated until things clear up.

 

[LjGar]

Might it be a good idea to hold off on the next dose of antibiotics and play the waiting game for a couple days? We did find a missing fish while cleaning today - our tiretrack eel burried itself under the rocks, and never came back out. :? Thanks a lot.

 

[Anemoneman]

I take it the eel was found dead. That is a likely source of the over load on your bio filter. The antibiotics you administered will harm (kill) the nitrifying bacteria in your tank. Hopefully the dose was not strong enough to wipe out your entire biofilter. You have removed the problem. Wait and allow the water to clear. Keep tabs on your ammonia. That will indicate if you have nuked the biofilter or not. Maybe some activated carbon would help for a while.

Good luck & keep posting.

Mark

 

[LjGar]

I never did come back with the results of the water treatments. I ended up only doing on dose of penicilin in the water, and returned the carbon tot he filter two days later. The water cleared up within a week after that, and things ran smoothly from then on out.