USMCfishcrzy
Aquarium Advice Freak
Removed fake rocks and replaced it with driftwood
very cloudy tank
- Thread starter USMCfishcrzy
- Start date
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USMCfishcrzy
Aquarium Advice Freak
125g nitrate/nitrite 0 ammonia 0 Ph 6.2. Discus tank. The driftwood was presoaked. It wasn't staining the water in my sink that was soaking it in but after putting it in the tank I can't even see the back of the tank. Did a pwc and it looks no better. Wat can I do to fix this. There is no green algae so its not an algea bloom do maybe a bacterial bloom if so how can I fix it
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
mr.pro1987 said:
How long has the tank been set up? Does the water look tea colored or milky? Do you know your water parameters (ammo, nitrItes, nitrAtes)?
James_in_MN
Aquarium Advice FINatic
A cycled tank typically has 0ppm ammonia/nitrIte and 5+ppm nitrAte. Based on your numbers, it seems to be uncycled, am I correct? Especially since you're asking about a bacteria bloom, which typically comes with initial tank setup. If that's true, I hope you don't have discus in it yet.
If the driftwood wasn't staining the water you were soaking it in, I'd say it would be odd that it would be what's clouding your water now. How long did you soak the driftwood?
If the driftwood wasn't staining the water you were soaking it in, I'd say it would be odd that it would be what's clouding your water now. How long did you soak the driftwood?
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
James_in_MN said:
Yeah, I missed the 0 no3 level when i read it back (it's late here, lol). I agree that an uncycled tank is bad news in any situation...but with Discus it's almost an impossible situation. Did you cycle the tank before stocking?
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USMCfishcrzy
Aquarium Advice Freak
I have the tank for six months. It was very clear before. I also started fert tabs in my substrate. So I'm not to sure wat is causing the cloudyness
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USMCfishcrzy
Aquarium Advice Freak
But yes its been cycled already awhile ago.
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
mr.pro1987 said:
Have you made any major changes recently? Was it a fairly large number of rocks you removed? Replaced any filter media? I've had a mini-cycle when I replaced too many fake plants with real ones. The removal of the beneficial bacteria on the plants caused a bacterial bloom as it readjusted. Keep a very close eye on your ammo level...as it took 3-4 days after cloudiness showed up before the ammo started spiking.
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USMCfishcrzy
Aquarium Advice Freak
Deff will do that. It was three huge rocks covered with algea. So hoe do I stop or counteract the bloom
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
mr.pro1987 said:
Just keep an eagle eye on the ammonia level. If it starts climbing you're gonna need to do daily water changes to keep the ammo level under .25 at all times. It only took 3 days and 3 50% water changes for my tank to adjust. Make sure you've got a big bottle of Seachem Prime to dechlorinate the water and help neutralize the ammo. I guarantee that's what's going on. I was shocked how sensitive my bio-filter was by just removing a handful of fake plants.
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USMCfishcrzy
Aquarium Advice Freak
The nitrates/nitrites are spiking now. Will it be bad if I start doing two pwc a day till all this clears up? I'm worried for my discus
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
mr.pro1987 said:
What are the levels at right now? (ammo, no2 and no3). Pwc's are never a bad thing as long as you dechlorinate and match temps.
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USMCfishcrzy
Aquarium Advice Freak
I just have the cheep little test strips the nitrates are at 40ppm and the nitrite is at 3ppm
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
mr.pro1987 said:
The test strips are notoriously inaccurate. I'd really suggest buying an API Freshwater Master Test Kit so you can closely monitor the levels. I'd have to assume if your nitrItes are that high the ammonia would be very elevated too.
If it was my tank I would do two back to back 50% water changes (remember to match temperatures and use a dechlorinator). When you can, run to the fish store (lfs) and purchase the test kit and a big bottle of Seachem Prime. The Prime will dechlorinate your water and also temporarily detoxifies the ammonia and nitrItes while still leaving them available for the beneficial bacteria to consume.
We've really got to get the no2 level down as low and as quickly as possible and I'd bet the ammonia is spiking too. I'm gonna go grab a link that will cover what it'll take to get through the mini cycle.
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USMCfishcrzy
Aquarium Advice Freak
I'm draining the tank now. Mainly I don't want to stress my fish out by changing the water constantly. But headed to the store as well
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
Here's the article-
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now-116287.html
It's intended for when people add fish without knowing about cycling...but the same info applies to making it through a mini cycle. I'd do the pwc's, read and follow the guide and then post your numbers back here when you can get the test kit.
Good luck, keep us posted!
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now-116287.html
It's intended for when people add fish without knowing about cycling...but the same info applies to making it through a mini cycle. I'd do the pwc's, read and follow the guide and then post your numbers back here when you can get the test kit.
Good luck, keep us posted!
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
mr.pro1987 said:
I know it seems stressful for the fish when you change water...but they'll prefer it much more than having ammo/no2 poisoning. You're doing a good job so far
BeavisMom62
Aquarium Advice Freak
Don't drain the whole tank. Back to back water changes are what you need.
Good job so far!
OP
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USMCfishcrzy
Aquarium Advice Freak
Got the API and prime hopefully not much damage is done yet
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
mr.pro1987 said:
Wow...that was fast! Good job! Let us know what you find.
