Water Change?

[Zipzap]

As some of you know, my water in my tank has been really murky lately. I have a few more questions on this topic.
I have the Aqueon Power Filter 10. Should I get the 20? Do you think this would help the water?
How much water can you change in one tank clean? I mean, You need to maintain the right balances of Nitrite, pH, etc.
I am wondering if maybe I can change three quarters of the tank water? Would this pose any danger to the health of the fish?
I have a container that is all yellow and has the word "Biozyme" on the lid. What is this for?
If you have other suggestions please let me know. I hate looking at my tank to find it yucky and murky. Could sunlight be causing this?

Thanks,

Zip, Zap, Ernie, Mernie, Mo, Skimmer, Rocky, Mr.Wiggles, Herbie, and Bibble

And of course me, Zipzap

 

[Mebbid]

As some of you know, my water in my tank has been really murky lately. I have a few more questions on this topic.
I have the Aqueon Power Filter 10. Should I get the 20? Do you think this would help the water?
How much water can you change in one tank clean? I mean, You need to maintain the right balances of Nitrite, pH, etc.
I am wondering if maybe I can change three quarters of the tank water? Would this pose any danger to the health of the fish?
I have a container that is all yellow and has the word "Biozyme" on the lid. What is this for?
If you have other suggestions please let me know. I hate looking at my tank to find it yucky and murky. Could sunlight be causing this?

Thanks,

Zip, Zap, Ernie, Mernie, Mo, Skimmer, Rocky, Mr.Wiggles, Herbie, and Bibble

And of course me, Zipzap

I'm not certain of your setup so what size tank is this? Also, what color is the murk? Is it brown, green, or a white cloudiness? What type of decorations / hardscape do you have? One last thing, how old is this tank?

As for water changes I would do no more than a 50% change at a time just to minimize fish stress. You can however do back to back 50% changes provided you wait at least an hour in between them.

As for the bio zyme it is a cycle starter which should help speed up the cycling process of a tank.

 

[Zipzap]

@Mebbid My tank is a twenty gallon. The murk, so it seems, is green. I have one live plant, a rock, a statue of Buddha, and a piece of sinking wood.
I don't know exactly how old the tank is, but somewhere around two years I'd say. Tomorrow I am going to a bigger city and buying water to do a 50% change.

 

[Mebbid]

If the water is green then likely it is an algae bloom. Take a look at this link to see if that is what you have or not.

Aquarium Algae ID (updated May6th '10 Surface Skum): Green water - Algae bloom

I would tend to avoid buying water from different sources as it will probably cause pH issues. The murky water isn't from your water supply but instead from something being out of whack in your aquarium. Have you tested your water for phosphates at all?

And by the age of the tank I meant to ask how long it's been set up

 

[dmolavi]

Test for phosphates, as stated above. If needed, Seachem Phosguard is a good way to eliminate them quickly, but you need to find out what is introducing them into the aquarium:
1. Overfeeding - How much and how often?
2. From the tap - Check your tap before you add it to the tank.

 

[Rivercats]

Put some of the tank water in a white cup. Is the water tinted green? If so you are having a green water algae bloom. The fastest and most efficient way to kill the free floating algae is to use a UV sterilizer. Many on this forum have used this product very successfully for green algae blooms... Green Killing Machine Internal UV Sterilizer with Power Head at PETCO.

How often are you doing WC's and how much water do you change out at a time? Also as already asked how long have you had this tank set up? Is it cycled? Do you know your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings?

Also one very important question is what is your lighting and how long do you run it each day?

 

[Zipzap]

ok, so the water is a little tinted green. The tank has been set up for about 3 months. It was setup before that at someone else's home, and then we took it apart and moved it here.
I do water changes every month, including changing the filter. I am not sure what phosphates are.
I have a tank hood light, and run it about 12-14 hours a day.
I do not use my tap water in the tank, as it has lots of iron in it, and makes the water murky. I feed my fish about two pinches of tropical flakes two times a day, once at night and in the morning.

 

[Rivercats]

You should be doing weekly WC's. I do 50% WC's in all my tanks, even the 220g weekly. This ensures you always have good water quality. You also only need to run lights 6-8 hours BUT right now don't run them as they are just adding to the algae bloom. You need to kill the free floating algae and stop the bloom as it will not clear up on it's own. By running lighting so long and only doing monthly WC's this is probably a lot of the reason your having an algae bloom. Also fish only need feeding 1x per day. Some people only feed their fish every other day.

If your not using tank water what are you using? Do you monitor your tank at all for ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates? What is your fish stock list?

 

[Aquamandan]

ok, so the water is a little tinted green. The tank has been set up for about 3 months. It was setup before that at someone else's home, and then we took it apart and moved it here.
I do water changes every month, including changing the filter. I am not sure what phosphates are.
I have a tank hood light, and run it about 12-14 hours a day.
I do not use my tap water in the tank, as it has lots of iron in it, and makes the water murky. I feed my fish about two pinches of tropical flakes two times a day, once at night and in the morning.

You should be doing your WCs at least weekly, not monthly. May also want to decrease the time your light is on, that promotes too much algae growth.

 

[CalebZachary]

Definitely do at least 50% WC weekly, and depending on your bioload in the 20 gallon, maybe more. I'd do a WC asap.

 

[Zipzap]

Ok, thank you. I have had the light off all day. I need to run and get more water if I am to do a WC. I will start to do water changes almost weekly. I use commercial non-chlorinated drinking water.

 

[CalebZachary]

That's way too expensive to do, lol. Buy a python no spill clean and fill, use tap water and a good dechlorinator like prime.

 

[Bageezus]

I would def consider more frequent changes. You could look into a media like Chemi-Pure Elite. This has gfo in it and will help with an phosphates, only issue is you really don't have much room in the Aqueon filter housing for much.

 

[dmolavi]

That's way too expensive to do, lol. Buy a python no spill clean and fill, use tap water and a good dechlorinator like prime.

If you absolutely insist on using "pre-made" water, buy an RO/DI unit, but you will need to remineralize it with something like Seachem's Replenish to prevent your fish from dying of osmotic shock.

Otherwise, as stated above, just use your tap water and Seachem Prime (a 1/2 liter bottle treats 5000 gallons, I think, so it's a really good bang for your buck).

If you don't have room in your filter for ChemiPure, you can use a 100mL pouch of Seachem Purigen. The pouch is very skinny and can fit almost anywhere. Plus, it is re-usable. After 6 months, follow the regeneration instructions and it is as good as new.

For phosphate removal, Seachem PhosGuard is great (I'm using it in one of my tanks now). Again, a 100mL pouch is very low profile and easy to fit in a crowded filter box. It will drop phosphates to nearly zero after about 4 days.