New tank setup. Advice please......

[George3056]

Hello all.

I have recently set up a cold water aquarium with a capacity of 140 litres
(35 gal). I was running an undergravel filter that came as part of the tank setup when purchased. The water was always cloudy, eventhough i added water clarifier to rid the cloudiness. I became rather annoyed so I purchased a cannister filter which runs at 1,000 litres per hour and did a 50% water change, just as i posted this. The water is a lot clearer now and i'm hoping it will clear further and remain clean.
P.s. My tank isn't overcrowded with fish.....

Any advice?
Thanks.

 

[blazeyreef]

First I want to welcome you to AA

...well the cloudiness was prob. your gravel not being washed and kudos to you for giving up on the UGF and getting a canister they are a lot more efficent that under gravel filters! also kuddos on doing a PWC! that helped a lot and I can tell you that now. Did you cycle your aquarium?out of meer curriousity and wanting to know your tank better. What fish do you have in their? Im assuming somthing like goldies and/or mountain minnows etc.?

 

[George3056]

Hi blazeyreef.

Thanks for giving me my first welcome to AA.

Yes, i did wash my gravel in part increments which was relatively clean when i put it in the tank. One would definitely think that after running the UGF for one week, it should've rid at least some cloudiness, but that wasn't to be. Yes, i did cycle my aquarium with all relevant water tests. As for my fish, i've got lionheads, black moors, bubble eyes, fantails and a few others. How about your setup? I'd like to read about it

 

[blazeyreef]

Yay! Im so glad you read up and cycled !
My setup is a 29gallon SW FOWLR currently. But I will be upgradeing to a 75gallon reef with soft corals when my new house is built! You can see what all I have if you click on "my info" and it would help others if you filled out your "info" as well. That can be done by going to the homepage and going into your profile !
again welcome.

 

[JDogg]

Hi blazeyreef.

Thanks for giving me my first welcome to AA.

Yes, i did wash my gravel in part increments which was relatively clean when i put it in the tank. One would definitely think that after running the UGF for one week, it should've rid at least some cloudiness, but that wasn't to be. Yes, i did cycle my aquarium with all relevant water tests. As for my fish, i've got lionheads, black moors, bubble eyes, fantails and a few others. How about your setup? I'd like to read about it

:? i hate to be the negative one, but that is a lot of goldfish (those are all types of goldfish right???) for only a 35 gallon tank. since they are fancy ones, that makes it a little better, but the usual recommendation i have seen is 10-15 gallons per fancy goldfish, since they are poop machines. now the canister will help with that, i do not think that the underground would have been enough. still keep an eye on the parameters (ammonia for sure).

now that i have been the bad guy, pictures are alway nice

 

[blazeyreef]

I have to agree with Jdogg even though you do have some "smaller" species in their it still may be a little crowded. Maybe aim for lessing the load to maybe 3-4 goldifsh? maybe one of each species?

 

[George3056]

Thanks guys for your advice, both to JDogg and blazeyreef.

I have 5 goldfish in total (The fancy ones) and a few small ones, not small enough to be eaten!! Tomorrow i will go past the aquarium supply and purchase an amonia testing kit. Great idea JDogg.
Sounds like you've got a good setup blazeyreef and your proposed setup sounds better.
I will fill out my profile soon after this post. I'm new to all this and thank you all for your help. Just looking at my tank as i'm typing, the canister has done wonders for the water clarity.
Guys, what water tests do you recommend for a safe cold water setup? I have PH, Hardner,water conditioner, chlorine and chloramine remover and will purchase amonia test.

Going to log off after this because here in Melbourne Australia, It's 12 midnight.

Thanks for all.....

 

[blazeyreef]

I would think an ammonia, nitrite and nitrate would be good! I dont know what is available in australia but here in the US you can get packs with all 4 (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and ph) in one pack.
Also welcome from Australia! I have allways wanted to visit so you will have to tell us about it !

 

[ezy33]

Are you using Activated Carbon in your cannister filter?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

My guess is it is not cycled and is in the process of cycling, hence the cloudy water. Readings for Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate will help us better understand.

And you can toss the water clarifier. As you can see, it doesn't work.

 

[George3056]

Yes, i have got amonia and nitrite testing kits in addition to PH and water hardner. Upon testing, the nitrire was okay but the amonia had a high reading of 1.0. I'm surprised i haven't lost any fish as a result. I did a 40% water change to lower the amonia level, set the PH level to 6.6 and added a biological filtration booster to speed the developement of my biological filter.

Do you think the amonia level in my tank partly explains the cloudiness? The cloudiness seems to have diminished quite significantly since the addition of the canister filter.
I haven't bothered with the water clarifier anymore. You're right Fishyfanatic, it doesn't work.
Blazeyreef, here in Melbourne Australia (The most southern point) is a great part of the world to reside. Apart from having all four seasons in one day , i can't complain. Ironically, i've always wanted to visit the US. All in good time i guess.....

 

[Fishyfanatic]

What do you mean by set the pH level to 6.6? What is your natural pH?

Yes, the ammonia explains the cloudiness. Your tank is not cycled yet so it may stick around for a few more days. The best you can do is keep testing every other day and perform water changes as needed to keep the level below 1 ppm. Same with Nitrites. As soon as you have 0 Ammonia and Nitrites with present Nitrates, you are cycled.

 

[George3056]

PH level for cold water setup is around 7.0. To my understanding and please correct me if i'm wrong, i've set the PH level to 6.6 which reduces the toxic effect of NH3. I have added ammolock to lock the amonia toxicity into a non-toxic matter. I do know that the amonia level will still test positive, eventhough the ammolock has been added. Having said that, i've performed water changes and the amonia now reads just under .50ppm

Still a little way to go to get a zero reading.

Thanks to all for your advice.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

By altering the pH using chemicals you are just going to cause a pH fluctuation. The hardness of the water will determine the buffering ability. Set a glass of water out for 24 hours then test the pH. Whatever that reading is will be your true pH reading.

To reduce the toxic effect of Ammonia, do water changes. Ammolock can mess with your cycle. It can cause the cycle to stall and take even longer. When you get to the Nitrite phase of the cycle you can use Aquarium Freshwater Salt to reduce the toxicity. But even then you need to keep Nitrites low because they are more toxic than Ammonia.

 

[George3056]

Thanks for your indepth reply, in particular with the ammolock. The last thing i need is to slow down the cycle or even worse, having it come to a stand still. I have done water changes and the ammonia level is diminishing gradually. My nitrite is at 0ppm at the moment but i haven't reached the nitrite cycle as yet. I'll definitely keep tab on it as the ammonia levels decrease.

Just one question, (Probably a silly one, but i'm new to all this) by adding freshwater salt to decrease nitrite levels, will the water harness increase? If so, would it be wise to do a water change and then add freshwater salt?
Interesting to read about the methodical "true" PH reading. I'll try that!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The Freshwater salt won't decrease Nitrite, it will just make it easier on the fish. You still need to keep that level down. Ammonia causes burning of the skin and gills. Nitrite is an outright poison. The water hardness won't increase (that I know of, I've never heard of it happening). What fish do you have in the tank? Some do not tolerate salt.

When adding the salt, add it slowly. Use the directions on the box when dosing. The most important part is keeping it consistent. If you do a water change and remove 20 gal, replace it with 20 gal worth of salt, not the full 35. It's best to dose it after the water change.

The reason why you let water sit out for 24 hours is because it allows the CO2 to gas out. When you add it to your tank, the CO2 usually gasses out pretty quickly because of air stones or HOB filters. Not to mention Pythons aid in that too.

A few months ago I did a pH test. It came out of the tap at 7.0. After about 12 hours it tested at 7.8. Then at 24 hours it was 8.8+.

 

[George3056]

My apologies for the late response. I will act on your advice with the freshwater salt, once the cycle reaches to the nitrite stage. Also very interesting to read on your PH test. Such a massive comparison. I'm yet to do a PH reading with the water sitting out for 24hrs, but i will, just to see the difference. It'll be interesting.
The ammonia level is slowly decreasing and the fish seem happier.
The fish i have in my tank are lionheads, black moors, bubble eyes and fantails. I'm not sure if they'll tolerate the salt once the Nitrite cycle has developed.....