Cloudy tank

[Broke EF]

I am posting this hear in the hopes it gets more views, and I can get this taken care of. First the specs,

Equipment:
Aqueon 46 Gallon Bow Front
Aqueon glass lid, and standard light
Fluval 306 canister filter
Aqueon 55/75 filter (still running just to seed my Fluval)
Two Aqueon Pro 200 watt heater's
Rena 400 air pump with two 10" bubble wands on the sides

I am using sand as my substraight and fake plants with a piece of driftwood. The tank was fishless cycled, and is now currently stocked with the following.

8 x Lemon Tetra
8 x Diamond Tetra
7 x Panda Cory
1 Starlight Pleco (L183)

Stock to still be added,

2 x German blue ram
1 x Angel

My test results are always spot on, and I do water changes once a week with tap water (usually about 50%) and I treat it with SeaChem Prime.

Last results from a few days ago,
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 10-15ppm (maybe a touch darker than 10)
PH: over 7.6 (just like always)
I didn't test High Range PH, because I was thinking it may have crashed

For the last few weeks the tank has been cloudy, and I cant figure out why. Here is a pic showing what I am dealing with.

This isnt a new pic, but this is how it looks, maybe a little more clear now.

The fish all seem plenty happy, and don't seem bothered by the haze. It bugs me for a few reasons. One it looks bad, two it makes it hard to take pictures of the fish (photography is another hobby of mine), and three I don't know what is causing it! Lets hear what you guys have to say. I would really like to know what is causing this, and then fix it. The only other thing that I think is odd is that there is a white substance around the suction cups (and the light) of the older heater. It makes me think its a calcium build up, but is that possible? If it is would it cause cloudiness like this? How would I fix that?

I am open to changing over to RO/DI water, adding a UV Sterilizer, whatever it takes. Thanks in advance for the help on this guys.


Sean

 

[Koikid88]

UV sterilizer won't help with cloudiness, unless it's a brown or green tint, even then you would still have to remove the dead algae. Is the pump output or air pump stirring up the substrate? Just try adding a polish pad and/or carbon pad to the filter. See if that works. Could also be dirty glass? Stained on the inside if you add salt.

 

[Broke EF]

The cloudiness does not have a brown or green tint. The air stones are under the sand, but have always been there and I have had clear water in the past (at least better than now). The new Fluval was only added about 2 weeks ago and had two bags of carbon in it. I also removed one filter pad from the Aqueon and put it in the Fluval to help seed it, and replaced that with a new filter pad which has carbon in it as well. Glass is clean, and I even cleaned it the other day just to be sure. There has never been salt in the tank, and all of my equipment has been purchased brand new.

Sean

 

[Mumma.of.two]

It sounds like a bacteria bloom. It might have been caused by the filter change. Anything else been changed in the tank?

 

[Broke EF]

Well, more bad news. I woke up to a dead lemon Terra, and I expect another dear by the time I get home. This is the first lemon Terra to pass away in my tank. The other has a white stripe down its side, and was moving its mouth open and closed very quickly. I really want to know what's going on. I don't like any fish dying, but they are going at a pretty steady rate lately. I need to get to the bottom of this water issue.

Sean

 

[meegosh]

I'm going to say you are experiencing a mini cycle. When changing filters you disrupted your bacteria colony. Do some large water changes and test your parameters.

 

[Broke EF]

I'm running the old filter along side the new one, so I haven't removed any BB. Also, if it was a mini cycle I should see some ammonia and/or nitrites, and I dont.

Sean

 

[meegosh]

Well get a clear glass and fill it with tank water. If it is a white haze then it is definitely a bacteria bloom, regardless of your test results.

The white buildup on suction cups/heaters is more than likely hard water stains.

 

[Broke EF]

Well which of those explains the dying fish. I care more about the health of the fish than I do the look of my water. Isn't hard water no good?

Thanks,
Sean

 

[meegosh]

Hard water isn't much of an issue. Spikes in your parameters can cause otherwise unexplained deaths. Did the lemon that died show any physical signs of disease?

The cloudiness can be from a number of things, like mentioned. Another cause that hasn't been mentioned is microbubbles. They can be from your bubble wands, hot water tank, filter, etc.

 

[CRUSHER]

Never put air stone under the sand, all that does is make sand go everywhere. put the air stones above the sand inside a shell or something... just off the sand, that could be your cloud problem. The Fluval, remove the carbon... and put more Biomax Bio Rings in it's place... don't really need carbon unless you are removing medications, but the more beneficial bacteria the better

The cloudiness does not have a brown or green tint. The air stones are under the sand, but have always been there and I have had clear water in the past (at least better than now). The new Fluval was only added about 2 weeks ago and had two bags of carbon in it. I also removed one filter pad from the Aqueon and put it in the Fluval to help seed it, and replaced that with a new filter pad which has carbon in it as well. Glass is clean, and I even cleaned it the other day just to be sure. There has never been salt in the tank, and all of my equipment has been purchased brand new.

Sean

 

[Koikid88]

If nothings visibly wrong with the fish, I'd say it's either a sudden spike in something, or a foreign substance entered the water. Maybe glass cleaner, some kind of aerosal spray, tainted decoration or even just a nasty piece of dust they gobbled up.
I've seen ammonia spike to fairly high levels, only to drop within 24hrs before the next test.

 

[Broke EF]

OK for the air stones under sand, they have always been there and I have had clear water in the past. They don't do anything to the sand. I doubt ant aerosols got into the tank, at least not in the last 48 hours. I will say that the wife added a plug in air freshener in a room fairly close by, could that really do damage? There is a full glass lid on the tank, so not much area for airborne anything to get in.

I came home to two more dead lemons today. So that is now 3 dead lemon tetras in less than 24 hours. Could it be too much flow/current in my tank? I do have two rather large filters running right now. But there are areas where its not so bad from what I can see.

I tested my water as soon as I pulled the dead fish out and it looks perfect.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: ~10

WHAT SHOULD I DO?! I don't want any more fish dying, but I really don't want my new pleco to die!!!


HELP!!!
Sean

 

[Mumma.of.two]

PWC just incase something has gotten into the tank.

 

[Broke EF]

Already in process.

Sean

 

[Broke EF]

During the water change I counted fish, and I am short 1 lemon. I had 8 total, and 3 died but I only count 4 in the tank. One was so pale I thought it was a Diamond tetra for a while. So either I thought I had 8 and really had 7, or one is MIA. I looked around and didn't see another body anywhere. I was hesitant to pull decorations for fear of stirring the sand. I am going to borrow a friends 29 gallon tank this weekend/early next week and put all of the fish in there and do a through cleaning of my tank.

I don't know what else to do at this point. This is becoming very frustrating.


Sean

 

[Koikid88]

I don't own those species, but if they aren't recommended for decent water flow, and you have a strong current, that could stress them if there isn't plenty of resting areas. Not sure what else to tell you

 

[Broke EF]

To be honest I am not sure on that. I don't think it was so bad, or will be so bad when I run a single filter, but since I am seeding one I need to run both. I could maybe take the old one offline now. Its been 2 weeks, and I have one of the old filter pads in the new canister. What do we think?

Sean

 

[CRUSHER]

Maybe they were just old? but yes, stress can kill a fish and you would never know the fish was stressed.do the fish have good hiding places?

 

[Broke EF]

Well, just an update. I am gone until Sunday, but I got a call from the wife saying that two more are going to die for sure, and another two are on the fence. Looks like 2 lemons are for sure, and 1 lemon 1 diamond are on the fence. She said that they will go off on their own, seizure, and breathe heavy, and their skin starts to fall off.

I had come up with a plan, but if this is a disease then I need to figure out how to treat it before I can do too much.


Sean