HappysMom
Aquarium Advice Newbie
HAPPY to find this forum, and hoping to find an answer to a problem I've never had in all the years I've been an aquarium person.
Our current tank is a small one,....a 15-gallon hexagon tank with only 4 goldfish and a small plecostomus, although I've had years of experience with tropical fish and larger tanks.There is no light in the hood (burned out!), and no direct or bright light on the tank, and no heater. The temp stays around 68-degrees.
The filter is a Top Fin. We've had it about 6 years. We change the filter packs regularly, with no problems. This last time, about a month ago, we changed the filter pack, and within 2 days the water was cloudy. No change in food or temperature. Treated the water with "Brite N' Clear", and it helped for a day, then back to cloudy (no color, just cloudy). Changed out about 25% of the water, then it went cloudy again.
Thought it might be that the filter was wearing out, and bought a new Top Fin filter with a new filter pack...no change...still cloudy.
Changed out the entire tank water, rinsed the gravel (the original gravel, black rocks), treated the water with "Start Right", let it sit a couple days with the filter running, rinsed but didn't scrub the plastic plants, to save the bio process, and it was clear again....for about 2 days, then it clouded back up.
Whaaaa???
Now what do we do?
We plan to start the tank all over again this weekend....new gravel, new filter, new airstone and plants....etc. Okay, they're "just goldfish", but they're OUR goldfish! "Happy" is about 3 years old, a Fantail, and a few months ago lost his buddy to a bladder disease.
Would appreciate some advice, so we don't lose Happy and his friends.
Our current tank is a small one,....a 15-gallon hexagon tank with only 4 goldfish and a small plecostomus, although I've had years of experience with tropical fish and larger tanks.There is no light in the hood (burned out!), and no direct or bright light on the tank, and no heater. The temp stays around 68-degrees.
The filter is a Top Fin. We've had it about 6 years. We change the filter packs regularly, with no problems. This last time, about a month ago, we changed the filter pack, and within 2 days the water was cloudy. No change in food or temperature. Treated the water with "Brite N' Clear", and it helped for a day, then back to cloudy (no color, just cloudy). Changed out about 25% of the water, then it went cloudy again.
Thought it might be that the filter was wearing out, and bought a new Top Fin filter with a new filter pack...no change...still cloudy.
Changed out the entire tank water, rinsed the gravel (the original gravel, black rocks), treated the water with "Start Right", let it sit a couple days with the filter running, rinsed but didn't scrub the plastic plants, to save the bio process, and it was clear again....for about 2 days, then it clouded back up.
Whaaaa???
Now what do we do?
We plan to start the tank all over again this weekend....new gravel, new filter, new airstone and plants....etc. Okay, they're "just goldfish", but they're OUR goldfish! "Happy" is about 3 years old, a Fantail, and a few months ago lost his buddy to a bladder disease.
Would appreciate some advice, so we don't lose Happy and his friends.