Foggy tank?

[Humanis1993]

I went on a trip for a few days and left my 20gal tank at home. I had someone come occasionally to feed my fish and when I got home the tank is really foggy looking. I changed out my filter and I did a 10% water change and put in 40 drops of API accu-clear and it still hasn't gotten better. It doesn't appear to be ammonia or nitrites and nitrates because none of the fish have any burns from it and they are acting normal.

 

[librarygirl]

Oh no, don't say you changed out all of your filter media for new media?! If your tank was cycled (how long had it been set up) and I"m assuming it was, then you just probably threw your tank backwards. If you still have the old media and if it's wet, put it back in! If not, you're going to have to check water every day and to water changes as necessary until the tank cycles again.

It's possibly that the person just overfed. I wouldn't use chemicals. Do more than a 10% water change; if it's overfeeding or something else a larger water change will help, don't be afraid to do at least 50%, more if you can. Also do a gravel vac and that should help. If it's a new tank and you didn't cycle it first, then the cloudiness could be a bacteria bloom, which is normal. Again the first thing I'd do is a massive water change and then test the levels every day for a few days to make sure that ammonia and nitrite are 0. I really hope you didn't change out all of your old media if your tank was already cycled, though.

 

[Humanis1993]

Haha no I kept the biofilter that has all the colony bacteria. I threw away the filtermedia because it was clogged

 

[herp_mommy]

probably overfeeding. Do a larger water change, about 50%, and feed less over the next few days. Usually, fish will be better off not bing fed at all while on vacation then being mis-fed by a non aquarist.

 

[Sallysblooms]

This reminds me. When we have to go out of town, is it OK to use the hard vacation feeders? Or train our petsitter about feeding?

Good luck Human. We had a cloudy prob. and it is finally gone. Hope yours is gone soon.

 

[Ant329]

The answer is simple.. Gravel vac and change half water! Gravel vac a must!!

 

[maxwellag]

I went on a trip for a few days and left my 20gal tank at home. I had someone come occasionally to feed my fish and when I got home the tank is really foggy looking. I changed out my filter and I did a 10% water change and put in 40 drops of API accu-clear and it still hasn't gotten better. It doesn't appear to be ammonia or nitrites and nitrates because none of the fish have any burns from it and they are acting normal.

There can still be amounts of ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates in the water without fish showing burns...

 

[Humanis1993]

The water has a slight green blue tint to it

 

[maxwellag]

The water has a slight green blue tint to it

Its probably an algae plume...

 

[Humanis1993]

So how do I fix this algae bloom

 

[maxwellag]

So how do I fix this algae bloom

Decrease the time of which your lights are on in your tank, and do a lot of pwcs

 

[Humanis1993]

But I also have live plants

 

[maxwellag]

But I also have live plants

How long are they on each day right now?

 

[Sallysblooms]

When it happened to us, we turned the lights out, only 8 hours of light now. Even with live plants, they are fine. We also did water changes and cleaned it by siphoning with a clean towel and returning the water. All is clear now.

 

[maxwellag]

I think it would help if you left the lights off for a whole day... the plants should be fine, but hopefully it will kill a lot of the algae.

 

[Humanis1993]

Ok I left the light off for a day but there is still the fog in the water. I'm going to leave it off for today as well bit o don't think that is goig to solve the problem

 

[GoldenPlecTony]

Along with leaving the lights off are you doing the water changes and cleaning the gravel?

 

[Humanis1993]

Ok I ran a water test and everything is within parameters.
Water hardness-185
ph-6.5
alkalinity-22
nitrites-0.1
total ammonia nitrate number-1
There isnt any sign of algae anymore but the water still doesn't look crystal clear it's got a slight fog to it. I'm using a 20-40 gallon aquatech filter on my 20gal and I just replaced the filter about a week ago and the aerator is still blowing smoothly(no clogs) but the water just doesn't look right :/

 

[Humanis1993]

Water temperature is set at 78-79 degrees.