Holey rock/murky water

[Douglas4701]

So, just did a cleaning and then added some holey rock to the tank. I had already soaked the holey rock and scrubbed it down prior to using it. I soaked it a second time. The water stayed clear. So am I seeing another bacterial bloom in a n already cycled tank that's five months old? Any ideas what this could be? I also noticed some of the fish swimming toward the top of the tank and they are just barely from the top?

 

[George9]

The murky water is most likely from your rock. It should clear up overnight or couple of days.

The fish at the top is a concern, check all your parameters. It's possible that the rock rose your pH a lot too fast, not 100% sure though

 

[Douglas4701]

I checked the ph and its at 8 which is where I have kept it. The ammonia is where it's always been and the nitrates are less than 10. The fish are of good color. I recall before this took place I found myself cleaning a large amount of poo and thin clearish particle off the bottom a few days before the change. Seemed to be a lot of bacteria type material floating about and it seemed to be endless and I was cleaning that out with my Eheim hose free vacume. I am currently only running a hob filter because my other was getting to the point of over load and I ordered a new one that's on it's way.

 

[Douglas4701]

I wanted to add that I did do a water change tonite adding only bottled distilled water... About 10 gallons worth... It did seem to clear it a bit. I also changed the filters in the hob which I do often.

 

[herp_mommy]

Fish at the surface usually means low dissolved oxygen. Lower the temp and lower the water level from the filter output.

 

[Douglas4701]

Before I read this I put my circulation fan near the top and that helped a lot. They left from the bottom and looked a ton more active. I did another water change using distilled water and everything cleared up. My large canister filter gets here tomorrow or Monday. Then I'll have the hob, canister, filtration fan.