water quality?

Highwayman · 03-05-2006, 03:21 PM

This is an ongoing problem for me.
I have a freshwater tank (50 gallon) with a mix of tiger tetras, black and white mollies and bottom feeders.

The problem I have is that the water available is fairly high on the ph scale and have the products such as ph balence for the water balance. The PH I keep at 7.0....

What I have is a tank that has turned milky or foggy. I do have an emperor filter in place along with an air pump with air stoned.. I hesitate to satart adding chemicals that may or may not work...

The problem started when I believe I started adding FloraPride from Tetra plant...

Any ideas besides a complete change of water?

Cougra · 03-05-2006, 04:30 PM

Never do a complete water change on any tank! It doesn't matter if it's freshwater or saltwater that type of change can kill fish.

How long has the tank been set up? What colour is the cloudiness in the water, is it white or green(Best way to check this colouring is to look at the water through the end of the tank if you are uncertain when looking in the front? When you clean your filters how do you clean them? What are the water parameters in the tank (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temperature, pH, GH and KH)? Why are you adding FloraPride( how much plants do you have in the tank)? What other chemicals are you adding to the tank besides the pH down and the FloraPride?

In regards to the pH problems with your tap water, you would be better off getting some sort of water filter such as an RO/DI filter and using a mixture of RO/DI water with some tap water to make it easier to reduce the pH (will also make the water softer if you have a problem there) or make it easier to adjust without having to add a lot of unnecessary chemicals.

Highwayman · 03-05-2006, 07:22 PM

When you clean your filters how do you clean them?

Normal tap water

What are the water parameters in the tank (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temperature, pH, GH and KH)?

The temp is at 78, that I just increast from 72..

Why are you adding FloraPride( how much plants do you have in the tank)?

This is being added for what I thought to keep the tank plants green...

What other chemicals are you adding to the tank besides the pH down and the FloraPride?

The only chemicals I have added is stress coat and neutral regulator....

Cougra · 03-05-2006, 10:05 PM

From the information that you've given, I'm going to assume that the water is a white cloudy colour with no hint of green. When you clean your filters out, don't use tap water. The chlorine or chloramines in the tap water will kill your filter bacteria and your tank will be constantly cycling. Instead use some water taken out of the tank to rince the biological filter media and sponges out when you do a water change. This with the increased water temperature will create a bacteria bloom in the tank.

The recently increased temperatures in the tank will speed up the biological processes in the tank including the rate at which the bacteria multiply.

To help combate this problem, I would stop feeding the fish for a week or so to give the bacteria population a bit of time to stablize without leaving a lot of nutrients in the water. The fish can easily survive that long without food so don't worry about them not getting enough food.

On top of that I would also test the water for ammonia and nitrite readings. These are very important to keep an eye on as they are both toxic to freshwater fish.

For the plants: They require three things to be able to thrive in a tank.
1. Good lighting.
2. CO2
3. Nutrients.
IF you have too much of any one of these three things in the tank you are creating ideal conditions for algae to grow. Adding ferts to the tank without good lighting and enough CO2 isn't going to help the plants stay green, but it will pollute the water. Tanks with only a few plants will have enough nutrients from the fish food and fish waste added to the tank. The plants will utilize the free ammonia first as it's easier for them to convert into usable foods, then they'll use nitrite then they'll use the nitrate that is found in most fertilizers. A planted tank should have the nitrate levels stablized around 5 to 10ppm of nitrate any more then that will be hard on the fish and used by algae.

What do you have in the tank for lighting? Are you adding CO2 to the tank? What type of plants do you have?

03-05-2006, 03:21 PM	#1 (permalink)
Highwayman Tunicate Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 6 View Gallery Karma Komment	water quality? This is an ongoing problem for me. I have a freshwater tank (50 gallon) with a mix of tiger tetras, black and white mollies and bottom feeders. The problem I have is that the water available is fairly high on the ph scale and have the products such as ph balence for the water balance. The PH I keep at 7.0.... What I have is a tank that has turned milky or foggy. I do have an emperor filter in place along with an air pump with air stoned.. I hesitate to satart adding chemicals that may or may not work... The problem started when I believe I started adding FloraPride from Tetra plant... Any ideas besides a complete change of water?

03-05-2006, 04:30 PM	#2 (permalink)
Cougra Dragon Moderator Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 2,216 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: water quality? Never do a complete water change on any tank! It doesn't matter if it's freshwater or saltwater that type of change can kill fish. How long has the tank been set up? What colour is the cloudiness in the water, is it white or green(Best way to check this colouring is to look at the water through the end of the tank if you are uncertain when looking in the front? When you clean your filters how do you clean them? What are the water parameters in the tank (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temperature, pH, GH and KH)? Why are you adding FloraPride( how much plants do you have in the tank)? What other chemicals are you adding to the tank besides the pH down and the FloraPride? In regards to the pH problems with your tap water, you would be better off getting some sort of water filter such as an RO/DI filter and using a mixture of RO/DI water with some tap water to make it easier to reduce the pH (will also make the water softer if you have a problem there) or make it easier to adjust without having to add a lot of unnecessary chemicals. __________________ Michelle Just because something CAN be done, it doesn't mean that it SHOULD be done!

03-05-2006, 07:22 PM	#3 (permalink)
Highwayman Tunicate Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 6 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: water quality? When you clean your filters how do you clean them? Normal tap water What are the water parameters in the tank (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temperature, pH, GH and KH)? The temp is at 78, that I just increast from 72.. Why are you adding FloraPride( how much plants do you have in the tank)? This is being added for what I thought to keep the tank plants green... What other chemicals are you adding to the tank besides the pH down and the FloraPride? The only chemicals I have added is stress coat and neutral regulator....

03-05-2006, 10:05 PM	#4 (permalink)
Cougra Dragon Moderator Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 2,216 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: water quality? From the information that you've given, I'm going to assume that the water is a white cloudy colour with no hint of green. When you clean your filters out, don't use tap water. The chlorine or chloramines in the tap water will kill your filter bacteria and your tank will be constantly cycling. Instead use some water taken out of the tank to rince the biological filter media and sponges out when you do a water change. This with the increased water temperature will create a bacteria bloom in the tank. The recently increased temperatures in the tank will speed up the biological processes in the tank including the rate at which the bacteria multiply. To help combate this problem, I would stop feeding the fish for a week or so to give the bacteria population a bit of time to stablize without leaving a lot of nutrients in the water. The fish can easily survive that long without food so don't worry about them not getting enough food. On top of that I would also test the water for ammonia and nitrite readings. These are very important to keep an eye on as they are both toxic to freshwater fish. For the plants: They require three things to be able to thrive in a tank. 1. Good lighting. 2. CO2 3. Nutrients. IF you have too much of any one of these three things in the tank you are creating ideal conditions for algae to grow. Adding ferts to the tank without good lighting and enough CO2 isn't going to help the plants stay green, but it will pollute the water. Tanks with only a few plants will have enough nutrients from the fish food and fish waste added to the tank. The plants will utilize the free ammonia first as it's easier for them to convert into usable foods, then they'll use nitrite then they'll use the nitrate that is found in most fertilizers. A planted tank should have the nitrate levels stablized around 5 to 10ppm of nitrate any more then that will be hard on the fish and used by algae. What do you have in the tank for lighting? Are you adding CO2 to the tank? What type of plants do you have? __________________ Michelle Just because something CAN be done, it doesn't mean that it SHOULD be done!

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)