Cloudy Mess

Hi all, New to this page so bear with me

I had a 60 litre tank which was no chore so I decided to go up in the world and get a 200 litre tank. Bigger job to keep but I love it. I've had it around about 2 1/2 months. I used most of the water from my old tank and everything that was inside the old filter. So I knew the bacterica etc was good.....hope i'm making sense. I had an outbreak of white spot a week or so after the change but got that sorted, a few casualties along the way but other than that everything has been fine, i'm doing regular changes.
 
About a week and a half ago I decided to use Flora boost as a couple of my plants were starting to look a bit limp and going a yellow colour. Since using it my tank has gone incredibly cloudy, I've done a normal water change and then I decided to do partial changes. All this time I've checked the tanks Nitrite, ammonia levels etc and they're all fine........what could it be? Is it the Flora boost? I've used it twice so far but i'm now thinking I shouldnt use it again. The fish all look healthy and are displaying their normal behaviour. I'm just stumped.
 
Any suggestions?
 
Thanks in advance

It resembles a bacterial bloom, but hard to say. I'd do a 90% or more water change (leaving just enough water for the fish to swim upright) and see if that helps.

This Old Spouse said:

It resembles a bacterial bloom, but hard to say. I'd do a 90% or more water change (leaving just enough water for the fish to swim upright) and see if that helps.

Click to expand...

+1

My tank did this not long after its initial set up, I did loads of large water changes and then partial ones but it still didn't clear up. In the end I did the easiest option and just left it alone for just over a week by which point it cleared itself up, keep an eye on your levels and leave it as long as you dare

Thanks, I'll give the 2 of those a go I think. Its been 2 days since my last water change so I'll start with leaving it and if no joy then i'll go for the big task of 90% change. It can't be all that bad......I have a baby fish

Couldnt do it, It got so bad that I could barely see the fish. I've done a massive water change as near to 90% as I could get. Looks much better, still a little bit cloudy but we'll wait and see how that pans out.

okay i had this in my 330L tank did the same 90 to 100% water change, and 2 days later it did it again, just keep doing the water changes, from what  i know a bacterial bloom is not dangerous for the fish, they  should be fine just ride it out

Thats good to know as I was just going to say...Its done it again! Took me a while to do the change and then the next day it was starting to get cloudy again and now its back to what it looked like in the picture I posted. So plenty water changes and ride it out. Thank you! 


OH! I forgot to mention. When I had the whitespot outbreak I had to take the carbon pads out. I kept them in sealed bag and washed them in some water I'd taken out of the tank. Could they have introduced some sort of bacteria? As I had them out of the tank for a good 15 days before I put them back in? Could taking them out and changing the carbon pads help?

 
When you think the bacteria needs to be feeding on something to bloom, so all these water changes are potentially just feeding the bacteria more and more. If you leave it a week or so it will consume all of what ever it is feeding on and die off.
I know this sounds like the bad and neglecting way cure it but i dare bet it will clear it faster than doing vast amounts of water changes, there’s no harm that can come off leaving it.
http/s289.beta.photobucket.com/user/Andylee123/media/P1010300.jpg.html"
 
This is how bad mine was at one point, this was after water changes... not long after i left it (advice from a reputable lfs) and it cleared in just over a week.


 

OK! so its now gone green! So i'm gathering its to do with algae. My other half reckons I have the lights on for too long and thats helping the growth. How do I get rid of this?

How long are your lights on? Generally it's recommended they be on for 4-6 hours.

This Old Spouse said:

How long are your lights on? Generally it's recommended they be on for 4-6 hours.

Click to expand...

Sorry to jump in. I am having very bad hair(?) algae, the light on my tank is on for 12 hours. Could this be the reason?

I'd say that's contributing to the problem certainly. That's 2-3X longer than you need it.

This Old Spouse said:

I'd say that's contributing to the problem certainly. That's 2-3X longer than you need it.

Click to expand...

Ok i am going to change it so the light is on for 6 hours a day. How long will it take for the algae to clear?

That's only one part of the equation. Fluctuating or lack of CO2, too few water changes, etc. can all contribute. I'm not an expert so I can't determine how long it will take for it to clear.