Cloudy Tank Water

[Preston019]

I believe the reason my tank has become cloudy in the first place is because I added some EasyBalance. My aquarium has been established for over a year now. But after adding the EasyBalance, a day later, I noticed my aquarium was cloudy. I did a water test to check all parameters. The test showed that I had a high nitrate level of about 80ppm and a low pH of around or below 6.0. So I did a water change and now, two days later, the water is even more cloudy, so I did another test.The readings are now showing that my nitrite level is very high (about 5.0ppm or higher), ammonia spiked up to somewhere between 0.25ppm-0.50ppm, and my nitrate has gone down to about 10ppm and my pH is the same as before.

I haven't done another water change yet because it looks like it's going through a "mini-cycle" or something. But, I did add detoxifier to lower the nitrite level and some pH up to try and raise the pH some (I know raising the pH too fast will shock my fish).

I'm currently not using carbon in my filter and I'm also getting a funny smell, kind of like an algae or stale water smell; kind of like the way lake water sometimes smells.

Should I be worried, or just let the tank run its course of this "mini-cycle", if that is what it is?

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons or litres is the tank?
How many fish and which type?
What the brand name of the test kit are you using?
How often do you maintain your tank?
What is your tap PH reading?
What is your tap nitrate reading?
Is your tank in direct sun light?

Sorry for your problems. If you just could answers some of the above questions, we might be able to solve what going on with your tank.

 

[snazy]

Keep the ammonia below 0.25 and nitrIte as close to 0 as possible by doing large 80% water changes until the mini-cycle is over. A mini-cycle doesn't necessarily mean a couple of days, it can take anything between a day to weeks depending on the issue. Keep up on top of water changes to prevent your fish from dying. Do not add chemicals for your Ph or anything else, this will make it worse and it can't do a permanent fix. Your Ph has probably crashed because of high ammount of waste in the tank(proof of which is the high ammount of nitrAtes), which in turn causes a mini-cycle because at a ph of 6ppm the ammonia/nitrIte eating bacteria gets inhibited. Do thourouhg vacuuming on the substrate and as many large water changes as you can. That should fix it eventually.

 

[Preston019]

How many gallons or litres is the tank?
How many fish and which type?
What the brand name of the test kit are you using?
How often do you maintain your tank?
What is your tap PH reading?
What is your tap nitrate reading?
Is your tank in direct sun light?

Sorry for your problems. If you just could answers some of the above questions, we might be able to solve what going on with your tank.

29 gallon
10 barbs, 1 clown pleco, 3 phantom tetras, 2 pristilla tetras, 3 rasbora dainos, 3 black diamond tetras
api test kit
I usually maintain it once a week
tap ph is 7.0
tap nitrate is 0ppm
tank is not in sunlight
I have a fluval 406 running on it also

 

[Preston019]

I have a diatom filter I usually use when cleaning; I set up the diatom, take out all decorations, and stir up the gravel until nothing else really gets stirred up and the water becomes clear. Would that be safe to do right now? I'm actually physically disabled, so I'm able to do the normal siphoning into the buckets and carrying them. I know theres attachments for the faucet that will start a siphon but I've gone through about 3 in less than a year because they keep breaking and I'm tired of buying new ones. Any suggestions on how to do an effective job of cleaning? I can carrying a 1 gallon pitcher, for now.

Keep the ammonia below 0.25 and nitrIte as close to 0 as possible by doing large 80% water changes until the mini-cycle is over. A mini-cycle doesn't necessarily mean a couple of days, it can take anything between a day to weeks depending on the issue. Keep up on top of water changes to prevent your fish from dying. Do not add chemicals for your Ph or anything else, this will make it worse and it can't do a permanent fix. Your Ph has probably crashed because of high ammount of waste in the tank(proof of which is the high ammount of nitrAtes), which in turn causes a mini-cycle because at a ph of 6ppm the ammonia/nitrIte eating bacteria gets inhibited. Do thourouhg vacuuming on the substrate and as many large water changes as you can. That should fix it eventually.

With the pH being so low, wouldn't doing large water changes send the fish into shock if you add a lot of water at a higher pH?

 

[WILDER]

I wouldn't preform really large water changes. As at the moment there a big difference in tap ph, and tank ph.

Could anybody do the gravel vac for you?

Plecs are massive waste producers so the gravel needs a good vac once a week.

 

[snazy]

You can do several small water changes in a row or a very big one, adding the new water very slowly as if acclimating the fish to new water and Ph. You need to make sure there's no ammonia or nitrItes when you've stopped doing it and the Ph reads as the tap water eventually.
It's a tricky one raising the Ph will make the ammonia more toxic to the fish as well. But if you don't want your tank to completely lose it's bacteria, you've got to clean that gravel very well to remove all possible waste that's causing a heterotrophic bacteria(white cloudy water) to take over the tank. Although the fish have accustomed to the low Ph, some of them may be suffering in it and you need to solve the problem one way or another. The bacteria causing white cloudy water is always present in small ammounts deep in the gravel where there's no oxygen(anaerobic bacteria) but when there's too much waste in the gravel causing complete lack of oxygen, it starts multiplying rapidly and causes what people call a bacterial bloom, white cloudy water. The problem with it is, it can take over all surfaces available for the good bacteria which grows way slower than the heterotrophic one, and suffocate it. Both bacteria eat ammonia, with that difference that the heterotrophic one is about 1 million times slower eating it than the good bacteria which is dying in your tank.
It's either a risk of Ph shock or a complete cycle of your tank if not dealt with as soon as possible as the Ph can keep dropping and cause a shock anyway.

 

[Preston019]

You can do several small water changes in a row or a very big one, adding the new water very slowly as if acclimating the fish to new water and Ph. You need to make sure there's no ammonia or nitrItes when you've stopped doing it and the Ph reads as the tap water eventually.
It's a tricky one raising the Ph will make the ammonia more toxic to the fish as well. But if you don't want your tank to completely lose it's bacteria, you've got to clean that gravel very well to remove all possible waste that's causing a heterotrophic bacteria(white cloudy water) to take over the tank. Although the fish have accustomed to the low Ph, some of them may be suffering in it and you need to solve the problem one way or another. The bacteria causing white cloudy water is always present in small ammounts deep in the gravel where there's no oxygen(anaerobic bacteria) but when there's too much waste in the gravel causing complete lack of oxygen, it starts multiplying rapidly and causes what people call a bacterial bloom, white cloudy water. The problem with it is, it can take over all surfaces available for the good bacteria which grows way slower than the heterotrophic one, and suffocate it. Both bacteria eat ammonia, with that difference that the heterotrophic one is about 1 million times slower eating it than the good bacteria which is dying in your tank.
It's either a risk of Ph shock or a complete cycle of your tank if not dealt with as soon as possible as the Ph can keep dropping and cause a shock anyway.

Okay, I did a water change of about 50%. I kind of figured out how to do so without lifting buckets. But now I need to do a gravel vac. Can I just use the diatom? It filters out the waste once i stir up the gravel. Or would it be a bad idea at this point?

 

[Preston019]

Would it be a good idea to go ahead and clean my decorations too?

 

[WILDER]

I would preform a gravel vac. But only abit at a time, as it will cause a big water change which we don't want.
If the ornaments need a clean do so. But rinse well and let them dry out before adding back to the tank.

Can I just use the diatom?
Not sure what it is.

 

[snazy]

Would it be a good idea to go ahead and clean my decorations too?

I don't think that's necessary, no need for it too and there maybe good bacteria on it you don't want to kill.
I haven't used a diatom filter but if you can clean the gravel with it why not. If you stir the gravel too much you would need to do another water change.

 

[Preston019]

I would preform a gravel vac. But only abit at a time, as it will cause a big water change which we don't want.
If the ornaments need a clean do so. But rinse well and let them dry out before adding back to the tank.

Can I just use the diatom?
Not sure what it is.

It's a filter that uses diatomaceous earth as a filter media. It's actually pretty effective at clearing up cloudy water.

I decided to go ahead and start it about 1.5 hours ago and stirred up my gravel every 10 minutes and it has actually cleared most of my cloudy water.

 

[WILDER]

Wait a few hours and test your water again.
Glad to hear the tank water looks more clearer.