Cloudy Water

[Cazangel]

Well last night I got home and everyone was still swimming which is good, I checked the filter and the pump had somehow may be knowcked the control down to minimum so I turned the pump up and there was a blockage near the vent on the pump so now I have sorted that out it looked much clearer this morning.

I am going to stop using Ammo lock because I can;t get a true reading till I stop using it so I will do another water test tonight and keep you posted, thanks for your suggestions and help so far

 

[Cazangel]

Well the water is totally clear now and all my fish are alive and well so I'm going to test the water tonight and then see how it goes, can someone please tell me what is a safe level of ammonia as I don;t want to disturb the water after the last few days the fish may be quite stressed so I was going to do a partial water change tomorrow but can anyone tell me what is fatal level of ammonia ?

Thanks

 

[SJ2K]

.5+ is potentially fatal, 0 is whats really needed same applies for Nitrite.

 

[Cazangel]

.5+ is potentially fatal, 0 is whats really needed same applies for Nitrite.

Yeah both of these are really high but everytime I do a partial water change I have to turn my filter off and I'm concerned as that is when the cloudiness started, could I get rid of the Ammonia and Nitrite by doing 10 % twice daily water changes? and if I;m using Tap Conditioner in the water to transefr to the tank how long should I leave the tap water standing for before I put it in ?

 

[SJ2K]

2x 10% a day should be fine, aslong as its getting your ammonia and nitrite down and water conditioner acts instantly, so just pour a little in, swirl it for 2 secs and pour the water into the tank

 

[Cazangel]

2x 10% a day should be fine, aslong as its getting your ammonia and nitrite down and water conditioner acts instantly, so just pour a little in, swirl it for 2 secs and pour the water into the tank

I've been doing daily water changes for a about a week and I never notice a drop in the levels of Ammonia or Nitrite, I have tested my water from the tap and that is fine so could there be something else causing it not to drop?

 

[SJ2K]

Feed a small amount every other day, make sure you vac the gravel with every change too.

 

[Cazangel]

Feed a small amount every other day, make sure you vac the gravel with every change too.

Ahh that was what I thought I havent been cleaning the gravel so I will start doing that and hopefully it will clear up I'll keep you posted, Thanks !

 

[Daveyg1969]

Thats a seriously excessive method of getting rid of cloudyness, my prefferd method is regular water changes (as in, no different to normal routine) and patience a little more filter wool can help aswell

I agree entirely, all this water changing malarky, it can get out of hand if done excessively, leave the filter to do its job.

 

[Cazangel]

Thats a seriously excessive method of getting rid of cloudyness, my prefferd method is regular water changes (as in, no different to normal routine) and patience a little more filter wool can help aswell

I agree entirely, all this water changing malarky, it can get out of hand if done excessively, leave the filter to do its job.

Ammonia levels are still at 8.0 and I really don;t know if Ammo Lock is out of the system yet, I am still doing water changes and the levels of ammonia are not going down what should I do?

 

[Bullrock74]

Something must be wrong with your test kit. If your tap water is ammonia-free and you are doing water changes, then you should not have a number of 8.0 ppm ammonia. You do have a liquid test kit and not those 5 in 1 test strips, right?

 

[Cazangel]

Something must be wrong with your test kit. If your tap water is ammonia-free and you are doing water changes, then you should not have a number of 8.0 ppm ammonia. You do have a liquid test kit and not those 5 in 1 test strips, right?

Yeah I've got a liquid test kit and it works fine I even took some water to a store and they tested it and ammonia from the tap is 0 and ammonia in the tank is 8.0 I don;t know what else to try and I don;t want my fish to die?

 

[rabbut]

Yeah I've got a liquid test kit and it works fine I even took some water to a store and they tested it and ammonia from the tap is 0 and ammonia in the tank is 8.0 I don;t know what else to try and I don;t want my fish to die?

Ammonia at 8ppm will caurse serious long-tearm dammage to your fish, so you sence of urgency in this matter is justifyable. IMO, the best caurse of action is a 50% waterchange. If ammonia is a 0 from the tap, and the starting value in the tank is 8, a 50% waterchange will bring ammonia down to 4ppm. If the test kit does not show 4ppm after the waterchange, then ammonolock is still playing with the values, or there is a systematic error during the test. Now wait a few hours, and do another 50% waterchange, and repeat, repeat, repeat.....untill ammonia is below 0.25ppm. Sooner or later, is it is ammonolock caursing the high reading, insufficient amounts of it will be left to caurse the reading swings. If it is high ammonia, again it will lower with the waterchanges to a safe level.
This may require 5 or more 50% waterchanges, but it's cheaper than the gym

HTH
rabbut

 

[n3ont3tra]

What type of cloudiness are you getiing? Is it a bunch of stuff floating around or is it just kind of milky? I would do larger than 50% water change. As long as temp is within 2 degrees it will help your fish a lot more than having them sit in all that ammonia. Don't add any chemicals to tae tank except dehlorinator. What are you running in the filter? Sponges?

 

[Cazangel]

Yeah I've got a liquid test kit and it works fine I even took some water to a store and they tested it and ammonia from the tap is 0 and ammonia in the tank is 8.0 I don;t know what else to try and I don;t want my fish to die?

Ammonia at 8ppm will caurse serious long-tearm dammage to your fish, so you sence of urgency in this matter is justifyable. IMO, the best caurse of action is a 50% waterchange. If ammonia is a 0 from the tap, and the starting value in the tank is 8, a 50% waterchange will bring ammonia down to 4ppm. If the test kit does not show 4ppm after the waterchange, then ammonolock is still playing with the values, or there is a systematic error during the test. Now wait a few hours, and do another 50% waterchange, and repeat, repeat, repeat.....untill ammonia is below 0.25ppm. Sooner or later, is it is ammonolock caursing the high reading, insufficient amounts of it will be left to caurse the reading swings. If it is high ammonia, again it will lower with the waterchanges to a safe level.
This may require 5 or more 50% waterchanges, but it's cheaper than the gym

HTH
rabbut

Won't this kill off my good bacteria though and shove me back to square one?

What type of cloudiness are you getiing? Is it a bunch of stuff floating around or is it just kind of milky? I would do larger than 50% water change. As long as temp is within 2 degrees it will help your fish a lot more than having them sit in all that ammonia. Don't add any chemicals to tae tank except dehlorinator. What are you running in the filter? Sponges?

I have two filter sponges a coarse one and a Nitrate one which I have now removed in the hope that one will do the job of lowering the ammonia which is still at 8.0 the cloudiness has cleared now the pump was turned down and I have turned it to maximum but the ammonia levels are still way too high and I don;t know what else to try,