Newguy122
Fish Fanatic
hi in my 12 g tank i have 7 neon tetra 3 amano shrimp and 4 otos and my water has gone cloudy my test has shown good results how can i get rid of it it has been setup a year
cloudy water
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Deleted member 149562
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First of all, what is your feeding and lighting routine...and amount of food/how many days a week?
What colour is the clouding?
If white/milky its likely to be a bacterial bloom, annoying but usually clears up on its own in around 7-10 days, often caused by overfeeding, change of food and/or dirty substrate. If this is what yours looks like then I personally would do alternate day 50% water changes and drop feeding for a few days.
Once sorted, feed once a day for 6 days a week....one day regular fasting helps the fish digestive systems cope with the processed foods and helps with water chemistry too
What colour is the clouding?
If white/milky its likely to be a bacterial bloom, annoying but usually clears up on its own in around 7-10 days, often caused by overfeeding, change of food and/or dirty substrate. If this is what yours looks like then I personally would do alternate day 50% water changes and drop feeding for a few days.
Once sorted, feed once a day for 6 days a week....one day regular fasting helps the fish digestive systems cope with the processed foods and helps with water chemistry too
Bruce Leyland-Jones
Fish Aficionado
Or if it's green cloudy, then it is fine algae, suspended in the water. This is usually harmless, but can be reduced by increasing your number of higher plants, lowering the amount of light entering the tank and paying close attention to tank maintenance. (Waste feeds the algae).
Newguy122
Fish Fanatic
the water is milky and i use gravel my light is white and is on 12 hours a day and i feed a wafer to the four otos and shrimp and for the honey gurami and the 7 neons a pinch and a half a food a day
Newguy122
Fish Fanatic
amonia 0 nitrite 0 and nitrate 0
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Deleted member 149562
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Well I would advise a maximum of 8 hour lighting, that is the normal average regardless of cloudy water tbh
What is your husbandry routine? Water changes and gravel vac?
Oto's need veggies too, so a slice of cucumber would be most welcome to supplement the algae in the aquarium
The rest of the stock should be OK on that regime but I would advise a day off feeding once the clouding has gone.
Some foods are more filler than actual "food", and will exacerbate clouding episodes, what make of food are you using and have you changed recently at all?
Sorry for all the questions, just trying to pin down the best way to deal with this for you
What is your husbandry routine? Water changes and gravel vac?
Oto's need veggies too, so a slice of cucumber would be most welcome to supplement the algae in the aquarium
The rest of the stock should be OK on that regime but I would advise a day off feeding once the clouding has gone.
Some foods are more filler than actual "food", and will exacerbate clouding episodes, what make of food are you using and have you changed recently at all?
Sorry for all the questions, just trying to pin down the best way to deal with this for you
Newguy122
Fish Fanatic
i water change 30 percent every 5 day and gravel vac every 2 weeks
D
Deleted member 149562
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It certainly sounds like a bacterial bloom. There is not a great deal that you can do other than increase your water changes to alternate days at 50% each time and literally sitting it out.
It will clear but you will find that you need to be patient....fishkeeping tends to give you patience levels that you never thought possible
There is no rushing it I'm afraid.....you could invest in a GKM (Green Killing Machine) which is an internal mini 3w UV filter. They are usually used for green water episodes but can be useful on bacterial blooms when impatient to get rid of it. The smallest GKM is around £30. I have used them before and they cut the cure time of a bloom by around 50%...they are also handy if you ever experience disease too since they kill off pathogens.
Your best bet would be to sit it out, up the water changes for a few days, drop one day feed...and just let nature take its own sweet time.
It will clear but you will find that you need to be patient....fishkeeping tends to give you patience levels that you never thought possible
There is no rushing it I'm afraid.....you could invest in a GKM (Green Killing Machine) which is an internal mini 3w UV filter. They are usually used for green water episodes but can be useful on bacterial blooms when impatient to get rid of it. The smallest GKM is around £30. I have used them before and they cut the cure time of a bloom by around 50%...they are also handy if you ever experience disease too since they kill off pathogens.
Your best bet would be to sit it out, up the water changes for a few days, drop one day feed...and just let nature take its own sweet time.
Milky white cloudy water is a bacterial blood. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.
Have you replaced the filter media recently?
If yes, that is probably what caused it. Filter media should be washed out in a bucket of tank water and re-used.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.
Have you replaced the filter media recently?
If yes, that is probably what caused it. Filter media should be washed out in a bucket of tank water and re-used.
Bruce Leyland-Jones
Fish Aficionado
Yup...as said, bacterial bloom.
Fasting your fish a whole day, or even two days, would do them no harm.
It is possible you are over-feeding, with algae wafer and your 'pinch and a half'. I know you have the challenge of ensuring all fish get fed, but your shrimp will be sorted by whatever is lying around the substrate, even after a siphoning and your ottos will be fine to munch on whatever algae is in the tank. Likewise, your other fish will be fine.
This should reduce any waste and if you water change every other day, I suspect the bloom will soon dissipate.
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