Did More Lighting Cure My Cloudy Tank?

[Bullrock74]

I bought a 95 gallon, acrylic, quarter-cylinder aquarium in February 2005, but did not buy the canopy and lighting system because it was way too expensive. I was using a 30" flourescent light and a 24" flourescent light to light the aquarium. I use an Emperor 400 power filter. I was guilty of ovefeeding, but no algae ever grew and the water was always a milky color. Ammonia levels were always zero as well as the nitrites, but the nitrates were usually 80+ ppm! I did 30% water changes every week. So, to try to fix the problem, I reduced the number of hours the lights were on from 12 to 4 hours per day. This helped at first, but then the cloudy water returned. I read more about lighting and saw that you are supposed to have about one watt per gallon and I only had about a third of that. So, I replaced the 24" flourescent light with a 36" double light, left the lights on for twelve hours per day, reduced my feeding, and two days later my aquarium water is crystal clear. I did not do a water change, but the nitrates are now less than 40 ppm. Did the water clear up on its own because I'm feeding less, or did the extra lighting allow some algae to grow which is eating up the nitrates and, in turn, reducing the bacteria that was causing the milky haze? Or is it something else?

95 Gallon Quarter Cylinder
400 gph Emperor Power Filter
One seven inch red oscar
One two inch female black convict
One four inch silver dollar
One three inch three spot gourami
One three inch red-finned shark
One five inch pleco (not a common pleco that has been eating algae wafers since no algae exists)

 

[blue_ram]

[snip]
I was guilty of ovefeeding, but no algae ever grew and the water was always a milky color. Ammonia levels were always zero as well as the nitrites, but the nitrates were usually 80+ ppm! I did 30% water changes every week. So, to try to fix the problem, I reduced the number of hours the lights were on from 12 to 4 hours per day.

Lights have nothing to do with the milky couldy water. It's a sign of bacterial bloom in a relatively new aquarium. To get rid of the bloom you need to cut down on feeding.

This helped at first, but then the cloudy water returned. I read more about lighting and saw that you are supposed to have about one watt per gallon and I only had about a third of that. So, I replaced the 24" flourescent light with a 36" double light, left the lights on for twelve hours per day, reduced my feeding, and two days later my aquarium water is crystal clear.

Fish don't really need light. All they need is an ambient light to distinguish the night and day. Unless you have plants, you can get by without any lighting (assuming you don't live in a dungeon). The water cleared up because you reduced the feeding.

I did not do a water change, but the nitrates are now less than 40 ppm. Did the water clear up on its own because I'm feeding less, or did the extra lighting allow some algae to grow which is eating up the nitrates and, in turn, reducing the bacteria that was causing the milky haze? Or is it something else?

Again, it's the feeding. When you're cycling with fish, you have to feed only small amounts of food for the first couple of weeks.

95 Gallon Quarter Cylinder
400 gph Emperor Power Filter
One seven inch red oscar
One two inch female black convict
One four inch silver dollar
One three inch three spot gourami
One three inch red-finned shark
One five inch pleco (not a common pleco that has been eating algae wafers since no algae exists)

By the way, you might want to move the three spot gourami. The red-finned shark will harrass it to death. Better yet, get rid of the shark. Aside from that, it sounds like you have a pretty nice tank.

 

[Bullrock74]

Thanks for your help...I really do appreciate it.
So far so good about the gourami vs. the shark, but I will definitely watch for any signs of harrassment.
Thanks again.

[snip]
I was guilty of ovefeeding, but no algae ever grew and the water was always a milky color. Ammonia levels were always zero as well as the nitrites, but the nitrates were usually 80+ ppm! I did 30% water changes every week. So, to try to fix the problem, I reduced the number of hours the lights were on from 12 to 4 hours per day.

Lights have nothing to do with the milky couldy water. It's a sign of bacterial bloom in a relatively new aquarium. To get rid of the bloom you need to cut down on feeding.

This helped at first, but then the cloudy water returned. I read more about lighting and saw that you are supposed to have about one watt per gallon and I only had about a third of that. So, I replaced the 24" flourescent light with a 36" double light, left the lights on for twelve hours per day, reduced my feeding, and two days later my aquarium water is crystal clear.

Fish don't really need light. All they need is an ambient light to distinguish the night and day. Unless you have plants, you can get by without any lighting (assuming you don't live in a dungeon). The water cleared up because you reduced the feeding.

I did not do a water change, but the nitrates are now less than 40 ppm. Did the water clear up on its own because I'm feeding less, or did the extra lighting allow some algae to grow which is eating up the nitrates and, in turn, reducing the bacteria that was causing the milky haze? Or is it something else?

Again, it's the feeding. When you're cycling with fish, you have to feed only small amounts of food for the first couple of weeks.

95 Gallon Quarter Cylinder
400 gph Emperor Power Filter
One seven inch red oscar
One two inch female black convict
One four inch silver dollar
One three inch three spot gourami
One three inch red-finned shark
One five inch pleco (not a common pleco that has been eating algae wafers since no algae exists)

By the way, you might want to move the three spot gourami. The red-finned shark will harrass it to death. Better yet, get rid of the shark. Aside from that, it sounds like you have a pretty nice tank.