Hello I'm new and have a about yellow hazy water..

[Akabobo84]

Hello my name is Matthew. Had my fish tank for around 4 months and all of a sudden I have yellow water. I cant see through it. When I was reading about how to clean my tank. I read that not to always clean your gravel. So in 4 months didn't really clean maybe just skimmed the very top. Now all yellow. And I did just change my filter after 2 months.

My question is. 1. How do I fix the yellow haze. Is it best to leave it alone. Or maybe I should do more frequent water changes. If so how much. Don't wanna shock my fish.

And then my 2nd question. When I do change my filter media should I put the old one behind new one. I've been told so many things. The yellow haziness, I think, got really bad when I did change my filter. But could just be a coincidence.

I have tested my water and everything seems to be fine.

But any suggestions would greatly be appreciated. And any other pointers. Thanks.

 

[Akabobo84]

This is how my tank looks...

 

[Sgooosh]

welcome!~

the yellow haze is on the glass not the water. it is diatoms or otherwise known as brown-algae
i think since you have no live plants id do maybe 50 percent a week
do 50 percent in one time not in multiple times.
they like to feed on waste, like plants(but this type of algae is not plants)

 

[Akabobo84]

welcome!~

the yellow haze is on the glass not the water. it is diatoms or otherwise known as brown-algae
i think since you have no live plants id do maybe 50 percent a week
do 50 percent in one time not in multiple times.
they like to feed on waste, like plants(but this type of algae is not plants)

I did a 50% water change today and the water in the bucket was yellow.

 

[Sgooosh]

I did a 50% water change today and the water in the bucket was yellow.

oh that is probably water-borne algae i think...
water changes will help either way.
are you conditioning the water?

 

[Akabobo84]

So just do my weekly water changes. Do about 50% each time. How long do you think this will take to be fixed? And from now on what can I do better to not have this problem.

 

[Akabobo84]

I see some ppl have had good luck with the api algaefix. Had anyone tried and did it work. According to the reviews it works great.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

If you replaced the filter media/ materials then you might be getting an algal bloom caused by the removal of the old established filter media. If this is the case, then you probably have an ammonia and or nitrite reading in the water that is feeding the algae. If you have a test kit, you can check the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH levels.and post the results in numbers here. If you don't have a test kit, you can take a glass full of tank water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write down the results on a piece of paper when they do the tests. If they say the water is fine, ask them what the numbers are and record the numbers.

If you can't get the water tested, just change 50-75% of the water every day for a week. Then do it every couple of days for a few weeks. Then do it once a week. You should also reduce feeding for the next month. This will reduce the ammonia produced by fish food and waste, and help keep the water cleaner while the filter re-establishes the colonies of beneficial bacteria.

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Established filters should be cleaned at least once a month. You remove the filter media/ materials and squeeze/ wash them in a bucket of tank water. Give them a rinse in second bucket of tank water. Then re-use the media. The buckets of dirty water can be poured on the lawn. Top the tank up with dechlorinated water.

If you have filter pads, these can be squeezed out in a bucket of tank water and re-used too.

The only time you replace filter media is if it's falling apart. Then replace it with some sponge from a different brand of filter. I use sponges for the AquaClear HOB (hang on back) style filters and cut the sponge to size with a pair of scissors but there are plenty of other brands you can use. Sponges last for years and get squeezed out in a bucket of tank water and re-used.

If you have carbon (black granulated substance) in the filter, remove it and don't bother replacing it.

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If you don't have any live plants in the tank, just have the light on for a few hours in the evening when you are home to watch the fish. If you have the tank light on all day and there are no live plants to use the light, you will get algae growing instead.

Don't use algicides (thing to kill algae) in aquariums because they are harmful to fish.