High Nitrates And Milky White Water

[all_waze]

here is the situation. A neighbor has a 30g hi with 12 angels in it all bigger than a silver dollar. The ammonia is a little above zero and nitrates out the roof. This tank has been this way apparently for several weeks. The fish are all doing as well as can be expected(no deaths yet). She told me she does 25% water changes every other day but nothing changes. She has reduced feeding to once a day. The filter is an Emperor 280 that is apparently well cycled or so she says. The water is pretty milky but doesn't seem to smell. Looks like a bacteria bloom? But all that to ask this: Given the high nitrates and bad water, would the fish be able to handle being transferred to a 50g well cycled tank that has zero ammonia, 0 nitrites, and about .1 nitrates, mildly soft, and ph around 7.2 with out it killing them? Am open to any suggestions as I hate to see the fish possibly suffer and/or die.

 

[Mr Bliss]

Yes, save them, or at least some of them! The fish fill thank you for it. There's no way she can continue keeping 12 angels in a 30g. It's barely enough for a full grown pair, in my opinion.

That said, if the fish are just over an inch in size now, her tank isn't overstocked yet, so something else must be causing the problems. One of the following seems likely: 1) she grossly overfeeds the fish, 2) something is rotting in her tank (unsuitable piece of wood, unnoticed dead fish or large snail) or 3) her filter has died due to medication, clogging or heavy metal poisoning from tap water or an unsuitable piece of rock, or because she has cleaned the filter in tap water.

 

[all_waze]

Yes, save them, or at least some of them! The fish fill thank you for it. There's no way she can continue keeping 12 angels in a 30g. It's barely enough for a full grown pair, in my opinion.

That said, if the fish are just over an inch in size now, her tank isn't overstocked yet, so something else must be causing the problems. One of the following seems likely: 1) she grossly overfeeds the fish, 2) something is rotting in her tank (unsuitable piece of wood, unnoticed dead fish or large snail) or 3) her filter has died due to medication, clogging or heavy metal poisoning from tap water or an unsuitable piece of rock, or because she has cleaned the filter in tap water.

All the angels are approx 5 to 5 1/2ins top to bottom with body size around 2 1/2 to 3 ins.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

this is overstocking then, classic case, it's been fine for a while as the fish were smaller/younger, as they've grown up the filter bacteria colony has grown with them it has now got to the point where the filter has reached it's capacity (size of filter will dictate maxiumum number of bacteria it can hold) and the fish haven't stopped growing meaning that there is now steadily more ammonia being produced than the filter can handle, hence steady small amount of ammonia (will just get worse over time) and milky water from bacteria bloom from the excess ammonia.

fish need to be re-homed, no amount of water changes will make this better as the problem is that the tank is grossly overstocked.


12 5" angels in a 50 gal is probably still gonna be pushing it size wise but it's a whole heap better than what they are in now!! I'd suggest you take them adn then tro to re-home some or all of them.

 

[all_waze]

this is overstocking then, classic case, it's been fine for a while as the fish were smaller/younger, as they've grown up the filter bacteria colony has grown with them it has now got to the point where the filter has reached it's capacity (size of filter will dictate maxiumum number of bacteria it can hold) and the fish haven't stopped growing meaning that there is now steadily more ammonia being produced than the filter can handle, hence steady small amount of ammonia (will just get worse over time) and milky water from bacteria bloom from the excess ammonia.

fish need to be re-homed, no amount of water changes will make this better as the problem is that the tank is grossly overstocked.


12 5" angels in a 50 gal is probably still gonna be pushing it size wise but it's a whole heap better than what they are in now!! I'd suggest you take them adn then tro to re-home some or all of them.

I definitely agree that 12 in a 50g is stretching it. But right now thats all I can do. The 50g is merely a stop gap. I have a couple of 30s that are still cycling that I was thinking about putting 6 in each, but thats at least a week or more away so right now the 50g seems the best alternative. Whatcha think?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah it'd certainly be better than what they are in now so go for it, then at least if they're in ammonia free water you've got a few weeks respite while the fish are at minimum risk and you can then decide what you want to do with them.

a 50gal would only be a bit tight long term, for a few weeks until you get things sorted it'll be fine.

 

[all_waze]

yeah it'd certainly be better than what they are in now so go for it, then at least if they're in ammonia free water you've got a few weeks respite while the fish are at minimum risk and you can then decide what you want to do with them.

a 50gal would only be a bit tight long term, for a few weeks until you get things sorted it'll be fine.

Do you think there will be much stress on them going from a hi nitrate tank, etc., to a clean tank? Think I should use one of the angels as a "test" and see how it does or just do the transfer and go from there?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

no just move them, it's a risk assesment thing, there is more risk to them from the ammonia content of the old tank than there is from the shock of moving water conditions.

move them but do a very careful drip acclimitisation to mitigate the risk as much as possible.

 

[all_waze]

no just move them, it's a risk assesment thing, there is more risk to them from the ammonia content of the old tank than there is from the shock of moving water conditions.

move them but do a very careful drip acclimitisation to mitigate the risk as much as possible.

Sounds like a plan. Will get started as soon as she(neighbor) gets home from work this afternoon. Thanx very much for your help.

JIM