Not just cloudy!

[LiQuOrIcE]

My uncle has recently (2 weeks ago) got a fish tank after my cousin fll in love with mine!

I told him about the fishless cycling, but he got impatient and got 3 mickey mouse platies.

I told him it was wrong, but i made that mistake and all was ok and they are still healthy!

Anyway, he is worried as hell as his tank was really cloudy (misty/milky looking) so i had a look on here at previous post and said its probably a bacteria bloom as its cycling! do a water change (25%). Rang me today and said its still cloudy and i said how it wont go away just like that!

Anyway, i popped round after work and had a look and there is small white particles floating around in it! and the visitherm heater has a white powdery coating!

the tank was clear for almost two weeks and suddenly these particles!

His nitrite is at 0.8 mg/l
amonia is 0.25 mg/l ish
ph is 7.5
nitrate looked like it was at 15 mg/l

Any ideas?

 

[tstenback]

HAs the gravel been disturbed? perhaps it wasn't washed enough and this is just sediment coming from the gravel. just a guess.

 

[LiQuOrIcE]

Nah, the gravel was fine, washed, sived, washed, sived, stirred etc.

I was worried by the powdery hard white stuff n the glass of the heater!

 

[tstenback]

Is the water hard where he is located? getting water from a well? might be calcium if that is the case. Is the white stuff on the heater also floating in the water or are we talking about 2 different things here?

 

[LiQuOrIcE]

the white stuf is floating & on the heater!

Ill ring him a get him to test the gh & kh.

BTW, you only see the white bits in the water when you look close.

 

[LiQuOrIcE]

GH = 10 dh
KH = 8 dh

 

[Inchworm]

Hi LiQuOrIcE

You did help your uncle out by giving him some bacteria from your gravel and/or filter media, didn't you?

If not, please do so right away. It will make a big difference in the length of time it will take to cycle his tank. And this, of course, might save the lives of those fish.

 

[LiQuOrIcE]

yea, the gravel (80% or so) in his tank is from mine. as i had too much.

 

[Inchworm]

yea, the gravel (80% or so) in his tank is from mine. as i had too much.

Hi LiQuOrIcE

I'm confused. You gave your uncle gravel from your tank but one of you washed it before you put it into his tank. Is that right?

 

[LiQuOrIcE]

no, before i used it, i washed it & washed it until i was sure it was proper clean.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi LiQuOrIcE

Awww....... That's what I was afraid you were going to say.

If you hadn't washed the gravel, you would have given him all the beneficial bacteria that was clinging to it. His tank would have been well on the way to being cycled already.

I've seen the kind of thing you are talking about in the water, and doubt if it will hurt anything. Right now, it's necessary to get the tank cycled and that will be his first priority. I think that if he does enough regular small water changes to keep the chemical levels where they should be, the floating stuff will eventually be removed. If not, there are products to put in that will help remove them, but I think it's best to avoid them until after the cycle is finished.

 

[LiQuOrIcE]

Cheers for the info.

We didnt wash the gravel though, but it took about 3 hours till it was in a tank with water in again, so i guess that woul have lost the bacteria.

Are the level he has given above seem about right for a cycling tank?

 

[LiQuOrIcE]

Just had a call and all is clear in the tank! must have gone during the nigh!

Any ideas what this few days of really milky looking cloud stuff was with white bits in it?

Anyway, ive said dont add anything else til its all constant levels for a few weeks...right?

 

[J_acon]

Well the tank can get cloudy when ammonia levels are high, but ur readings said it was low. Did you drop something into the tank? and now it just got filtered?

 

[LiQuOrIcE]

Just came back from a weekend away and went to see how its doing.

Water was clear (not crystal clear) and he was doing a water change.

I said you may want to rinse the filter as its done a lot of cleaning! opened it up (fluval underwater one) and it had loads of white gunk in it! so im guessing something was dropped in the tank!

He is sure nothing dropped in there, but after seeing how the old water went when rinsing filter, he agrees.

There is still a bit in the water now as some got out as we took the filter from the tank. just let the filter do its job and rinse it out again?