Ok, I Need Help.

[SamUK]

ok ill start from the beggining.

last december i went on holiday for a week and left my 180g tank the clearest ive ever seen it.

my mum was in charge of feeding and when i returned the tank had started to go cloudy.

now my mums normally really good so io thought this was strange but jus assumed she had overfed and set about doing a water change and left off the feeding for a few days.

well the tank got worse and worse and after about 8 weeks (with me still doing waterchanges every weekend) you could barely see a few inches into the tank.

so i decided to do a 100% water change and give the tank a god clean.

did all that and less than a week later it had gotten cloudier than it had in the 8 weeks before!!

no it seems to of gone a green colour which im guessing is an algae bloom cos of the change of water but its stil insanely cloudy.


i kno i should have a test kit and post readings but i did a 100% change so if it had been a high nitrates or whateva then it should of been solved rite then and not of come back.



now im about ready to give up and sit in the corner crying but thoght id see if anyone could help here?

ill go get a test kit if i have too but it cant be that can it?


HEEEEELLLPPPP


edited to add - all fish in the tank are and have always been fine. no illnesses and i havent seen them gasping once.

 

[kpintheshed]

do you have a air pump or any water dropping down into the water. when my water is cloudy all i Do is make like a fountain so air bubble neutralise's the nitrates and etc.

something like this :

 

[SamUK]

thanx but yea ive got airstones and 3 filters breaking the surface up and still it gets no better.

 

[fishkers]

I've had this happen before with a tank. Honestly you probably do want to get a test kit. I know having to pay for one sucks but I think that might be your problem. What I have found is for some reason certain things can cause your tank's bacteria to die. With your tank getting cloudy it is probably because your tank needs to be cycled again. Try to do some water tests and get back to us on the results.

 

[SamUK]

think thats wht ill have to do.


i dont get it tho, if i did a 100% change then how will my levels be out?

 

[BigIan]

sounds like your tank is cycleing over again you need a test kit mate. even if you did a 100% water change then within 2-3 days the water will be toxic again, because ther filter bacteria cant take the strain.
this is why every one tell`s n00bs to get a test kit as its the first step in finding a problem and fixing it....

 

[Picoreefer4966]

Could be a combination of a couple things. Cloudy water IMO could have been cause by overfeeding and a resulting bacterial bloom. By changing 100% of the water, you only really accomplished clean water. The bacteria will still bloom since the majority of your bio filter lives in your filter an substrate. Changing out allof your filter material at once can also cause a mini cycle.
If your water is green.....this is likely "green water". sounds stupid...duh! I know....but "green water" is a free floating algae that doesn't multiply on something but simply continues to mutliply freely floating in the water column. No amount of water changes will clear a true floating algae bloom. Reducing the hours of light the tank recieves might help, or you may need to employ a diatom filter. The diatom filter consists of a jar cannister type filter with an intake and return. Diatomacious earth is placed in the jar along with some tank water and once it's running on your tank it will disperse the powder into the tank (effectively making your tank look seemingly worse). The free floating algae will stick to the fine powder particals of the diatomacious earth and return to the jar. You'll need to keep an eye on it and clean it out and replace the powder possibly every few hours. But this will very effectively remove the "green water" and realy polish the water as well.
The worse the bloom and larger the tank the longer it will take. I saw a 55 gal take almost a week to clear...but it was a really bad bloom. Sat about two weeks like that before they did anything for it other than water changes. So...be prepared for it to take a bit of time in a 180. But IMO it's the safeset most effective method of learing a free floating alga bloom.
Another method is a complete black out of the tank...but I don't recommend that method.

 

[SamUK]

thanx for the info guys.


il grab a test kit in the morning altho i am to science what a fish is to land lol.

hope they have easy instructions.


Picoreefer, where could i get a filter like the one you describe?

 

[Picoreefer4966]

http/www.diatomfilter.com/products/diatom_xl_filter.htm

That is the manufacturer's webiste of the Vortex. IMO the XL would be your best bet for that large of a tank. You'll defiantely need alot more diatom powder than the filter actually comes with. They are expensive, and you could probably get it cheaper than what's on that site......you just have to shop around. I'm in the USA so, not sure where else you could get one in the UK.....you might ask your LFS if they carry or can order one. Also...check ebay as well.

 

[SamUK]

hope i can find a cheaper way cos i dont have £150+ to spend even on payday lol.

 

[Picoreefer4966]

hope i can find a cheaper way cos i dont have £150+ to spend even on payday lol.

LOL yeah I can relate to that. I have seen smaller ones for about $70 US currency. Don't know what that is for you....
If you truly have "green water" you can try a total black out. It's not the best way but it can work. You'll have to cover your tank completely with newspaper or something that will not allow any light it. Don't turn your lights on, don't feed your fish, and don't peek for 5 days. I've seen that work. I don't like doing it that way because of the fish...but like I said....it can work. After the 5 days....uncover the tank and do a 50% water change. If it hasn't helped, you can do another 5 days.
That's only if you truly have "green water". If it's just a bacterial bloom (white cloudiness)....just reduce the lighting times and wait it out. Don't do big water changes as that will prolong it. That will clear up on it's own. Might take a while in a big tank....but it will. Whatever the solution depends truly on what the real cause is. A pic of the tank as it is would be helpful to determine what your water looks like. HTH

 

[SamUK]

ill get a pic up in the morning but its emmbaarising! the rivers in the UK are probably clearer than my tank a the mo.

ill have to post a pic of my other tanks to prove im not a bad fish keeper lol.


the water was white but ever since the 100% change its been green. that probably doesnt help the diagnosis or means i have both white water and green.

 

[Picoreefer4966]

Yeah I know it's embarrasing. But it doesn't make you a bad fishkeeper. Just makes you a fishkeeper with a problem that needs to be addressed. I imagine the original issue was a bacteria bloom. Possibly mum changed all the filter material at the same time? Or it could have been overfeeding that caused a bacteria bloom. Too much amonia and the bacteria had to work overtime to produce more nitrifying bacteria to catch up with demand.
The 100% water change you did possibly turned it into a double problem. Green water algae blooms a good portion of the time happen in a new tank. Though yours is not a new tank....you did do a 100% water change. But, as I said....seeing what it loks like would be the easiest way to determine what the problem is. Of course seeing in person would be much easier.
You might ask your lfs if they have a diatom filter they would rent to you. Or maybe they know of an aquarium maintenance service that would be willing to help you. I don't know how much that would run...but it's worth asking to find out if it would be a less expensive solution than purchasing your own diatom filter. In any case.....let's see that pic.

 

[PlecMama]

I have seen smaller ones for about $70 US currency. Don't know what that is for you...

There's a wacky rule here:

If it sells in America for $70 - you can bet we pay £70 here for it - which equates to about $140.

We get ripped on everything

 

[kribensis12]

Things are still expensive becasue of inflation! So it is no cheaper than United States!

P.S.: Inflation was on my Vocab sheet for 8th grade WWII test.