Smelly And Cloudy Water

[boxerbeth]

Can anyone help. We've had our tank just over a month now but the water's really cloudy and it stinks. We do a 20% water change each week and have cleaned the gravel but it's horrible. It's a kind of yellow/green cloudy colour and smells real bad? The fish all seem ok and we don't put in too much food but have given some sinking pellets? Any ideas on what I can do? I've just bought a tea bag looking thing which says it catches posphates and nitrates? Help!

 

[T1KARMANN]

what size tank ?
what filters ?
what are the water parameters ?
did you let the tank cycle before you added fish ?
what fish are in their ?
how long are your lights on each day ?

lots of ? need to be answered before you can get help

 

[boxerbeth]

The tank's 35 litres (10gallons I think), and it's got an elite stingray 10 filter (if that means anything). I leave the light on around 11/12 hours each day. We don't have a water testing kit yet (will get one on Sat when go to the fish shop) so can't tell you that yet. In it we've got two balloon mollies, two female fighters, a catfish (not sure what type, he's only small though - about 4cm) and a blue lobster. I did have two kissing gourami's but they've been rehomed now as I wasn't told how big they'd grow.

Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

 

[SJ2K]

The lights are on for too long as a start and the poor water quality could be due to ammonia flux's etc which you'll find out once you get your kit. May I also suggest getting a photo of the mystery catfish and posting it here to get a possitive ID, theres plenty of cats out there who are sold small and returned huge

 

[boxerbeth]

How long should the lights be on for each day? I turn them on when I leave for work at 7am then get home around 5pm and like to watch it for a cit before turning off the light.

The catfish's a plec... http/www.fishforums.net/content/Plecos-a...pe-Of-Catfish-/ Am getting rid of him on Sat (Maidenhead aquatics said they'll have him). How do I sort out the amonia if it's that?

 

[SJ2K]

For a solution to your lights firstly get yourself an automatic timer, set it to turn on at 6:30am (Give you some time to check it out in the morning), turn off at 10.30am, come back on at 3 and off at 9pm

Thats 10 hours of light with plenty of viewing time and to find out about ammonia get yourself a test kit, if its high then do plenty of water changes to dilute it back down.

 

[boxerbeth]

Will get a timer. I never thought of that, good idea! Thanks! I think I'll go to P@H this evening and get a test kit. Came down this morning and the blue lobster had died sometime during the night The others seemed ok this morning but were hanging around the top a lot as though they were trying to breathe? Any idea why that would be?

 

[Staccat0]

For a solution to your lights firstly get yourself an automatic timer, set it to turn on at 6:30am (Give you some time to check it out in the morning), turn off at 10.30am, come back on at 3 and off at 9pm

Thats 10 hours of light with plenty of viewing time and to find out about ammonia get yourself a test kit, if its high then do plenty of water changes to dilute it back down.

Also, be sure to test your tapwater when you get a kit. In the meantime maybe try adding an airstone? Anyone else agree?

 

[boxerbeth]

We always put some solution into the tap water which is meant to make it safe for it to be added to the tank. Will test it all tonight when I get home from work. Is an airstone the pump for bubbles with a black disk type thing? If it's that we've got one but only turn it on occassionaly as it seems to make the water more cloudy?

 

[ibbledibble]

from the sound of it your tank has probably got highly toxic levels of ammonia (though you will know for sure when you get a test kit) that could be what killed the crayfish.

in new tanks its necessary to "cycle" the filter to build up good bacteria which removes toxic ammonia and nitrite from the water.
the water conditioner won't be likely to affect that as most just remove chlorine from tap water they don't affect ammonia and nitrite.
ammonia is produced by fish waste and by any excess food rotting in the tank, so it builds up more and more daily.

it is recommended to carry out a fishless cycle. which is where you run the empty tank and add ammonia to allow the build up of bacteria. when its fully established you can add the fish.
unfortunately most LFS do not know and/or care about this. their aim is to get you to buy the fish as quickly as possible (impulse buys).

if you do add the fish straight away, you still need to cycle the filter, but it usually takes a lot longer. and because the fish are in it they are slowly being poisoned. so you need to do water changes EVERY DAY!
once a week is fine for an established tank, but in an uncycled tank you need to do far far more to keep the ammonia levels low.

the airstone is the little rough black thing that attaches to the air pump tubing yes (they come in various different shapes and sizes) it will increase the surface turbulence which will increase the oxygen dissolved in the water, making it easier for the fish to breathe. so probably a good idea to turn it on constantly for the moment. the appearance is less important at the moment except as an indication that things are not right. when your water parameters are sorted out it will be easier to keep it looking good.

by the way do you have any live plants in the tank? as they will use ammonia and nitrites to grow which would reduce the toxic levels somewhat and also reduce the nutrients available to the algae which is turning the water green.

also for future reference you shouldn't really keep crayfish(blue lobster) with fish as they will get eaten (the fish that is)

ok enough waffling, sorry if you know all that already. hope it helps (and makes sense!)

 

[boxerbeth]

As I already have fish in now, what can I do to stop them all dying then? I'm not at home at the moment (back at 5) but will turn on the airstone as soon as I'm back. We don't have any live plants, only plastic. Would it help if I bought one tonight then? How long will I need to do water changes every day for? Any recommendations on which testing kit to buy?

I asked them about the crayfish (blue lobster) and they said he said that unless the fish were resting on the bottom and didn't move that the could get nipped. We didn't have any problems with him at all, he just kept out of the way of everything. He got a bit close to the catfish once but the catfish soon swam away!

 

[ibbledibble]

at this point as you have the fish, the most important thing to do to save them is water changes, i would say do a 50%change when you get home and yes turn on the airstone asap.
live plants would help, but they are not a necessity if you do regular changes etc. get them if you want them for the tank anyway.
you need to do daily water changes until your ammonia and nitrIte both show zero every time you test. with regards which test kit to get, i've not heard anything to recommend one particular brand over another, but make sure it is liquid test kits not test strips, as the strips are notoriously unreliable. also i would recommend getting a master test kit, which contains various different tests (usually works out cheaper than individual tests) but make sure it contains Ammonia test, NitrIte test, NitrAte test and PH test. some will also include other tests but these are the basic ones needed.
As soon as you have the test kit check the water, initially your aim is to get the ammonia and nitrIte levels below 0.25, do as many water changes as it takes to get it down there. then check daily and if its above 0.25 do a water change to get it down again. when the tests consistently show zero you know your tank is cycled.

Who is the "them" who said the crayfish would be fine? have a look at the second, third, sixth and thirteenth posts on this topic, they all relate to problems with crayfish and fish.
they would probably be fine when young, but get more of a problem when older, thats usually the way with most problem fish etc.

 

[boxerbeth]

It was Maidenhead aquatics who said the crayfish would be ok. He seemed to be fine when he was in there, he didn't seem interested in the other fish.

Just done the water tests, they are:

Ammonia - 8+ (off the scale)
Ph - 7.8
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

What do I do now?

 

[SJ2K]

Ammonia is waaaaay too high, you need to do loads of BIG water changes untill its no higher then 0.25

Crayfish dieing isnt a huge loss, will probably of eaten half your fish anyways

 

[boxerbeth]

Have done a 25% water change (other water in bucket will put it in in a bit), how frequently is it ok to do the change?