So Proud .. Now It Is Going All Wrong Help

[aandltruckingsav]

So I was really proud of my 55 gallon tank.. we showed off to everyone. Last week I noticed the water was getting foggy... so I changed the filter, was planning on testing but was out.
Fast foward to Friday cannot see in tank, noticed the water was kinda green, so I took 50 of water out, cleaned tank, added more water. Never became crystal clear again, now it is murky, greenish again.

To make it worse I am losing fish, I am super upset.. My black and white mollies are dead, two out of three of my cat fish are dead also. Also my red tail shark.

OK my plan is to completely empty the tank, clean it, and everything in it.

Now any suggestions? I am open...
Any questions I can answer... Only thing.... I am not home so I cannot take a picture.

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I am using LED light inside tank, and a black light on top.

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[fluttermoth]

When you say, "changed the filter", what exactly did you do?
 
Have you tested the water yet and, if so, what were the results?

 

[Chad]

How long ago did you set the tank up?

 

[aandltruckingsav]

Tank is almost 3 months old

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When you say, "changed the filter", what exactly did you do?
 
Have you tested the water yet and, if so, what were the results?

My water filter went to store took old ones out ( there are two) put the two new ones in.


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Tank is almost 3 months old

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When you say, "changed the filter", what exactly did you do?
 
Have you tested the water yet and, if so, what were the results?

My water filter went to store took old ones out ( there are two) put the two new ones in.


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Have not tested water yet.. will do it when I get home.

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[Chad]

Cloudy water is generally caused by a bloom in bacteria. Which isn't a bad thing. Given time it generally subsides in a few weeks. During that time increasing the frequency of water changes is recommended. 
 
When you change filters you run the risk of removing beneficial bacteria so just make sure the part you change out is just the particulate filter and not the sponge/biological media. 
 
Fish deaths are often a result of increased ammonia/nitrite which can be brought on by a lack of biological filtration. 
 
Can you post photos for us to see?

 

[aandltruckingsav]

Cloudy water is generally caused by a bloom in bacteria. Which isn't a bad thing. Given time it generally subsides in a few weeks. During that time increasing the frequency of water changes is recommended. 
 
When you change filters you run the risk of removing beneficial bacteria so just make sure the part you change out is just the particulate filter and not the sponge/biological media. 
 
Fish deaths are often a result of increased ammonia/nitrite which can be brought on by a lack of biological filtration. 
 
Can you post photos for us to see?

Will post a picture when I get home.. normally I work from home..today had to go in the office.
Hubby says you cannot see in the tank at all.

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[Chad]

Okay. I subscribed to this thread so it will notify me when you update it with the photo. 

 

[aandltruckingsav]

OK this is the tank, one of my black mollies are dead now.
Sigh

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OK this is the tank, one of my black mollies are dead now.
Sigh

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This was after a 50 water change Saturday. It has a green tint to it.

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[StevenF]

How often were your water changes and typically how much water did you replace?  How did you prepare the tank before adding the fish.  Did you use ammonia?

 

[aandltruckingsav]

How often were your water changes and typically how much water did you replace?  How did you prepare the tank before adding the fish.  Did you use ammonia?

About 25% about every other week. The tank ran for almost three weeks before we added fish. I did use a start up kit of chemicals to be added to tank. Every few weeks

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[Chad]

Just based on the looks of it this is likely a bloom of bacteria. This can happen when there is a spike in the nutrients they like. Depending on the type of bacteria it could be ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate which are the common food sources. 
The spike can come from extra food, or extra fish, or it can come from the bacteria that already existed dying. When they die not only do they emit these nutrients but they aren't around to consume them anymore so they grow. Other bacteria move in and go nuts. 
 
If it's from ammonia, which is likely, you have to manage the water carefully to keep the fish alive. Ammonia will kill them. Until the tank evens out enough to properly process the nutrients itself you have do it for the tank through water changes. It would seem like having more bacteria would instantly take care of the problem but the thing with blooms is that they come with die-off as well so the bacteria that die put it back into the water. Eventually this all comes to a balance and things work out. 
 
My recommendation is smaller daily water changes with water that has been dechlorinated. Doing larger changes, in my experience, can prolong the problem, but doing smaller ones more frequently seems to allow the fish to manage but doesn't seem to make the bloom last longer. This is just my experience, I haven't done any scientific experiments to prove this. But I've done it on several occasions since blooms aren't uncommon. If I have fish in the tank I like to do 1 gallon twice a day. I just use a water pitcher. That makes it so easy. It takes all of 20 seconds. Do this once in the morning and once in the late afternoon or early evening. 

 

[aandltruckingsav]

Thank you I will start today...

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[Chad]

Let us know how it goes. I have a 14 gallon that looks about the same as yours. It's pretty common really. My tank is newer but still the same cause. 

 

[aandltruckingsav]

Not much improvment. But no new fish loss... I see I will have to be patient

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[Ch4rlie]

My recommendation is smaller daily water changes with water that has been dechlorinated. Doing larger changes, in my experience, can prolong the problem, but doing smaller ones more frequently seems to allow the fish to manage but doesn't seem to make the bloom last longer. This is just my experience, I haven't done any scientific experiments to prove this. But I've done it on several occasions since blooms aren't uncommon. If I have fish in the tank I like to do 1 gallon twice a day. I just use a water pitcher. That makes it so easy. It takes all of 20 seconds. Do this once in the morning and once in the late afternoon or early evening. 

 
This is a new theory to me. I have not hard this one before, however the theory is sound and I'd be intersted to see if this works quicker than the normal advice of largish water changes.
 
Personally I have had this happen to me only once and that was when I was setting up a new tank and started the cycling process, basically just left ithe tank alone and after a week or so, the bloom gradually disapeared, of course this was a acceptable way since there was no fish inside the tank at the time.
 
Little and often water changes for a bacterial bloom on a stocked tank, I like it.