CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

I must be doing something (or everything) wrong. My cloudy water was just starting to clear up. I used Particulate Water Clarifier because I thought it was from the new gravel and rocks I put in the tank.

The tank was looking pretty clear then I did a little housekeeping and washed the fliter cartgidges (the fuzzy ones) in tap water and WHAM cloudy water again. Shouldn't I clean those cartridges? They were pretty dirty and I was affraid they were loosing effeciency. I did not do a thing to the Bio-Wheels, I left them alone.

I am using two Emperor 400 filters. The book says to replace the filter cartridges every two months, I was thinking a good cleaning would extend the life. Am I wrong?

Oh yeah, I added some Proper Ph 7.0 today also because when I tested the water the Ph was 8.4.

Water now - Ammonia .25 ppm / Nitrite 0 ppm / Nitrate 10 ppm / Ph 7.6 / Temp 78 F

Please let me know if I am doing wrong or what I should be doing with the filters.

Indy

I don't run the filters, so I can't help you there. On the ph issue. if you changed ph from 8.4 to 7.6 in one adjustment, that is way too much, that is very hard on the fish. What is your tap water ph?
As for the cloudy water, is it white or green?
Green is algea, white is bacterial, the bacterial cloudness, sometimes stay untill the tank is fully cycled, before it will clear up.
I have noticed some of your post, but , I can't recall how long you cycled the 120 for. Keep in mind it will take a good six to maybe eight weeks to fully cycle. Bio wheels can take up to six months to develope a complete bio bacteria culture. So removing or cleaning the filter cartagies may have caused a spike.The biggest issue I noticed is in the ph levels. A stable ph, even if it is high is better than one that fluctuates. Post back your tap water ph, and we can see what other members have for sugjestions/solutions.

Thanks for replying Fuzzy.

I changed tanks last weekend from a 55 to a 120. I used the gravel, filters (I did not change the bio-wheels, they are about 8 mos old) and much of the water from the 55 on the change. Obviously there is more new water than old and I had to add new gravel.

I just tested the water at the tap and it is 7.8. I checked the tank again and it is now 8.2. I did a 25% water change about an hour ago. Why is the Ph going up when I put it in the tank?

The cloudiness is white.

If the tank is cycling I can wait as long as it does not hurt the fish. When I changed tanks I had not choice but to put the fish in the new tank because I do not have room for multiple tanks.

Is there anything I should be doing now besides waiting?

Let the tap water stand over night, and test it in the morning.
Do you have any decoration ect in the tank, that may not be aqurium safe? Have you ever tested your tap water for KH, carobinte hardness? White cloud is bacterial , and if left alone, it should clear up in a few weeks on its own, as things get restablished. Now when you changed the tank, some of the bacterial culture may have starved to death. You may experence a short term mini cycle, but it should not affect your fish. Keep and eye on the ammo and N02 levels as a safe guard, as well as the ph.

Another thing that may be causing your cloudiness is the use of the pH 7.0 (is it the one by Sea-Chem or Aquarium Pharmaceuticals?). In some water, the 7.0 will cause some of the dissolved minerals to precipitate, causing your water to get cloudy.

9 times out of 10, you dont really even need to change pH or other water conditions. Most fish can handle, and even thrive in, water that is very different than that of their natural habitat. However, exceptions can occur with sensitive fish (such as Rams and Discus (es?) (lol)), or when you wish to attempt to breed a certain type of fish.

In my experience, you shouldn't ever add anything to the water to change perameters. When you add something like a pH buffer, it changes water conditions only temporarily, as you are not taking anything out of the water. Water will revert to what it was most of the time. The exactly wrong thing to do once the water reverts to where it was is to add a bit more of the chemical, which will temporarily fix pH, hardness, etc, but eventually allow it to increase again. After awhile, you will have too many dissolved solids in your tank, which can eventually send your fish into osmotic shock. I did this to a pair of angels once, which are much fragile than what you have in your tanks, but its a lesson to learn none the less. If you want to do anything to water conditions, you have to physically remove stuff from the water. The exception to this is when you wish to add buffers to your water to allow yourself to maintain pH where it is out of the tap.

There are a few ways to do this. The best, and least expensive way is to catch your own rainwater. This is very near pure water, and best of all its free. If you can afford it, an RO/DI filter would be a great choice, but they tend to be expensive. You could also buy RO/DI water from Wal-mart or any other local grocery store. The last choice is to add peat to your filters in the tank. I'm not sure if the peat actually absorbs the buffering capacity and hardness of your tank or if it leaks tannins into the water, but at any rate it softens water and lowers pH.

PH will be low with all of these methods, so you can mix it with tap water to get the pH you need.

If you decide you really do need to change your water conditions, tell us which route you want to go, and we can give you some more advice in the method you decide to use.

Thanks everyone, I feel much better about this now. I think the best plan is to do nothing and let nature do it for me. At least I feel like my fish will be okay, that was the main thing that worried me.

I will be out of town for a week and my son will be feeding my fish. I really don't want him doing any more than that. Maybe things will look better in a week.

Thanks again!

Indy

I'm back and it's worse. Nature did not do anything for me. Before I do a water change I wanted to post here to see if maybe someone has some new suggestion. PLEASE HELP!!!

Ammonia = .25
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 80
Ph = 8.4
Water is tap water and I have a water softener.

Cloudy white, or green?
IF it is white, keep in mind your tank has to fully cycle , before it will disappear. Your reading ammo again, so that leads me to think your bio filter is not 100% yet. As the tank spikes, so to will the cloudness. Keep up the water changes, do a good gravel cleaning to make sure you got all the left over food, and waste.
Be patient, the white cloud is not harmfull, just an estetic issue at the moment. I have had blooms that I could not see the back of the tank, but given time it will clear up.

Cloudy White, and I am sure it is a bacteria bloom.

I have only had the tank set up for 2 weeks, I guess I am being impatient.