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well my tank is disgustingly dirty. when looking from the front, i cant even see the other side.

first i thought it was my carbon in the filter, got some floss and carbon to put in the empty cart, nothing. then i got some cycle, nothing. then i cleaned the gravel and changed water, nothing.

there is NOTHING else i can think of. ill show pics later. i need some help.

What color is it. You can scoop some water out into a white cup and look. Is it green? If so, then it is green water - an algae bloom.

If it is green water, cut the lights and cover the tank for a few days for starters. Although, you may want to start with some water changes to dilute any nitrites.

More definition is needed.

Oh - and a question: Have you added any kind of new rocks or substrate lately? I had a mess when I purchased some nicely grooved stones the fish store called Pagoda Rocks. They must have had packed clay and it let off this powdery appearance. Only a diatom filter cleaned it for me. Even a week of using a polishing sleeve on a Magnum 250 did nothing.

nope not green, its more of a yellow. i didnt do anything that would cause this to happen, except i got busy with 4 school projects and i couldnt clean it when i was supposed to and put it off for 2 weeks. thats the only thing i remember.

the water is just plain cloudy, maybe a little yellow. no idea whats causing this. maybe i should take out my old filter cartridge (about 6 months old) and just use the empty one that i filled with new carbon and floss.

EDIT: just remembered, the breeder net i have for a few fry have some rotten food stuck between the plastic frame and the netting, maybe thats causing it?

Last edited by Azn_Devil at 20-Jan-2005 15:53

If it is yellow can you tell me if you have any wood in the tank? Seems odd, if not.

Are you using activated carbon? If not, try some to see if it will filter out the color.

It sounds like you have a bacteria bloom. Do a 50% water change and clean the gravel of your tank. If you can, you should vacuum your gravel during the water change. Hold done your feedings over the next week and do daily water changes of 25%. You want to remove as much food source as possible and reduce the bacteria.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Agreed, if it is milky white. For some reason, I thought this cloud had color

Please check ammonia now, even if it should clear.

When doing larger water changes, please note the temp of the tank. If you strive to keep the overall tank temp within 1-1.5F of that temp, your fish will happily avoid temp shock, and ultimately a bout of ich, should it be several degrees lower.

ive had bacterial blooms before (when i cleaned filter stuff completely and had 20fry at the same time) but they usually went away after a week with out any help.

but ill try ur suggestions, starting over the weekend. thank you

just to say, but you should be changing your filter cartridges about once a month, maby a little more, maby a little less.

But def. not every 6 months.

That is probably why it happened. - instead of cleaning the tank, it just overflowed the dirt right back into your tank.

Last edited by victimizati0n at 21-Jan-2005 04:37

Can you clarify the comment, AZN, on the filter pad? Are you simply rinsing and reusing so you don't lose bio-filtration? I know some of the older style Whisper filters had only one pad that encompassed the floss & carbon. When replaced, it wasn't uncommon to see a mini-cycle because you lost the main source of biological filtration. I had emailed Whisper and told them I switched to biowheels because I had no way of maintaining a "main" colony of bacteria during filter pad changes and that they needed to be separate. I don't know if they were developing it or not at the time, but they have since come out with a separate foam and grate so you have biofiltration above and beyond what is on the filter pad.

If you have one of these older style filters, consider buying a new one with the added foam. Then, you can just replace your media monthly as you should.

Activated carbon will release the junk it eliminated after so much time, so you are further ahead not using activated carbon in such a case.

hmm. well i have an emperor filter, the pads are pretty expensive and on all other filters i have had so far, i was able to use the filter up to 8months before noticeable problems. i guess i better remove the old cart and just use the new one that i filled up with floss and carbon.

Read Marineland's recommendation, which is, I believe, one month for the cartridge. If you would like mechanical filtration, less the old activated carbon (which can discharge the old stuff it filters out), is to cut out the carbon and rinse the thing monthly or whenever it dirties. However, I find the activated carbon keeps it cleaner looking that just simple mechanical filtration.

Have you considered getting them from an online source? I find they are much cheaper and I don't pay taxes. The shipping is usually negligable, especially if other things are being stocked. I save alot of money getting stuff online. Compare to what you pay in the store.

I'm sure every 6 weeks wouldn't hurt anything, but 8 months with the old carbon is bad.

Two places I use frequently are:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com

http://www.thatpetplace.com



Last edited by Cory_Di at 21-Jan-2005 18:39

ok im back, couldnt do ne thing to fishie tanks. mid term week was just ended a few days ago. im getting a python tomorrow since the store price is pretty much the same as the online prices and i really cannot wait for it. im going to clean all of my ornaments, 50% water change, and clean the filter completely. i found a few feathers floating around in the filter intake.. that might have caused the white water.

the python will help me keep up with the fishtank maintenance becaus ei wont have to use as much time which might interfere with school work.

feathers?

Yea same here.........FEATHERS?????????
Why would there be feathers in your tank?

Feathers? (Third time's a charm)

Mmm, chicken.

Naw, seriously. If it's a bacteria bloom, water change and wait things out. Otherwise, the clean filter pads will help. And by cleaning the filter pads, we DON'T mean running it under tap water -- the chlorine in tap water will kill the bacteria. If you have no biowheel, foam tray, etc, you'll have to rinse it in tank water coming from your siphon.