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dinoflagellates??????? what are these?
i doubt its a change in the water as my other 2 tanks are both fine.
if it is a bactarial bloom from the small nitrie spie i detected last week how long would it take to clear once water conditions are back to normal?

im going to try and take a sample of water to the lfs at the weekend and let them get some under the microscope if there is still no improvement.

I'm just going to throw some things out here perhaps something will be helpful.

I wanted to touch on the use of "cycle" or "NIC" while I personally think it's a great product, it has it's limitations on use. Cycle has enzymes in it, not actual live bacteria such as whats found in a product like Bio-spira.

As your nitrates seem to fluctuate with your water changes greatly lets consider these possibilities.

Are you feeding to much? Are the fish eating what you give them? Are you removing what they don't eat? Try feeding a little less over a week or so, see if this helps.

Is your filter box clean, or is there large amounts of debris floating around in there?

Test your straight tap water for nitrates, then add your usual water conditioner and test again for nitrates. It should read 0 if your test is working (aka not too old). If it is still above 0 even when using the normal amount of conditioner per quantity of water perhaps something in your water supply has changed.

How well are you siphoning your substrate, how much, and how often?

While I understand this will not help your underlying nitrate issue, it might help with the cloudiness. Try a polishing filter media, one aimed at removing even the smallest particles from the water.

Could you plants get away with using a little less flourish just to test if this makes a difference? How old is that product your using?

Are you testing your levels after or before each water change?

And finally, are you 100% sure there are no rotting plants (even the roots) and no dead fish pieces some where in your tank?

Last edited by AngelZoo at 05-Dec-2005 12:55

frank, to answer your questions the tank has been running 10 months and is fully stocked (see my profile for list).
plants include 2 very large swords, 2 bunches of cabomba, 1 unknown stem plant, 1 bunch of hownwort, several anubia, crypts and juva fern and moss.

Hi,
Sorry to read of your problem. 70G is alot of tank to
treat with medications and it can be expensive.

"White Cloudy Water" in an established tank is a bacteria
outbreak. In a newly setup tank, it usually indicates that
the substrate was not properly washed and a good filter,
preferably a diatom filter, will clear it up in a few
hours.

Here are a couple of sites that will help you:

[link=http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/waterconditions/a/cloudywater.htm]http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/waterconditions/a/cloudywater.htm" style="COLOR: #FF00FF[/link]

And this one:

[link=http://www.algone.com/cloudywater.htm]http://www.algone.com/cloudywater.htm" style="COLOR: #FF00FF[/link]

From your initial comments, I'm assuming it is a newly
setup tank, with no fish, a few plants, and that your test
kit is also new?

I think those sites will help. Get back to us if following
their advice does not work.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

well, 10 days of cloudyness now and still no sign of improvement.

todays test results:
temp - 27c
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 15
ph - 7.2

i dont have a kit for it but do you think phosphate could be an issue here?

at 10ppm nitrate in a planted tank i fel that if excess nutrients is the problemit should now be under controll, i am just waiting at the moment to see if things improve.
if not im afraid this one has me beat.

I have been advised that 'cycle' may not be all that great. Try another dose, as if you were cycling the tank, maybe try water conditioner at new tank dose. If either of those don't work you may have to find a new baterial starter such as seachem stability or biospira. There are other products out there besides 'cycle' although I have never had any problems with 'cycle' it may because my house is kept cooler than the norm as much as possible. I have heard it may keep better when refrigerated to some extent, especially in the summer. I also have read that philodendron cuttings added to tank can help suck up excess nutrients. If it is excess nutrients causing cloudy water you could try that or willow. See tetratech's log for information about the benefits of willow branches.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

further small water change and gravel vac last night,

todays test results:
temp - 27c
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 10
ph - 7.2

tank still cloudy, hoping for some improvement soon.

i did add some "cycle" to the tank on one of the water changes.
goingto do another water change today, andtry and do a good gravel vac, pretty difficult though because of the planting.

Have you tried sirbooks' original suggestion of adding a bacterial starter? I had a cloudiness that didn't go away with frequent water changes, blackout, etc. for a few months - similar test results to yours in terms of levels of ammonia, nitrite, &amp; nitrate. What finally got rid of it was adding a dose of Seachem Stability. It was clear 3 days later. I suspect it was a bacterial bloom, but still not sure to this day what brought it on.

-P

mymain tank (70g) is cloudy.

the cloudyness is like a white fog. its a semi planted tank and no recent changes to stock or decor.
any ideas?

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 15
ph 7.2

I can't say anything for sure. Just grasping at straws, but do you think there is a possibility that your cloudiness is caused by a bloom of dinoflagellates in your water? They can be common in freshwater, and may have found their way into your tank somehow. It would be great if someone with more knowledge on these things could drop by.

The only other guess I have is that your water provider may have altered the composition of their water. Such incidences have been responsible for problems with other FP members' tanks, so maybe this is the cause of your problem.

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

anyone and advise on this at all?

any ideas?

todays test results:
temp - 27c
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 15
ph - 7.2

Last edited by hembo666 at 29-Nov-2005 15:21

update, tank still cloudy.

todays test results:
temp - 27c
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 20
ph - 7.2

forgot to add, will be doing another water change tomorrow after that nitrate reading.

sorry for the delayed reply, here is an attempt to answer some of your questions and give more information.

cloudyness is white/grey.

DVM i dint post my water temp, but its 27c

stock list is on my profile (70g).

tank has been running 9 months, no recent additions to fish of decor. but lost a couple of flame tetras, 1 body never recovered last week.

completed my weekly water change this morning (40% rarther than the usual 20%).

regular dosage of 5ml flourish (weekly) + 5ml flourish excell (every 2-3 days)

i did detect a small nitrite spike a while back but no ammonia, i guess relating roughly to the time the cloudyness appeared.
the test results shown were from a test 10 mins before i posted.

edit, test results

temp - 27c
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 30???? normally stable, very unexpected rise possibly from the dead fish.
ph - 7.2


Last edited by hembo666 at 26-Nov-2005 12:32

White cloudiness usually indicates a bacterial bloom in the water. Are those test figures recent? If so, then it would be odd to see the bloom happening in water with no ammonia or nitrite. If you aren't overfeeding and don't have any other sources of pollutants, then I can't really say where the bloom came from. Try a water change or two, and if that doesn't work then add a bacterial product (Bio-spira or Stability) and see if that clears up the water.

Last edited by sirbooks at 24-Nov-2005 18:40

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

What color is the "fog"? How long has you tank been up? If it is a new tank it could be the tank cycling. That always seems to make the tank cloudy. If that is the case jsut give it a few days and it will go away. That will also be a good indication on when you get to put fish in it as well, since you can't really put any fish into the tank until it has cycled.

What fish if any do you have, and depending on your stock, your temp might be a little low too.

I think those nirates might be a bit high, you should probably do a water change or two as well. Good Luck


Christina



Last edited by dvmchrissy at 24-Nov-2005 18:28