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We have been having alot of tank issues, we have been treating for excess waste , within 2 days the tank will go a cloudy colour and we have cleaned the tank and keeps getting green and we have to cyle the tank and scrub the tank, tank is about 2 mtres away from the window


i need help

Hi welcome to the site.
Can you give us more info?
What size is the tank?
What fish are in there?
How often is the gravel vac and water changes done?
Do you over feed the fish?
How long has the tank been setup?
Do you know your water parameter such as ammonia, nitrite, nitrate readings?
How long is the light left on for?
How deep is the gravel?

we have been treating for excess waste

How you been adding any chemicals to treat this?
[link=http://within 2 days the tank will go a cloudy colour and we have cleaned the tank and keeps getting green]http://within 2 days the tank will go a cloudy colour and we have cleaned the tank and keeps getting green[/link]
Is the cloudy water green or whitish. Excess nutriets can lead to bacterial blooms that will cloud the water. Also if the tank is not cycle the water will be cloudy.
Has the tank been completely cycle in the past?
........openwater

tanks can go cloudy during the cycle, over-feeding if you are cycling with fish could cause excess bacteria growth, and the excess nutrients along with the proximity to sunlight could get you some algae growth too. I would say give the tank a good vaccume, ignore the entire, "whatever they can eat within 5 minutes" thing, and move the tank away from the window if possible. Algae is something you can live with for the cycle, just clean the glass well and don't bother with too many ornaments just yet.

If you want to realy end this problem fast, and you're willing to work for it a bit, here is what i would do...

drop in some 1 hour clarifier, take your existing sponges out of your filter canister and drop them in some reverse osmosis or dechlorinated water. Grab some polyester wool that is either hypoalergenic or specificaly for aquarium use, put it in the filter (you might need to pin it down with a bag of charcoal or something)and run the thing until your water looks clear. Afterwords vaccume the substrate out VERY well, throw out the polyester, and reduce the ammount of nutrients going into the water.

And one thing i forgot to mention before i edited this post...

once your tank is cycled, get a clean-up crew of fish. Generally I would reccomend going with a bristlenose for algae on the glass, ornaments and substrate if you've got the room in your bioload for them. Otto's and glass shrimp will take care of those things as well, plus doing a good job on plants- this is something a bristlenose won't do so much when it gets to full size. I would reccomend starting with the glass shrimp for plants until your tank is stable, because otto's are sensitive. Cory's and various loach can do a good job cleaning up any other scraps that hit the bottom. Some dwarf cichlids such as rams are also a decent choice for cleaning up the bottom too, but they tend to be a bit more sensitive to conditions. Your group for cleaning doesn't have to be large, for a 30 gallon a couple glass shrimp and a bristlenose will do a wonderfull job. Just be sure to read up on these fish before putting them in a tank.

Last edited by veteric at 11-Jan-2005 17:59