Karlsbad
11-09-2003, 5:51 PM
Hi,
My tank just finished its fishy cycle maybe a week and a half ago. During the cycle I was doing daily water changes for probably about 6 weeks. I was also vaccuuming up only the visible food and waste on the gravel during that time because I thought doing so would help with the cycle.
I'll post the tank info and test results at the end of this message.
We actually restarted the cycle once because of using Maracyn, during that first cycle we had a hair algae problem that I took care of just by cleaning the glass and decorations and vaccuming most of what came off out of the gravel and netting it out of the water, it was 100% gone. I didn't know that I shouldn't expose my tank to sunlight :rolleyes: , found out the hard way.
So anyway I did a 35% water change yesterday and vacuumed the gravel thoroughly and the water looked clear after the change. I think the tank was exposed to more than usual indirect sunlight yesterday before the water change also. The day before yesterday the tank got like 2 or 3 degrees colder because it got cold overnight and I didn't have the heat on in the house, it went from 79 to 76, I turned the heat in the house on and the tank heater up a tad and its all cool, it was maybe like 10 hours moving down to 76 and back to 79.
At the same time I did the first water change yesterday before the cloudiness appeared I changed the filter cartridge in the Penguin 125, and wiped out the housing and brushed out the intake tube and impeller because I actually changed the cartridge a week and half ago because it needed it ie water was coming out the intake ramp and it didn't go away when I rinsed the cartridge(hmm right when the cycle completed, the bio filter is on the bio wheel though so it shouldnt be a problem changing the cartridge), and when I put in the first new cartridge a week and a half ago a little water was still coming out the intake ramp (less than before changing the cartridge)which it had never done before needing changing, calling marineland they said to clean the impeller and it was breaking in and no problem, lol though the manual says to change the filter if ANY water comes out the intake ramp and I told them that line from the manual and they still said its normal, so I can live with it its only a very small amount.
So this morning when I got up the water looked cloudy and I did a 50% change and it didn't look any better so I did another 50% change like 4 hours later and it still looks the same. What it looks like is basically like there's a lot of air bubbles(they're clear) in the water all throughout the tank(not just by the filter), a lot of it seems to be moving to the surface, but a lot of it seems suspended just floating around in the water. The glass is clean. There's maybe the slightest green tint to the water when you look at it in the dark, but it looks clear colored and cloudy when you look at it in light. There is no visible debris I could net out or anything like that.
I was hoping it was just debris from cleaning the gravel and it would settle, but it doesn't seem likely because it was clear after the water change and I'd expect it to be worse then if it was stuff I stirred up.
The fish seem ok, though the oscar is acting a bit irritable, which he does from time to time, though that may be a sign he's starting to feel uncomfortable also.
Is this another bacteria bloom or free floating algae or something else entirely? It really doesn't seem like debris like I said. I'm starving it for light and I guess I'll do another change in 12-24 hours if it doesn't dissipate. Boy it was so nice not doing water changes everyday after 6 weeks of daily. Should I clean the glass anyway(I don't want to make it worse, but it it needs that....)? Should I do something else?
20 High
penguin 125
200 w. heater
1 - 5" oscar
1 - 5" striped raphael catfish
no plants
0 ammonia
0 nitrites
10 ppm Nitrate
100 ppm Total Hardness
120 ppm Alkalinity
8.2 PH
My tank just finished its fishy cycle maybe a week and a half ago. During the cycle I was doing daily water changes for probably about 6 weeks. I was also vaccuuming up only the visible food and waste on the gravel during that time because I thought doing so would help with the cycle.
I'll post the tank info and test results at the end of this message.
We actually restarted the cycle once because of using Maracyn, during that first cycle we had a hair algae problem that I took care of just by cleaning the glass and decorations and vaccuming most of what came off out of the gravel and netting it out of the water, it was 100% gone. I didn't know that I shouldn't expose my tank to sunlight :rolleyes: , found out the hard way.
So anyway I did a 35% water change yesterday and vacuumed the gravel thoroughly and the water looked clear after the change. I think the tank was exposed to more than usual indirect sunlight yesterday before the water change also. The day before yesterday the tank got like 2 or 3 degrees colder because it got cold overnight and I didn't have the heat on in the house, it went from 79 to 76, I turned the heat in the house on and the tank heater up a tad and its all cool, it was maybe like 10 hours moving down to 76 and back to 79.
At the same time I did the first water change yesterday before the cloudiness appeared I changed the filter cartridge in the Penguin 125, and wiped out the housing and brushed out the intake tube and impeller because I actually changed the cartridge a week and half ago because it needed it ie water was coming out the intake ramp and it didn't go away when I rinsed the cartridge(hmm right when the cycle completed, the bio filter is on the bio wheel though so it shouldnt be a problem changing the cartridge), and when I put in the first new cartridge a week and a half ago a little water was still coming out the intake ramp (less than before changing the cartridge)which it had never done before needing changing, calling marineland they said to clean the impeller and it was breaking in and no problem, lol though the manual says to change the filter if ANY water comes out the intake ramp and I told them that line from the manual and they still said its normal, so I can live with it its only a very small amount.
So this morning when I got up the water looked cloudy and I did a 50% change and it didn't look any better so I did another 50% change like 4 hours later and it still looks the same. What it looks like is basically like there's a lot of air bubbles(they're clear) in the water all throughout the tank(not just by the filter), a lot of it seems to be moving to the surface, but a lot of it seems suspended just floating around in the water. The glass is clean. There's maybe the slightest green tint to the water when you look at it in the dark, but it looks clear colored and cloudy when you look at it in light. There is no visible debris I could net out or anything like that.
I was hoping it was just debris from cleaning the gravel and it would settle, but it doesn't seem likely because it was clear after the water change and I'd expect it to be worse then if it was stuff I stirred up.
The fish seem ok, though the oscar is acting a bit irritable, which he does from time to time, though that may be a sign he's starting to feel uncomfortable also.
Is this another bacteria bloom or free floating algae or something else entirely? It really doesn't seem like debris like I said. I'm starving it for light and I guess I'll do another change in 12-24 hours if it doesn't dissipate. Boy it was so nice not doing water changes everyday after 6 weeks of daily. Should I clean the glass anyway(I don't want to make it worse, but it it needs that....)? Should I do something else?
20 High
penguin 125
200 w. heater
1 - 5" oscar
1 - 5" striped raphael catfish
no plants
0 ammonia
0 nitrites
10 ppm Nitrate
100 ppm Total Hardness
120 ppm Alkalinity
8.2 PH