cloudy water

[valjeangotback]

HELP!!!!

My 10g tank has been cloudy for weeks now. The tank is five months old, and completely cycled, but I continue to have cloudy water. I also keep getting ammonia readings of positive content, though I perform weekly water changes, and use ammo chips. My cichlids are doing fine, but what can I do to get my water as clear as it used to be?

[NatakuTseng]

What do you have in the tank for cichlids? What do you have for filtration? And the tank is not cycled if your getting ammonia readings, I would stop using the ammonia chips, as they can cause false readings. What do you have for lighting, substrate, and decor?

[TKOS]

Yes, the ammo chips or any other ammo lock type product turns toxic ammonia into less toxic ammonium. This will give false readings on certain test kits. They are fine to use if there is a problem but not all the time.

Cloudy water is generally the sign of a bacterial bloom and that means things are out of wack in your tank. Daily water changes of 25% would be a good start.

There are very few cichlid that are able to live comfortably in a 10 gallon tank. I assume you mean yellow labs or mixed cichlids? How many do you have. It could be a case of overstocking that is creating too much waste.

One thing you can do is scoop out some cloudy water and hold it against a white paper. If it is at all green in colour then it could be an algae bloom. Otherwise it is bacteria. But both should be able to be solved with a better cleaing and water change regeime.

[valjeangotback]

Thanks for your quick responses, guys.

Well, my tank is one of those kit setups, so it has a small external filter that hangs on the side, and as far as lighting goes, nothing fancy, just what came with the kit, though the light is on a timer.
I use large, quartz rocks for decore and caves, my gravel is white, store bought tank substrate. I have had the same decorations since I got the tank, andt they have never been the cause of cloudy water, as the tank used to be clear. I have two small yellow labs, so they're doin fine; I do keep my ph up. I've used ammochips before to help control ammonia, and they worked, but they don't seem to be working this time.
Thanks for your help. Any more info would be greatly appreciated.

[NatakuTseng]

Your going to need a larger tank for those labs eventually. As to the ammo chips, you shouldn't need to use them at all. In your gravel there should be an established bacterial colony which will use up ammonia and nitrites. A healthy tank should have readings of 0 at all times for each of those substances. I'd stop using the ammo chips, do a water change, and monitor your water very diligently.

[TKOS]

You say you keep the ph up? Do you use some product to do this?

[valjeangotback]

Yes, I keep my ph up, using Aquarium Pharmecuetical's Ph UP. I have tried the perfect ph powder stuff, but I never can seem to get it just right, so I just use the drops every week, checking the ph regularly before each addition of the drops.

[Tyler718]

Instead of using ph up or some chemical, I use crushed coral in my filter. When you take out the ammo chips, put this in it's place. This will raise your ph for africans. Crushed coral and filter mesh bags can be found at a lfs. It is a lot cheaper than chemicals and IMHO better for the fish.

Hope this helps,
Dave

[valjeangotback]

Thanks for the advice. I'll look into the coral chips as soon as possible!

[Anthony8858]

I'm gonna throw this at you.

I have a 36 gallon tank that's been plagued with cloudy water for almost 5 months. ......Up until about 2 weeks ago, that is.

I added a second filter......still cloudy
All water parameters, OK........still cloudy
Frequent water changes.....still cloudy

I added 5 drops of this stuff called "Accu-clear".....
Cleared my tank in 20 minutes, and it's been clear as clear can be ever since.

***Of course, you need to be 100% certain that everything else in your tank is OK, before using this product**

If you decided to use it, make sure you clean your filter afterwards. Whatever matter it "clumped together for removal", will no doubt be in your filter

[Oakley]

I used a product like that once, it turned the water red for a little bit then all the red formed into particals that fell over everything, had hell of a job vacumning everything up, but i will say the water was crystal clear after.

[Anthony8858]

I'm not seeing any negative side-effects....so far.
I'm in my 3rd week. My water is crystal clean, my filters are running nicely, and my gravel, ornaments, etc....are all clean.