Cloudy Water

SinaiTSi

SinaiTSi

4G63 DSM Power
Feb 28, 2006
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0
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Tried to do a search, but it wasn't working for me....

Anyways, I've got an Oscar in a 55 gallon tank all by himself. The tank's filtration is a Aquatech power filter rated at 60 gallons. I've been told this will not be enough and was just too lazy to get extra filtration at the time. The water started getting slightly cloudy, so I decided it was time to get added filtration. I ran out to the store and picked up a Penguin Bio-Wheel 350, which is rated at 75 gallons. The water still hasn't seemed to clear up any :mad: What is the reason for this or what can I do to make it clear again?
 
have you checked your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels? these may give you an indication of water quality which i suspect is not good. a mature oscar grows to 13 inches or so and needs at least 75 gallons.

how often do you do water changes? do you vacuum the gravel each time? while good filtration is important, it's not the answer to keeping large fish in too small tanks.

fish maintained in tanks which are too small or in conditions which are too crowded, develop severe stress syndrome. these fish do not exhibit proper color, do not develop proper fin form, do not exhibit proper metabolic development, do not exhibit normal behaviour, do not develop proper musculature, do not develop properly functioning organ systems and as a result, slowly lose their inherant resistance to disease. this results in a significantly shortened lifespan and along the way, lots of diseases for which the poorly conditioned fish is a good target.
 
a lot depends on why the water is cloudy. When the water gets cloudy, for whatever reason, the particles causing the cloudiness are usually too fine for the filter to pick up so you could have way more filtration on there than you have and not change a thing. What color does the water look like? Had you changed anything before the water got cloudy? If the water is green, it is an algae bloom, white could be caused by a bacterial bloom or a few other things. List your tank specifications, temp, etc., and what kind of food you feed how often. Some foods will cloud a tank and as messy as an oscar is, that is definitely a possiblity. Many times, overfeeding is the cause of the bloom. Do you vacuum the gravel? how often do you do water changes?

BTW, most fishkeepers ignore the filter ratings listed on the box. Instead, look at the filtration gallons per hour. The general rule that seems to work best in most applications is to have filtration to run through the tank's volume 10 times per hour. Example: you have a 55 gallon so you want filtration at 550 gallons per hour. The penguin 350 turns over 350 gallons per hour, not sure on the aquatech's rating but it will likely take up the extra 200 gallons per hour. This number is just a rule of thumb that would need to be adjusted up or down depending on tank setup, bio-load and what kinds of fish you have. Being you have a big bulky oscar, he won't be bothered by the added current of a big filtration system and as messy as he is, it will likely help matters. If you had small delicate fish, you wouldn't want to make them fight to stay in the tank so you'd want less obtrusive filtration..

Kyle
 
25% Water changes at least once a week. Water really isn't any weird color really, just cloudy is about as best as I can describe. Temp. is 80 degrees and haven't checked the water conditions real recently, I'll do that. I feed him once a day, floating cichlid sticks and certainly not too much, he definitley eats all of it, if anything I don't feed him enough, but I don't think that's the case. He is strong and healthy with no disease.
 
Trying to stay on topic here, but it has been my experience that the gph as advertised is usually at ideal conditions. To me, meaning an absolutely clean media, not starting to clog up with debri. As it does, flow goes down drastically.

In fact on the majority of filter instructions, in the fine print, you will probably see something along the lines of "flow determined at unobstructed conditions" which in my experience, means no media at all installed. So after you add the floss, the bio media, baskets, strainers, flow control valves, spray bars, carbon, shut off valves or any of the multitude of filter necessities, the flow is never near the ideal, more like 50-60% and then you let it start collecting debri (flow restritions). :thm:

Some even reflect head issues and how that flow is only achievable at 12-15" maximum.

Kind of like the free meal if you buy another one. Cut the gph in half then do the calc for the filtration you need. Works for me.
 
Is the tank fully cycled?
What are your water readings?
IMHO 25% once a week is not enough, I do 30% on my 35gal every 4 days.
 
Zeromason577 said:
Is the tank fully cycled?
What are your water readings?
IMHO 25% once a week is not enough, I do 30% on my 35gal every 4 days.
Click to expand...
Well it is definately enough with most species, but you're right, with an Oscar, you should either step it up to 50% weekly or 25% twice a week.

You really need to check your parameters, and if you can't then just step up your water changes to 25% daily until it clears up.
 
I don't mind doing water changes, but can it be too much of a good thing? I mean, that much water being changed, just kinda seems like it's not good for the fish, always getting water and having to re-adapt. Now I understand everything about how it really does help, and I know and belive it does, but my main question is how much is too much?? (i.e. 95% water change every day seems too much, like it would kill the fish)
 
it has been years since i have personaly kept an oscar but i have kept several bluegill and sunfish and i would think that a 55 gal tank would be fine to support a single oscar, check this out herehttp://www.oscarfish.com/

as for cloudy water I would use the process of elimination, if your:
1) water quality is good (constant ph, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, nitrate under 20
2) your feeding schedule does not leave food behind to feed bacteria in the WC
3) your filter's are adiquate for the tank size
4) you clean the tank at least once a week
5) is the tank close to a window where it gets to much sun? (algea bloom?)
6) is the fish eating like it should and is it healthy?

if everything checks out especily if the fish is healthy, then simpliy filter thge cloudyness out of the water.

I have a simmiler problem with my 40 gal native tank, everything checks out good but there is a slight haze to the water, i have ordered a diatom filter for like $70.00 (after tax and shipping) I plan on trying to run it once a week after my water change to "scrub" the water. after i get it i will PM you and tell u how it works

UNDERSTAND THIS!!!!

something is causing the water to turn cloudy in my tank and in your tank, I don't know what it is. I know that my tank has been stable (well i had a PH drop but i fixed that, i believe it was caused by agressively scrubbing a piece of drift wood and allowing tannins to get into the water) for quite some time and my fish are very healthy so i am going to "treat a symptom" and remove the haze by mechanical means. I would becarefull of adding chemicals to your tank that say they clear the water. Unless I knew how they worked.


my 2 cents
 
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