cloudy water -- no ammonia

[notheidi]

Hi. My water's gotten cloudy since I brought home my latest fish, two mickey mouse platys, two cories, and some of you will remember the snail (which I can't find) and the little gray things-- whose name I can't even remember now.

The tank's been well cycled for months. For a long time I had just two sunset platys. Then I introduced these new fish a couple of weeks ago.

The pH is pretty high, 8.4 (I've only tested w/ strips, I don't have a chemical kit yet). I've been trying to bring it down slowly with "pH Down." It doesn't seem to be budging. And there is zero ammonia since my last water change four days ago.

But the water is cloudy. Not as bad as when there's a lot of ammonia, but noticably cloudy. Thoughts? I'd appreciate any helpful comments. I've learned more from this forum than from any books. Thank you!

(BTW it's a 12-gallon acrylic tank, with two sunset and two mickey mouse platys, two tiny corydoras, the gray shrimpy things that I've never seen again, and an ice cream cone of a snail I've never seen again. Fake plants as I was scared to start with fish and plants. 1/2 inch of pea-sized rocks for gravel. The filtration & biowheel are Eclipse equipment.)

(I realize perhaps I should've posted this on the "newbie" board, but I browsed it a bit and it doesn't seem that many folks go there.)

 

[Cichlid Woman]

With water that hard, is it possible the pH Down is causing circulating fragments of mineral deposits, which would look cloudy?

You know, with that size tank you could maybe do the luxury of using bottled water for your water changes. Over not too much time, that would bring your pH down to where you could have lots of different types of fish in there. And plants might work better, too--most don't do so well over a pH of 7.4-7.6 or so. Just a suggestion. I just think it's really limiting for you to have a pH that high, in terms of what fish can handle.

When I tried to lower my pH with a chemical once, I got suspended mineral deposits which not only made my water cloudy, but (since my water was so hard) left a heavy, nasty gray sludge all over my filter. Ugh.

Hope this helps.

-- Pat

 

[Tyler718]

You might want to check to see if there is any phosphates in "ph down". If so then it could be as simple as an algae bloom. I had this same problem about 1 1/2 years ago and this was my problem. You can get rid of it by doing a couple of water changes.

 

[JSchmidt]

Cloudy water in a cycled tank is generally caused by either addition of a substrate with a lot of dust (e.g., crushed coral) or by an imbalance in the normal micoorganisms that live in the tank. (These organisms are NOT those that oxidize ammonia and nitrite, but are other normal flora creatures.) In established tanks, their populations can become unbalanced as one grows out of proportion to others that may feed on it, yielding a bloom that looks cloudy. Sometimes the cause is clear -- a dead and rotting creature pumping nutrients into the water column, the addition of a chemical that increases one population or retards the growth of another -- but sometimes there are not smoking guns. The best solution, besides removing any obviously rotting organic material, is to do nothing. Water changes sometimes help temporarily, but the water generally clouds again rather quickly.

A separate but important issue is your water. A pH of 8.4 is on the high side, but as you are finding out, using pH lowering stuff generally doesn't work too well. How were your fish faring before you added the pH down? If they were doing OK, I wouldn't mess with changing pH. In any case, without knowing the water's hardness (both carbonate hardness or KH and general hardness or GH) you'll have a very difficult time changing pH reliably. Shifting pH is much harder on the fish than a high, stable pH.

Mixing distilled water with tap might help, but I wouldn't do anything until you find out what your water's GH and KH are.

HTH,
Jim

 

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by Tyler718
You might want to check to see if there is any phosphates in "ph down". If so then it could be as simple as an algae bloom....

There ARE phosphates in Ph Down! (not good..)
Water changes, and for me, the ONLY way to get rid of a slight cloudyness in my aquarium water was to buy a Vortex XL diatom filter. All I can say is this filter works, and works real good! (regardless of what others may have to say about diatom filters..) This type of filter only needs to be used ocassionally.. HTH

 

[JSchmidt]

Diatom filters are fine, and rate high on my scale of cool, nifty aquarium gadgets. For 99% of those with cloudy water, though, they are simply not needed. I wouldn't even consider recommending a diatom filter until the person had really exhausted other options (like waiting).

Of course, a diatom filter won't hurt anything... but it generally isn't necessary to clear cloudiness.

Jim

 

[amy]

You've checked the ammonia, but what about the nitites? You could be experiencing a mini-cycle since you've just doubled the bioload.

 

[Wulfy]

Amy, I dont think hes experiencing a mini cycle.
The cloudines you get at the end of a cycle is a bacteria bloom. His tank is cycled hence there is no reason for bac to bloom.

However, it sounds like an algea bloom since
PH Down does have phosphates.

There is another stuff, I think its called ACID BUFFER
that is supposed to lower the PH without the risk
of alge bloom. I am trying it now but I am on the end
of my cycle so I shouldnt really be fluffing with the PH
I dont think.