my poor tank
- Thread starter bethkira2000
- Start date
I suspect your full tank cleaning may have caused a bacterial bloom.
you need to also check your water parameters as this full cleaning can be harmful to the tanks bacteria in the cycle.
in any case the 'white ' water is most likely due to an imbalance in the tank.
can you post the water parameters. Ammonia, Nitrites, nitrates?
btw,, full tank cleanings are rarely done..once established tanks need regular water changes and most of the mulm is handled thru gravel vac's
you need to also check your water parameters as this full cleaning can be harmful to the tanks bacteria in the cycle.
in any case the 'white ' water is most likely due to an imbalance in the tank.
can you post the water parameters. Ammonia, Nitrites, nitrates?
btw,, full tank cleanings are rarely done..once established tanks need regular water changes and most of the mulm is handled thru gravel vac's
the full cleaning has only been done twice. Once when half my fish were dying off due to a parasite infestation, and now. My test kit that I use is dtrips, and the readings are as follows:nitrate 0, nitrite 0,water soft,alkalinity moderate-ideal, ph 7.8. I usually do a 25% water change once a month, and that works for me. But with the total cleaning I am going to wait a while. The fish themselves are fine, but the water is reeally a problem.Oh and my light is the regular flourescent that comes with the tank.
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the dip test strips that you are using are almost notoriously inaccurate. plus, they don't have the most important test that you need - ammonia. ammonia is the first thing produced by the fish and by the decaying plants - the reason you are showing 0 in both nitrates and nitrites is because there are no bacteria present to convert the ammonia into either of those chemicals. if your bacterial colonies were working properly, you would have a nitrate reading.
My test strips happen to be one the best out there. And I have freshwater and high nitrite levels are not good for a tank. My bacteria level is fine we have a bio filter and never changed that. And that is where most of our bacteria is.
soo. . . . what about those ammonia readings?
if your bacteria level was fine, you wouldn't be having a huge problem with cloudy water. and while nitrites (with an I) are not good for the tank, nitrates (with an A) are an indicator of proper bacterial function. no nitrates almost always equals no bacterial cycle. a heavily planted tank can use up nitrates, but your two dying plants are not going to do that.
what kind of biofilter do you have? how long was it dry while you were breaking down the tank? did you clean it? maybe rinse it in tap water?
if your bacteria level was fine, you wouldn't be having a huge problem with cloudy water. and while nitrites (with an I) are not good for the tank, nitrates (with an A) are an indicator of proper bacterial function. no nitrates almost always equals no bacterial cycle. a heavily planted tank can use up nitrates, but your two dying plants are not going to do that.
what kind of biofilter do you have? how long was it dry while you were breaking down the tank? did you clean it? maybe rinse it in tap water?
They might be a good brand, but any test strip is subject to absorbing moisture from the air. So that messes with the chemicals on the strip, making your readings inaccurate.
Ammonia and nitrite are the two things you need to worry about right now.
The cloudiness probably has nothing to do with the plants, but just coincided with the bacterial bloom from you cleaning your tank.
How did you ensure the bacteria did not die on the bio wheel while you cleaned everything? Did you keep it in a bucket of water with aeration? Otherwise it's probably devoid of life.
And it's not just the biowheel that holds good bacteria, by cleaning out all the gravel you probably lost most of it right there.
Get something to measure your ammonia levels. Your 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates probably means that you have an uncycled tank with ammonia>0 readings. Just like what everyone said, you could have "un-cycled" (if there is such a word) your tank by completely breaking it down.
If you happen to have ammonia readings greater than 0, counter it by doing frequent partial water changes. I don't think the plant has anything to do with your cloudy water.
If you happen to have ammonia readings greater than 0, counter it by doing frequent partial water changes. I don't think the plant has anything to do with your cloudy water.
I had a tank do this to me once...was using the same test strips, everyone here convinced me to buy a liquid test kit once I did I found out my nitrates/nitrites, ammonia (not sure now which trates or trites) it's been a while anyway they were way off. I had to do 30-50% water changes every 2-3 days for a while until my levels were all safe after that, I have mantianed about a 30% WC once a week and have not had a problem since.
