Water quality

[highwayman]

This is an ongoing problem for me.
I have a freshwater tank (50 gallon) with a mix of tiger tetras, black and white mollies and bottom feeders.

The problem I have is that the water available is fairly high on the ph scale and have the products such as ph balence for the water balance. The PH I keep at 7.0....

What I have is a tank that has turned milky or foggy. I do have an emperor filter in place along with an air pump with air stoned.. I hesitate to satart adding chemicals that may or may not work...

The problem started when I believe I started adding FloraPride from Tetra plant...

Any ideas besides a complete change of water?

 

[cjsrch]

ph balance should work ( white powder stuff right) cuase its a buffer not just a temporay fix. might also wanna try a ro unit .
now why did you add florapride? is it a planted tank if so how many plants what the lighting on it and also throw some carbon in that tank

my old 55 gallon planted tank grew like a weed with nice green plants all i ever used was roottabs very rarly and fed heavily. water was perfect

 

[highwayman]

now why did you add florapride? is it a planted tank if so how many plants what the lighting on it and also throw some carbon in that tank

The reason florapride was tossed in was an attempt to keep it green..

 

[ChrisRD]

I'm going to move this to the freshwater forum for you.

 

[highwayman]

ph balance should work ( white powder stuff right) cuase its a buffer not just a temporay fix. might also wanna try a ro unit .

I am pulling a blank on what a ro unit is...I have been considering going with a diferent filter unit...

 

[Anonymous]

You basically have an algae bloom being fed by the nutrients. Try turning off your lights for a few days and see if it clears up.

A RO unit is a reverse osmosis unit which filters out tap water. to remove things.

From what I understand the tetras do better in softer lower ph water but the mollies do fine at higher ph values.

What I think you should do is just let the plants consume the nutrients until the tank is balanced out. Then see where things are at.

 

[Anonymous]

You basically have an algae bloom being fed by the nutrients. Try turning off your lights for a few days and see if it clears up.

A RO unit is a reverse osmosis unit which filters out tap water. to remove things.

From what I understand the tetras do better in softer lower ph water but the mollies do fine at higher ph values.

What I think you should do is just let the plants consume the nutrients until the tank is balanced out. Then see where things are at.

beaslebob strikes again!!

What I have is a tank that has turned milky or foggy

that is a bacterial bloom, NOT an algae bloom

get a hold of some old grungy filter media from an established tank, and 'shake' it into your tank, grunge and all-leave the lights off for about 48 hrs


your tank should be completely clear in about one week or less (your mileage may vary)

 

[highwayman]

that is a bacterial bloom, NOT an algae bloom

get a hold of some old grungy filter media from an established tank, and 'shake' it into your tank, grunge and all-leave the lights off for about 48 hrs


your tank should be completely clear in about one week or less (your mileage may vary)

This has crossed my mind but had not thought of turning the lights off...It had been a question on what action to take, I don't like to use too many chemicals other then basic chemistry of the tank such as the ph, the tap water here is over the top on my test kit....

From what I understand the tetras do better in softer lower ph water but the mollies do fine at higher ph values.

This would explain why I lost a few of my mollies over the last couple months, the ph I have been keeping at 7.0...

 

[Anonymous]

that is a bacterial bloom, NOT an algae bloom

get a hold of some old grungy filter media from an established tank, and 'shake' it into your tank, grunge and all-leave the lights off for about 48 hrs


your tank should be completely clear in about one week or less (your mileage may vary)

This has crossed my mind but had not thought of turning the lights off...It had been a question on what action to take, I don't like to use too many chemicals other then basic chemistry of the tank such as the ph, the tap water here is over the top on my test kit....

From what I understand the tetras do better in softer lower ph water but the mollies do fine at higher ph values.

This would explain why I lost a few of my mollies over the last couple months, the ph I have been keeping at 7.0...

almost all of the FW fish you will ever keep have a relatively HUGE pH value tolerance range...if your pH is ANYWHERE from 6.8 to 8.0, 99% of anything you'll keep won't die due to pH issues (unless it's a matter of a very sudden and drastic change)

most of your fish are so removed from their original environs that the parameters listed for the source are not longer highly relevant for what you'll be keeping-case in point are commercially raised discus-most breeders grow out the young in alkaline hard water, to 'pre-acclimate' for most hobbyists tank's around the world, as most people have at least moderately hard, slightly high pH water at home


mollies will not die simply because the pH is at 7.0..in fact neutral pH is used as an ideal 'compromise' for community tanks where both egglayers and livebearers (two classically thought of "pH opposed" groups) will be kept together



hth

 

[highwayman]

mollies will not die simply because the pH is at 7.0..in fact neutral pH is used as an ideal 'compromise' for community tanks where both egglayers and livebearers (two classically thought of "pH opposed" groups) will be kept together

Good to hear that, I knew that freshwater fish are less sensitive to imbalences compared to saltwater. For that reason I went with what I did for anything for lower maintenance...

Thanks for the info...

 

[Anonymous]

the reason for the lights off, btw, is due to the nitrifying bacteria being photophobic-they will multiply faster in a dimmer environment



you may, after the bacterial bloom is finished, experience a small algal bloom as well, as the nutrient flood from the dying bacteria is released into the system-either good water changes, or phosphate removal, will do the trick

 

[highwayman]

the reason for the lights off, btw, is due to the nitrifying bacteria being photophobic-they will multiply faster in a dimmer environment



you may, after the bacterial bloom is finished, experience a small algal bloom as well, as the nutrient flood from the dying bacteria is released into the system-either good water changes, or phosphate removal, will do the trick

That I can handle, had been more concerned about the fogginess and knew it was something I did being this is a closed enviroment.
On the water change, if needed, what do recomend on the max amount of water changed at one time? In the past I keep it under 20% and since this is a 50 gal tank that works out to be 10 gal or less...

 

[Anonymous]

On the water change, if needed, what do recomend on the max amount of water changed at one time? In the past I keep it under 20% and since this is a 50 gal tank that works out to be 10 gal or less...

In a dire situation, daily changes of 10% have worked out well for me. Think of it like making more frequent, smaller, less disruptive attacks against the water impurities. I have found that people who do "emergency 50%" water change are inviting trouble in other ways, creating larger chemical spikes/dips and removing larger chunks of established beneficial elements in your water column. Sometimes it may even make a "reboot" to your cycle and you'll have to deal with nitro/ph spikes.

Your plants are more likely hardy, if you have any. This is all for the benefit of critters.

 

[Anonymous]

edit = double post?

 

[Anonymous]

Well, regardless of where the cloudiness is coming from, the solution is the same. kill the lights. And add plant life.

I also reduce feeding.

Lower lighting, reduced feeding has always cleared cloudiness in all my tanks including salt.

the additional plant life with the resumption of lights will help insure the water stays clear.

 

[Anonymous]

everything you need to know about what's effective re: water changes, and WHY, can be found here :

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/t_ ... ll_wc.html

 

[tazdevil]

There is one other possibility everyone missed. If you have a rock (the type escapes me now, its early) that can cause your ph to rise. It wouldn't matter how much you tried to lower it, the rock would counteract all attempts, and would cause cloudy water as well. Now I remember, limestone. If you see small bubbles arising from a rock in the tank, its a possibility. I had this happen in a FW tank, and now matter what I tried, the tank maintained a 8.2ph and just become more cloudy with every ph reducer I added. Then I removed the rock, and the tank cleared, and the ph lowered slowly. I tested the rock with vinegar and sure enough, bubbles (indicating a reaction).

Just another possibility

 

[Anonymous]

There is one other possibility everyone missed. If you have a rock (the type escapes me now, its early) that can cause your ph to rise. It wouldn't matter how much you tried to lower it, the rock would counteract all attempts, and would cause cloudy water as well. Now I remember, limestone. If you see small bubbles arising from a rock in the tank, its a possibility. I had this happen in a FW tank, and now matter what I tried, the tank maintained a 8.2ph and just become more cloudy with every ph reducer I added. Then I removed the rock, and the tank cleared, and the ph lowered slowly. I tested the rock with vinegar and sure enough, bubbles (indicating a reaction).

Just another possibility

Sounds like a limestone rock. Buffering down ph with carbonate/baking soda may have resulted in calcium carbonate precipitate.

To me high ph would be an indicator of some calcium carbonate rocks/decorations in the system someplace. anything added by the water would be filtered out eventually. So to a more constance source would be required for the system to balance out at a higher ph.

 

[highwayman]

I have had the same rocks in the tank for months and monitor the PH on a regular basis, at least weekly, and once set it is stable and does not spike or rise too high.

FYI keeping the lights off for 48 hours plus did help to some degree but went ahead and did a couple major water changes 10 days apart.

The first helped considerably and the jury is still out on the second as it was done last night. The cloudiness was not comming back but there was still a small haze that I am trying to get rid of...

 

[Anonymous]

pH too high? You need to go out and buy an alkalinity (KH) test kit. First, test your tank both pH and alkalinity (KH). Then, test the tap water and compare the two values.

A good tropical fish store should be able to test these values for you, but its a good idea to buy your own test kit if you are having an ongoing problem.

In any given system, the alkalinity should be less than that of the tap water (a few days after a water change...if it is higher, then you know that something in the tank is contributing carbonates (alkalinity) to the water. At that point, you can start to look into your rocks, gravel, etc.