My unsolveable problem

[Breezp]

my friend has an 80 gal freshwater tank... with two catfish, one is a good 8in and the other one is about 5". The water was cloudy because someone before me used too much medication in the water. I have done numerous water changes on the tank, including a 80% water change. The filter was replaced with a brand new rena xp3 canister that does up to 125gal. After three weeks the water is still cloudy. Theres minimal gravel... less than an inch, and i have gravel vac'd it too. My question is... what else can i do????

 

[Alfredo De La Fe]

Add some activated carbon, it should clear the water up. But this will only be a temporary fix. Sounds as if there was a bacteria die off and the longterm solution is time.

-Alfred

 

[Psycho graphic]

It sounds like between the meds, massive WC's and replacing the filter, you've lost your biological filter. I think it's a bacteria bloom that is taking it's sweet time to re-establish the bacteria colony. Has anyone tested the water during this whole process?

 

[Breezp]

yea, originally there was sky high nitrates...

 

[scarf_ace1981]

carbon and filter floss(works wonders). i have two xp3s on my 155g. water is very clear.

 

[fritz]

Sounds like just an algae / bacterial bloom, give it time and leave everything alone.

 

[Breezp]

yea, because the tank is in a restaurant in city island.... and hes not a very patient owner.

 

[Craig]

perhaps a diatom filter wold be your quick fix

 

[thepudge]

A firend had a 10 gallon I could not clear up, no matter how much water I changed out.. very weird. However, there are some chemicals that would clear the water up pretty well. Eventually the water cleared up completely. (couple of weeks)

 

[drunktank]

carbon and filter floss(works wonders). i have two xp3s on my 155g. water is very clear.

exactly what i was going to suggest. The filter pad should take out any copper (it will turn a light blue if copper is in ur system)

and i suggest doing water changes, but not so often/so big. let the system re build its bac count

 

[KathyC]

Unfortunately there really isn't a quick fix. If you use the diatom filter it will again turn cloudy as it tries to rebuild it's biological filter. For all intents & purposes - it's a brand new tank...

I would be interested to know the ammonia & nitrite levels to see which way they're going. If the ammonia reading is awful, try and do smaller water changes (which of course will delay the cycling process a bit more, but will keep the fish alive..better yet, if they can be moved to a different tank until this one stabilizes that would be best for them)
With such a small amount of gravel, large water changes & a new filter it is going to take a while to rebuild. The use of any type of clarifiers at this point would be throwing away money and all you're doing is adding more chemicals...always a poor idea.
Do you know anyone with the same type filter that you can scrounge a freshly used filter cartridge from to help seed it faster?
Can't hurt to add a dose of 'Cycle', at most it will help, and there is no downside.

BTW - do you know what medication was used in the tank? Carbon should have been able to remove it & the use of the diatom would have been helpful then, but we're past that point.