Cloudy Water, Yes i kno, AGAIN

[bwid713]

Well i have a small issue, I have a 29 gal tank thats water has been cloudy for about a week now. Normally weekly 30ish % water changes with gravel vac of 50ish % of the bottom. This week(monday) i did 50% w/c due to the cloudy water, and the same 50% gravel vac. But still cloudy. I added Api Accu- clear yesterday and today, not help. Also did a 10% w/c(jsut water) today.

The issue is im leavin town for 10 days on saturday morning, and leavein the tank in the Hands of a 12 y/o girl, I know scary, but shes been helpin take care of the take since i put it up 6 months ago. I prerationed the food for daily servings and shes only feedin each tank every other day.

Any thing else i should try before i leave so im not worried abotu it my whole trip, and so i dnt scare a 12y/o away from the hobby, because sumthin happened while it was in her care?

Water Params:
Temp: 82-86 deg.F depending on time of day
Ammonia 0
nitrite >.25
nitrate 5
Ph 7.4
tested with APi liquid test kit, only 2 months old.

Filter set up is:
AC 50 power filter
UGF powered by 2 AC20 power heads,
And an extra Bio bag out of an old AC50 sittin in a corner.

Lights timered to 12 hours a day, very little if any out side light.

Stocklist is
8 Kribs all under 3 inches
2 Gold Rams
1 Angel fish 2.5"(grow out)
1 4 inch fire eel(grow out)
2 3" sengel Bichirs(grow out)
1 2" spotted raphy cat (grow out)http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=159665&highlight=seng
nothing new in the last 3 weeks.

Sorry for the long post, but i know what all the normal questions will be so i tried to answer them all.

 

[bigspizz]

I would tell her to only feed the tank one or two times...When is the last time you serviced the silt under you ugf? What is your substrate? Can we have pics? What color is the cloud. sounds a bit over stocked, even though the fish are small...It causes you to have to over feed. And by over feed, I mean to much food for 29 gallons of water and your bio capacity...Maybe you are not feeding the fish too much per-say, but like I said, too many nutrients for your filters to handle...And I think 12 hours of light could be a contributer depending on what kind or light bulb you have running...



The presence of nitrite tells me the tank is cycling.....Do not feed much and keep the nitrates where they are, if you can.

 

[Mziskin]

let it keep on cyclin

 

[bwid713]

I would tell her to only feed the tank one or two times...When is the last time you serviced the silt under you ugf? Every other month i reverse the flow of the power heads during gravel vacs, but 3 months or so ago i pulled the UGF, and changed the subsrate. What is your substrate? Small and medium "natural look" gravel Can we have pics? Camera suxs, they wouldnt be of any helpWhat color is the cloud. Its whitish, looks like its hazey sounds a bit over stocked, i know, wating for then to be able to handle them selfs with the Hujeta, and the albino sen, in the 54 even though the fish are small...It causes you to have to over feed. And by over feed, I mean to much food for 29 gallons of water and your bio capacity...Maybe you are not feeding the fish too much per-say, but like I said, too many nutrients for your filters to handle even feeding them only every other day, besides spot feeding the bichirs freeze dried krill and removing excese?...And I think 12 hours of light could be a contributer depending on what kind or light bulb you have running...The bulb is a coralife 50/50(6000k/ Atinic blue) it doesnt say how many watts



The presence of nitrite tells me the tank is cycling.....Do not feed much and keep the nitrates where they are if you can. the tanks been up and running for 6 months, tested weekly, besdies the first 3 weeks this is the first time ive seen nitrites.

Answers in red above

 

[bigspizz]

Tanks can cycle constantly, randomly, seldomly....Re cycles are common...Your bulb sounds good, light is still on too long. And your feeding sounds fine as well. The tank is cycling. You are a bit over stocked. Starve the tank during your vacation. Feed only one or two times...I wish you could be there too change the water when the nitrite turns to nitrate (the only way to remove nitrates, is with water changes) Can she change water and add prime? I would be a bit weary....I am just trying to give you honest real advise and no bs...good luck.

 

[bwid713]

Tanks can cycle constantly, randomly, seldomly....Re cycles are common...Your bulb sounds good, light is still on too long. And your feeding sounds fine as well. The tank is cycling. You are a bit over stocked. Starve the tank during your vacation. Feed only one or two times...I wish you could be there too change the water when the nitrite turns to nitrate (the only way to remove nitrates, is with water changes) Can she change water and add prime? I would be a bit weary....I am just trying to give you honest real advise and no bs...good luck.

Shes actually standing hear right now and we are going over what to do if she has to do a water change. Im just weary of her having to do the water tests. Yes i know nitrates can only be removed with W/C, im not that much of a noob, been in the hobby for 13+ years. But you dont know that so thank you, i dont use prime i use stress coat +(because i cant find it around me), and she knows how to use it and how much and all that.

 

[bigspizz]

Stress coat is good in moderation...it alone could be causing the cloud. Prime can be found a ANY pet store. Stress coat also causes the bubbles you probably see on the top of your water.

 

[bwid713]

Stress coat is good in moderation...it alone could be causing the cloud. Prime can be found a ANY pet store. Stress coat also causes the bubbles you probably see on the top of your water.

I dont have a problem with bubbles, the stores around me dont carry prime, well he ones i go to, i refuse to go to petsmart/petco, personal reasons im not goin into, and i refuse to help there business any, ive been using this type of stress coat for 2+ years and havent had this problem like this before, every other time ive figured out what it issue is. But why would only 1 of 3 tanks be cloudy like this? i pretreat the water before adding it to the tanks, and only does whats need for what i need to fill, so im not dosing the whole tank every time.

I think im goin to try a large water change in my larger tank, moving the water from the larger one to this one(say 15 gallons, 50 % of this one). that would keep me from having to add more chemicals to this one and the larger ones params are:
Ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates >5
ph 7.4
temp 82-86 depending on time of day
so everythign is a better in the big one?
think this might help?

 

[bwid713]

Well i did 20% (of the little tanks volume)from big tank to little tank, and removed the angel to the big tank, doesnt seemed to have changed anything yet well see how it looks tomorrow and go from there.
More suggestions will be welcomed

 

[JeninOK]

I had a unresolved cloudiness in a 10 gallon for months and nothing would solve it. Finally I added an entire box of purigen to a fine mesh filter bag, it was enough for about 5 times the tank size. It worked within a few days to clear my water.

if you cant find prime locally It would be worth it to order online along with some purigen IMO.