HELP !! Is gravel making my aquarium constantly dirty

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
First thing to do is determine if that's actually dirt.
-Did the water cloud upon you adding the gravel?
-if it did the gravel either has extremely fine particles or you didn't do a good job of rinsing it before adding it.
-if it didn't then the problem is definitely not the gravel​
-Does the water smell?
-if it does, does it smell like rotting fish food? Or like something rotting period? Or does it smell like algae?
-If it smells like somethings rotting it means your filtration is either lacking or your overfeeding or a combination of the two it's probably a bacterial bloom
-If it smells like algae it means your filtration is either lacking or your overfeeding or a combination of the two and it has caused a free floating algae bloom​

Depending on your answers to the questions above I can give you the appropriate recourse to fix the issue so you and your future Oscar can both enjoy a crystal clear tank.
 
So just completely wash it out and get rid of all the bacteria and restart a totally new cycle ??? And the filters have filter sponge, carbon , and some bio max tube like things in there I think I will do my best to keep the water good and just switch them over to the pool as soon as I possibly can and I think I will just tear down the 180 and restart from scratch all together maybe a couple fx5s and bare bottom and call it a day that sounds like a good plan to me I will just be short on money a little while after but it seems as though that is what I need to do so I will because I am not going to try to keep playing catchup with this bad bacteria doing water changes everyday I'm not going to try and fix it anymore until I move the fish


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that_fish_Guy said:
So just completely wash it out and get rid of all the bacteria and restart a totally new cycle ??? And the filters have filter sponge, carbon , and some bio max tube like things in there I think I will do my best to keep the water good and just switch them over to the pool as soon as I possibly can and I think I will just tear down the 180 and restart from scratch all together maybe a couple fx5s and bare bottom and call it a day that sounds like a good plan to me I will just be short on money a little while after but it seems as though that is what I need to do so I will because I am not going to try to keep playing catchup with this bad bacteria doing water changes everyday I'm not going to try and fix it anymore until I move the fish


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Start one filter at a time so it doesn't send the tank into a crazy mini cycle. Maybe do the fx-5 first since it's the biggest and moves the most water then in 3-5 days do a 110 so on. Maybe do a 75% while you clean the fx-5 so it's clean water


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"cleaning" filters= rinse off excess sludge from everything using chlorine-free water, & maybe put in new polishing pads or whatever there is for last stage, fine filtering media. but depending on the media, sometimes that just gets rinsed hard.
I do this all the time in a couple tanks that have only one filter. Never ever get a crash or mini-cycle.
Maybe you need better last stage polishing, which can be quickly changed out between fuller cleanings.
?

IF I put sand in a tank without rinsing and there is "some" dust, all I do is put some fresh cheap polishing floss in filtration. after running a couple days, Voila! clear.
but I keep my filtration light on sludge. IME, doing otherwise just works against the whole point of running filters.
IF your bio-media is not highly porous, then you have to be more careful & just knock sludge off that. I have one filter system with plastic bio balls.
but I LOVE seachem matrix, it's so thoroughly porous I don't have to be careful at all.
 
that_fish_Guy said:
So just completely wash it out and get rid of all the bacteria and restart a totally new cycle ??? And the filters have filter sponge, carbon , and some bio max tube like things in there I think I will do my best to keep the water good and just switch them over to the pool as soon as I possibly can and I think I will just tear down the 180 and restart from scratch all together maybe a couple fx5s and bare bottom and call it a day that sounds like a good plan to me I will just be short on money a little while after but it seems as though that is what I need to do so I will because I am not going to try to keep playing catchup with this bad bacteria doing water changes everyday I'm not going to try and fix it anymore until I move the fish


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Hello; That all the beneficial bacteria (bb) are only in the fliter media seems to be a commonly held notion that I do not agree with. I strongly suspect that the bb colonize many surfaces thru out a tank. Their may be a concentration in the filter media as that is a place of concentrated flow. The bb should be on the tubes and sides of a filter, on the substrate and most other surfaces, perhaps in lesser concentrations.

Once a tank is established/cycled the bb are tenacious and not so easily rinsed off. I will try to find and post a link which also mentions this. I have rinsed by filter media with a garden hose a multitude of times over decades without crashing the tank cycle. I do take advantage of having two filter media slots and only rinse one at a time. In tanks with only one slot for filter media i run a second air bubbler filter of some sort such as a sponge filter or a UGF. The sponge filters can be burried in the substrate if you do not want to look at them.

After looking at the pictures and learning that the filters go months without cleaning, I suspect a good filter cleaning and a series of gravel vac's will do some good. No real need to start from scratch unless you just want to. Oscars are messy eaters and you will may similar issues in the future if you do not solve the root problems.
Good luck
 
Tank does not look cycled or lacking filtration or both. posting filtration and water schedule change along with water tests from a test kit such as API master fresh water test kit help folks to help you.
 
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