I have had my 55 planted going for a couple of years. The first year and a half it was beautiful with no algae and crystal clear water. Starting a few months back i was starting to get algae on the amazon swords and tank decorations. I posted some pics then And was advised to up my dosing schedule of flourish because the plants new leaves were a whitish coloration. And was told that when the growth on the plants started again the algae would die off. i was also advised to lower my lighting schedule from 2 6 hours periods to no more than 10 hours total. So I did all that and i am now dosing twice a week for the whole tank volume plus a little. i replaced both PC bulbs with new 6500k units. The old ones were 6500k as well. i am still on the same schedule for my yeast generated co2 and it is 2 -2 liters going to a power head for diffusion. And I have always mixed up new in one bottled every 2weeks.-----------------------------------------------So now my problem is cloudy water. The water has been cloudy for the last few weeks. The ammonia is zero the nitrites are zero and the nitrates are 20ppm. It is not a white cloudy like a ammonia spike but not a green cloudy like a algae bloom either. I have noticed that the algae is slowly going away. And most of it has turned from beard algae to a reddish brown color. i was on a Water change schedule of 50% once a week. And since the cloudiness has started i have been doing 50% 2-3 times a week with gravel vac's at every WC. After a WC the water looks a little better then 24hrs later its the same. ---------------------------------------If anyone has any advice to help this cloudy water problem it is greatly appreciated Thanks alot
Here is my problem, what can i do to solve it.
- Thread starter hybridtheoryd16
- Start date
It sounds as if you are doing everything right. Do you have access to a diatom filter? It WILL remove the cloudiness to perfection! What kind of filtration is on the tank? Stock level? Temp?
The filtration is a emperor400 and a magnum 350 canister and it has a 400gph power head with a sponge on it. The temp is 80 and the stock is 3 hujeta characins 5-7'' and a sengal bichir at 8'' and a red tail payara at about 6''. Sad thing is the magnum has a polishing filter but i do not have all the parts to run it that way. No on the macro's and i never have. I have had algae blooms on a few tanks and they never acted like this one. All the algae blooms i have had developed into full green water with in a few days. This problem has been going on for a few weeks. Do you think I need a macro. And if so what is a good one.
Maybe to large of water changes you are losing good bacteria.
Try getting a bottle of Bacteria like Bio-Spira type instant tank cycler.
Just a idea, I really don't know, just trying to help
Try getting a bottle of Bacteria like Bio-Spira type instant tank cycler.
Just a idea, I really don't know, just trying to help
hybridtheoryd16;2348451; said:
That depends on which one you're short on. Do a test for K (potassium, should be in the 10-30 ppm range), P (phosphorus/phosphate, should be in the 1-2 ppm range), and water hardness (easiest way to test Ca and Mg levels, GH and KH in the 3-5° or >50ppm range).
Jag1980;2348468; said:
Not likely since most bacteria are attached to surfaces and not free floating in the water column. Plus he's not had an ammonia spike.
Although the water has still never turned green it is in fact a algae bloom. I hooked up a micron polishing filter in the magnum. And after it had ran for 2 days i took the filter out to wash it out and it was green as can be. So now what. i am pretty stumped. I do not have those test kits and i will try to find them this weekend. any further help is greatly appreciated
there really is no need to get all those test kits. but you do need to start a comprehensive dosing regime and stick to it. you should research the EI method (estimative index).
under this method, you generally dose your ferts throughout the week, more than what is needed. then you reset everything at the end of the week with a big water change and start all over again. you will not run into problems with too much fertilization. you start having issues when you dont have enough.
you should look into using bulk dry fertilizers. a complete set will costs you about $25 and will last over a year. and you need to cover ALL the nutrients: nitrates, potassium, and phosphates as well as your trace minerals.
take a look at www.rexgrigg.com best website for no-nonsense info. read the articles on the right...
under this method, you generally dose your ferts throughout the week, more than what is needed. then you reset everything at the end of the week with a big water change and start all over again. you will not run into problems with too much fertilization. you start having issues when you dont have enough.
you should look into using bulk dry fertilizers. a complete set will costs you about $25 and will last over a year. and you need to cover ALL the nutrients: nitrates, potassium, and phosphates as well as your trace minerals.
take a look at www.rexgrigg.com best website for no-nonsense info. read the articles on the right...
Thanks for the info----i kind of new it was and is a fert problem and i am having trouble figuring out why it was good for so long with just the flourish 2x a week and now it is very bad. ----------------------------So i am going to look further into the EI method. My question is is there a place that you recomend to buy these ferts from? i have a hydrophonics store that is right down the street from me would they have these dry ferts. Or can you use ferts for regular household plants like they sell everywhere. You see them for sell like a 20-20-20 fertilizer and so on. i am searching for the easiest way to get the job done if you know what i mean.-------------thanks alot
yeah, there are 3 good websites to purchase these from:
http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizer.html
http://aquariumfertilizer.com/Store.php
http://www.bestaquariumregulator.com/ferts.html
Not sure if a local store would carry these, and youll want to stay away from the stuff at your garden store. they often have a bunch of other stuff in there. the stuff we use for tanks is pure, nothing else added. the combo packs they sell include
- potassium nitrate (for dosing N, nitrogen)
- mono potassium phosphate (for dosing P, phosphorus)
- potassium sulfate (for dosing K, potassium)
and then you have the trace minerals which are dosed with Plantex CSM+B. this is the same as your Flourish youre using. Actually, all of these are exactly the same as the whole Seachem nutrient line. difference is, their stuff is like 90% water, comes in a pretty bottle, and costs 44x as much to dose per week. Rex Grigg did the math on his website to show how much more cost effective dry dosing is.
if youre serious about this, you should start to take a look at the following sites, they have great info:
www.rexgrigg.com
www.plantedtank.net
www.barrreport.com
good luck
http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizer.html
http://aquariumfertilizer.com/Store.php
http://www.bestaquariumregulator.com/ferts.html
Not sure if a local store would carry these, and youll want to stay away from the stuff at your garden store. they often have a bunch of other stuff in there. the stuff we use for tanks is pure, nothing else added. the combo packs they sell include
- potassium nitrate (for dosing N, nitrogen)
- mono potassium phosphate (for dosing P, phosphorus)
- potassium sulfate (for dosing K, potassium)
and then you have the trace minerals which are dosed with Plantex CSM+B. this is the same as your Flourish youre using. Actually, all of these are exactly the same as the whole Seachem nutrient line. difference is, their stuff is like 90% water, comes in a pretty bottle, and costs 44x as much to dose per week. Rex Grigg did the math on his website to show how much more cost effective dry dosing is.
if youre serious about this, you should start to take a look at the following sites, they have great info:
www.rexgrigg.com
www.plantedtank.net
www.barrreport.com
good luck