I cant keep my water clean, and its driving me crazy.

[ChannelCat]

I have a 50 gallon tank with two oscars in it and some river rocks on the bottom. No plants no wood, nothing. Before the oscars I had a 13 inch catfish and the water was fine. The two oscars make a huge mess apparently. I have a AQ 110 on the tank and I figured that would be enough. I do 20% water changes once a week. and the water stays brown and cloudy.

Last night I added a little Bio-filter 20 or whatever it is for a 20 gal., but its just an old one of mine, but its and extra filter at least. It has'nt made much difference. What else can i do? The bio-tube pieces on the AQ is covered in brown stuff. Every time I clean my filter its back to nasty in a few days.

 

[jcardona1]

ditch the river rocks. they make a hugggggge mess. i could never keep my water clear with that. too much crap gets trapped in there. sand is so much cleaner

 

[SkiPro]

what do you mean clean your filter?

 

[Sab_Fan]

you didn't say what size the Oscars are, but let's just say that 2 adult Oscars in a 50G would be tight, probably pushing it to the limit . . . still, you should be able to keep the water clear with good filtration (another filter wouldn't hurt, either)

are you maybe over-feeding?

 

[Angler]

If the water is cloudy, there is a good chance that you don't have enough beneficial bacteria to support the fish.

 

[tcarswell]

Feed less. Change more water are the only suggestions I got for you with the info you gave.

 

[ChannelCat]

ok, they are about 7 months old. both about 4 inches long. I am not overfeeding. If anything I dont feed enough.

If sand is the answer, How do I clean it, and will it hurt my filter when they stir it up?

Enough bacteria? How could I create more beneficial bacteria than the bio-media in the filter?

SkiPro: Im talking about when I pull the foam out and clean it.

 

[syndicate]

Buy a decent cannister and fill it with a good quality media also a 7 month old Oscar should be 7+ inchs

 

[ChannelCat]

Buy a decent cannister and fill it with a good quality media also a 7 month old Oscar should be 7+ inchs

orly? I guess I am underfeeding then.

 

[syndicate]

Also when isay good quality media something like ehiem or seachem matrix will help slot when they get bigger