I work in a small pet store, and my job is cleaning aquariums in doctors offices, nursing homes, etc. . . and I'm having some problems with one of the tanks. It's a 55 gallon tank with a Whisper EX70 on it. That's one of the new models, with the round-bottomed filter cartridges in it. It's rated for a 70 gallon aquarium. On the other end of the tank is a large air disc with a big pump attached to it- it makes a lot of bubbles, and helps make a lot of current in the tank. There's about 1/2" of gravel in the deepest spots of the tank, maybe 10 fake plants, and several rocks that are piled to make hiding places for the fish. And finally, the stock list is 3 pseudotropheus (orange, yellow & white, not sure if any are pure or mixed), and 3 blue maingano. Previously the tank had a Magnum 350 on it which worked perfectly for more than 10 years. Last summer they started having some problems with the tank. The Magnum wasn't running as powerfully, and was barely moving water. We replaced it with a new magnum, which didn't work very well, and we then replaced that magnum with this Whisper EX70. The Whisper has been on the tank for probably 4 months, maybe 5. I took over this tank about 4 months ago, after the last person cleaning the tank became so frustrated that she gave it up.
Now, on to the problem. The tank is absolutely filthy. The water is perpetually cloudy, there is always algae growing on rocks, and there is always a ton of crud in the bottom of the tank when I clean it. The algae growing is odd; it's that super heavy green slime algae that comes off in chunks, similar to what you see in stagnant pools of water. The tank only gets cleaned once a month, but all of the tanks I do get cleaned once a month, and for the most part it's fine. This tank is without a doubt the dirtiest aquarium I clean, and pretty close to being the dirtiest aquarium I've ever seen. I can't figure out why. The stocking load isn't that heavy; 6 medium-sized cichlids in a 55 gallon tank. The largest one is about 5" and one is only about 3". What could be causing all these problems? For a while we ran two filters on the tank, and even running two filters didn't help.
My thought is that it could be something in the water causing problems. Some type of dissolved organics or something. They have well water, so maybe something changed in the watershed, and that's why they've been having problems for the last year, when they didn't have problems for 10 years before that. Ammonia is 0, Nitrites are 0, and Nitrates tend to hover somewhere between 15 and 20. What else could I test for that could be causing such extreme algae growth, crud in the bottom of the tank, and cloudy water?
thanks for the help!
Now, on to the problem. The tank is absolutely filthy. The water is perpetually cloudy, there is always algae growing on rocks, and there is always a ton of crud in the bottom of the tank when I clean it. The algae growing is odd; it's that super heavy green slime algae that comes off in chunks, similar to what you see in stagnant pools of water. The tank only gets cleaned once a month, but all of the tanks I do get cleaned once a month, and for the most part it's fine. This tank is without a doubt the dirtiest aquarium I clean, and pretty close to being the dirtiest aquarium I've ever seen. I can't figure out why. The stocking load isn't that heavy; 6 medium-sized cichlids in a 55 gallon tank. The largest one is about 5" and one is only about 3". What could be causing all these problems? For a while we ran two filters on the tank, and even running two filters didn't help.
My thought is that it could be something in the water causing problems. Some type of dissolved organics or something. They have well water, so maybe something changed in the watershed, and that's why they've been having problems for the last year, when they didn't have problems for 10 years before that. Ammonia is 0, Nitrites are 0, and Nitrates tend to hover somewhere between 15 and 20. What else could I test for that could be causing such extreme algae growth, crud in the bottom of the tank, and cloudy water?
thanks for the help!
