Urgent help needed: Algae Bloom with used filter

[daveman12345]

Hi, I had a good set up with crystal clear water and I ended up trading a friend aquarium filters. As soon as I put his in, I noticed my water 10x cloudier than usual. I opened the filter and saw that the algae on the filter was thick--- like a layer of skin almost. So, I used a tooth brush and wiped 95% of it away (theres a small amount that I can't scrape off because my toothbrush can't get in some areas). Anyway, I did that, and also changed 40% of the water in the tank today, yet it's still cloudy.

What options do I have now? Do I do a 25% water change daily until it's cleared up, or am I in trouble and need to do more? Also, each day that I do change the water, should I also add water conditioner to each water change, or is this too much chemicals for the fish in a week?

 

[chesterthehero]

what are yer parameters? (ammonia, nitrAte, nitrIte)
always use dechlorinator/conditioner when adding water.. dose like the bottle tells you to..

how long did the filter media "sit" before it had water flowing through it again? and how different is your bioload compared to his?

 

[daveman12345]

I haven't had a chance to check and won't have time until tomorrow evening. Usually the nitrates/ammonia levels were at 0 when I did 25% weekly water changes... things are not looking good right now though =/. What is the general cause of this and normally do you do water changes at a certain interval when it happens?

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

Normally you get cloudy water when there is a lack of maintenance to the tank. Not doing enough water changes for the bio load. Or the tank is cycling thru the nitrogen cycle. And high ammonia is usually present when the water has a whitish cloud look. IF you are not adding dechlorinater to the tank when you do wc's and you have done alot of them or a big one then you may have killed some of your bio-bacteria. That is why there is chlorine in the water in the first place to keep any bacteria from forming that might make us sick. The chemicals that get rid of this do not effect fish when used for there purpose.