Yellowish cloudy tank

[tothna]

I've had my 55gal set up for about a month with 2-6" piranha in it. I recently got rid of the pirahna and got 2 small plecos,a 5" convict, 2 2" cichlids, and two 4" cichlids. These fish were in the tank for about two weeks and now it is getting really cloudy and when I look into the tank from the top it has a browinsh yellowish color to the water. There is play sand in the bottom, a big piece of driftwood, rocks, almost no amonia and a ph of about 8. Does anyone know what might be causing this?
thanks

 

[Oddball]

Is your tap water normally very alkaline? If not, the likely culprit is the sand. A lot of hardware store sand contains clay and/or limestone. These minerals will cause a tank to go alkaline in pH and cloud water. Another possibility is your driftwood. If it's not fully cured, it'll leach sugars and tannins that can discolor water. You can do a quick test on the wood by setting a saucepan of water to boil. Once the water is boiling, dip a part of the wood into the water for about 30 seconds. Then, pour the pan's water into a clear glass and stand the glass in front of a sheet of white paper. If the water has a tint to it, the wood isn't fully cured. Your choice then is to either live with the tint (routine water changes will alleviate a big part of this) until the wood finishes curing in your tank. Or, remove it and find another decoration.
Another possibility is the foods you feed the tank. If you feed primarily frozen bloodworms, the worms will leave a yellow tint in the water. Color enhancing foods can have the same effect.

 

[spryandspringy]

Another possibility is the driftwood. Did you scavenge it yourself? Get it from a LFS? Certianly the former is more risky, but it can start to leach into the water after a while no matter where you get it.

I agree with Oddball, though. The most likely culprit is that sand.

 

[guppy]

If it was just yellow I'd guess uncured wood like madrona, since it is also cloudy and 8ph my guess is the sand, play sand builders sand are bad ideas, gardeners sand is a cheapper substitute fo r aquarium sand and you can get several grades.

 

[rayman45]

dont pee in the tank

if you do and you dont like the yellow
drink more water next time

 

[guppy]

dont pee in the tank

if you do and you dont like the yellow
drink more water next time

unless you keep candiru.

 

[butane216]

stop peeing in it ... too much alcohol wil make you do funny things

 

[fishing4exotics]

Sound like you have to start all over with your tank. Use neutral minerals and African driftwood.

 

[guppy]

Sound like you have to start all over with your tank. Use neutral minerals and African driftwood.

Check as above about the driftwood before stripping your tank, it's cheaper.