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Cloudy tank

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Cloudy tank Empty Cloudy tank

Post by LynM Sat Aug 29, 2015 11:40 am

Help!

I have set up a new/old 65 gallon freshwater tank. I bought it used and well cycled. I used all the old material and as much of the water I could transport. It has been running in my place now for just over a month.

I can't clear the cloudy water. I tried excel since every now and again I think it looks a bit green. I did a big water change (40%), I added some cycle, I added some 'Algone' to the filter. Nothing seems to work. It has been cloudy since August 14, sometimes a bit better, sometimes worse. I can see the fish and plants and the back wall. My other tank, a 30 gallon, is crystal clear, and I care for them both in the same way.

I am on a clean well so I don't use any chemicals when adding water. I filter it with the largest Sicce whale canister. I have a variety of community fish and lots of live plants. The light is new, a Finnex LED, and before that I used a Marineland LED and a florescent full spectrum and they are on for 12 hours daily. I have CO2 running from a pressurized tank. I watch the water parameters regularly. Today they are Ph 6.8, no ammonia or nitrites, nitrates at 5. The fish are healthy and not stressed and the plants are growing like mad.

The plan of the day is to stop feeding daily, and then only every other day and sparingly. Does anyone have any other ideas?

Cloudy tank P1160610


Last edited by LynM on Sat Aug 29, 2015 11:54 am; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Add photos)

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Post by alexmtl Sat Aug 29, 2015 12:21 pm

LynM wrote:Help!

I have set up a new/old 65 gallon freshwater tank. I bought it used and well cycled. I used all the old material and as much of the water I could transport. It has been running in my place now for just over a month.

It has been cloudy since August 14, sometimes a bit better, sometimes worse.

The plan of the day is to stop feeding daily, and then only every other day and sparingly. Does anyone have any other ideas?

Hi @LynM

I think you have identified the problem, as it looks like nitrogen cycling issues. Water changes and feeding sparingly is the best remedy until the cycling completes, which for a 65g could take another month. The other issue is algae green water bloom, due to nitrogen. Again the remedy is water changes until the nitrogen cycling completes.
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Post by LynM Sat Aug 29, 2015 1:04 pm

I appreciate your help Wink It just seems odd to me that my 30 gallon, which basically started out clean and stripped of any bacteria, although I seeded it from the other tank, is crystal clear. It's about 10 days behind the 65.

Do you think I should be adding commercial bacteria then, like cycle? Should I cut down on the time the light is on?

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Post by CAAIndie Sat Aug 29, 2015 5:16 pm

I'm not a big fan of the bottled cycle stuff. I would just focus on the water changes.

As for the new lights, I would personally cut them down time wise. 12 hours is pretty long. I might cut down to 6 hours or 8 hours. Something I have tried and found to be helpful is  also broken light periods. The plants seem to handle well it well, while some algae prefer longer periods of light. So I have a timer that turns my lights on for a period of time and then switches off and on throughout the day. Smile It is sometimes called the Siesta method, and it seems to help my aquarium.
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Post by LynM Sat Aug 29, 2015 7:01 pm

Thanks so much. OK then. Did a 50% water change, put lights on a 'siesta' with on at 9am, off at 12, on again at 3 and off at 9pm for a total on time of 8 hours. I will keep you informed.

I am very thankful there are people to ask, and thanks to you two for responding. Hopefully I can help someone who asks.

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Post by CAAIndie Sun Aug 30, 2015 2:12 pm

Definitely keep us updated. When I upgraded my lights from the stock setup that came from my tank to the Finnex Planted+, I definitely needing to cut back my lighting too, elsewise I was dealing with lot of algae build up too. The other theory behind the "siesta" method is that it lowers the depletion of the CO2 during the day (as CO2, can be quite inhibitory to certain algaes). If you keep the water changes up, and play around with the lighting until you find a sweet spot, you should be good. If you find that it isn't improving with the reduction in light to 8 hours, then you can try 6. It's all a fine balance, and each tank is different. Smile
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Post by LynM Tue Sep 01, 2015 3:21 pm

Wow! What a difference. This is how the tank looks today, after only 3 days. Thanks! Laughing
Cloudy tank <a href=Cloudy tank P1160611" />

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Post by CAAIndie Tue Sep 01, 2015 3:27 pm

LynM wrote:Wow! What a difference. This is how the tank looks today, after only 3 days. Thanks!  Laughing
Cloudy tank <a href=Cloudy tank P1160611" />

Fantastic news! Glad it's much better for you.
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Post by alexmtl Tue Sep 01, 2015 3:37 pm

Looks like its on the way, very nice Very Happy
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