Cloudy Water

[Haligren]

So my fish seem fine (I have a pleco, a white ryukin, and a black moor), but my water is really cloudy. It's been like this for weeks now. They all eat normally and swim around fine, but when they're in the back of the tank I can hardly see them.

I have changed the filter, given the water two water changes (one once a week so far), used Accu-Clear stuff, but nothing seems to work. It's getting really frustrating. The water doesn't have much of an odor and my fish aren't coming up to gulp extra air all the time, so I know the water quality isn't that bad. If it were an ammonia spike, wouldn't my fish be sick/dead by now?

Please help, I want clear water again.

 

[ElapidSVT]

it's not ammonia.
most likely a problem with too much phosphate/overfeeding
try feeding only what the fish will consume completely in 5 minutes and feed 2x a day. water changes can help and turning off the lights for a couple days may help.

i'd add one of those phosphate absorbing sponges to the filtration system.
gl!

 

[Haligren]

it's not ammonia.
most likely a problem with too much phosphate/overfeeding
try feeding only what the fish will consume completely in 5 minutes and feed 2x a day. water changes can help and turning off the lights for a couple days may help.

i'd add one of those phosphate absorbing sponges to the filtration system.
gl!

I only feed them once every other day. I was told that they don't really need to eat everyday and the more you feed them the faster they will grow. I only put a pinch in which seems to satisfy them for about five minutes. lol I watch them eat. I also give them occasional treats like peas and algae wafers - which are more for the pleco but the goldfish like them too.

I'll get one of the sponges next time I'm at the store. Thank you.

 

[cwazy]

does your tank get sunlight? the sunlight will fog up a tank like you wouldnt beleive... over feeding maybe an issue too... IMO i would feed daily though.... what size tank do you have them in? does your filther tube reach the bottom of the tank? like touching the rocks? you want it too because this is where all the bad things go like amonia and nitraits settle.... you shouldnt change your filther much at all... once a year if that, your filther adds up GOOD bacteria wich is very bennificial to your tank, everytime you change your filthers its like cycleing your tank all over again... you could always bring in a water sample to your LPS, most will test your water for free and let you know whats up if anything is with it...

on the other note, peas for plecos? how does he like them? ive never herd of it... we give ours cucumber slices or zuchini slices or the occassional squash slice... they love that, but dont let it stay in the water for tooooo long... that will also fog up your tank...

best of luck, hope i was at least a lil helpful

 

[RampantReptiles]

Cloudiness can be from a number of reasons
1. new tank syndrome. Ammonia spikes occur in new tanks because there arent enough beneficial bacteria to break down ammonia. probably not the problem in your tank...
2. nitrates are too high. Goldfish are super messy fish, as are plecos. If the nitrates have risen slowly overtime the fish may be used to it but it may be the cause of your cloudiness. Get your water tested at your LPS. Stick tests are crap so if you can find a store that has or uses liquid tests you would be much better off. You want pH = around 7, Ammonia = 0, Nitrites = 0, Nitrates = less than 25
3. bad bacteria bloom, usually linked with high nitrates so water test. use a bio-clearing product and replace carbon filter often (weekly?), along with regular water changes.

Your beneficial bacteria lives mainly in the filter pads and your gravel. I suggest doing a 25-50% water change once a week (depending on size tank and stocking amount). Also gravel vacuum the tank one week and then rinse/change the filter pads the next, but when doing the water change stay away from the gravel on your filter week.
Depending on your filter you should rinse anything that isnt a carbon filter such as filter sponges. Replace the carbon every 2-4 weeks. After a couple weeks the carbon gets used up and basically turns into a biological filter, meaning only beneficial bacteria is living there. Beneficial bacteria is good but if you want carbon for clarifying the water then you would need to replace it.

Peas are fantastic for goldfish. Helps with swimbladder problems and is definitely a preventative. Plecos love everything that is vegetable matter so peas are great for them too. People usually feed cucumber and zucchini because its easier for the pleco to stick onto a slice of that. Not sure if either is more nutritious than the other. Take out any uneaten food after 1 day, any longer than that and it can get disgusting.

Feeding fish everyother day is good. They dont really need food daily, but daily is fine too. You should be feeding as much as they can eat in 30 seconds. 5 minutes is waaaaayy too long. You have to keep in mind on average that your fishes stomach is about the size of its eyeball. If your feeding peas or algae wafers then that will obviously take a while to eat because they are kind of tough. As for flakes/pellets that should only take 30 seconds to eat.
I would recommend daily feeding for small fish like neon tetras. Twice daily feeding for some salter water fish and/or finicky eaters.

Phosphates could be an issue but I usually link that with algae problems or algae blooms. Would be beneficial to test phosphates in your tank and tap water. Phosphates do come from decaying food matter but usually its the nitrates that are the problem in freshwater tanks.

Wow sorry for the really long post. As you can see I am very passionate about fish. I work at a privately owned fish/pet store as one of the senior members. I maintain/do water changes on 6 planted freshwater tanks, 4 saltwater tanks, and the two saltwater systems. I also own 2 freshwater tanks and a saltwater tank at home.

Good luck with everything!

 

[Haligren]

does your tank get sunlight? the sunlight will fog up a tank like you wouldnt beleive... over feeding maybe an issue too... IMO i would feed daily though.... what size tank do you have them in? does your filther tube reach the bottom of the tank? like touching the rocks? you want it too because this is where all the bad things go like amonia and nitraits settle.... you shouldnt change your filther much at all... once a year if that, your filther adds up GOOD bacteria wich is very bennificial to your tank, everytime you change your filthers its like cycleing your tank all over again... you could always bring in a water sample to your LPS, most will test your water for free and let you know whats up if anything is with it...

on the other note, peas for plecos? how does he like them? ive never herd of it... we give ours cucumber slices or zuchini slices or the occassional squash slice... they love that, but dont let it stay in the water for tooooo long... that will also fog up your tank...

best of luck, hope i was at least a lil helpful

I just meant the algae wafers were for the pleco although I do see him trying to eat the peas sometimes. lol And I live in a basement so my tank sees very little sunlight unless it's shining down the basement stairs from the kitchen. I never thought of giving my pleco slices of veggies, I'll definitely give that a try.

Cloudiness can be from a number of reasons
1. new tank syndrome. Ammonia spikes occur in new tanks because there arent enough beneficial bacteria to break down ammonia. probably not the problem in your tank...
2. nitrates are too high. Goldfish are super messy fish, as are plecos. If the nitrates have risen slowly overtime the fish may be used to it but it may be the cause of your cloudiness. Get your water tested at your LPS. Stick tests are crap so if you can find a store that has or uses liquid tests you would be much better off. You want pH = around 7, Ammonia = 0, Nitrites = 0, Nitrates = less than 25
3. bad bacteria bloom, usually linked with high nitrates so water test. use a bio-clearing product and replace carbon filter often (weekly?), along with regular water changes.

Your beneficial bacteria lives mainly in the filter pads and your gravel. I suggest doing a 25-50% water change once a week (depending on size tank and stocking amount). Also gravel vacuum the tank one week and then rinse/change the filter pads the next, but when doing the water change stay away from the gravel on your filter week.
Depending on your filter you should rinse anything that isnt a carbon filter such as filter sponges. Replace the carbon every 2-4 weeks. After a couple weeks the carbon gets used up and basically turns into a biological filter, meaning only beneficial bacteria is living there. Beneficial bacteria is good but if you want carbon for clarifying the water then you would need to replace it.

Peas are fantastic for goldfish. Helps with swimbladder problems and is definitely a preventative. Plecos love everything that is vegetable matter so peas are great for them too. People usually feed cucumber and zucchini because its easier for the pleco to stick onto a slice of that. Not sure if either is more nutritious than the other. Take out any uneaten food after 1 day, any longer than that and it can get disgusting.

Feeding fish everyother day is good. They dont really need food daily, but daily is fine too. You should be feeding as much as they can eat in 30 seconds. 5 minutes is waaaaayy too long. You have to keep in mind on average that your fishes stomach is about the size of its eyeball. If your feeding peas or algae wafers then that will obviously take a while to eat because they are kind of tough. As for flakes/pellets that should only take 30 seconds to eat.
I would recommend daily feeding for small fish like neon tetras. Twice daily feeding for some salter water fish and/or finicky eaters.

Phosphates could be an issue but I usually link that with algae problems or algae blooms. Would be beneficial to test phosphates in your tank and tap water. Phosphates do come from decaying food matter but usually its the nitrates that are the problem in freshwater tanks.

Wow sorry for the really long post. As you can see I am very passionate about fish. I work at a privately owned fish/pet store as one of the senior members. I maintain/do water changes on 6 planted freshwater tanks, 4 saltwater tanks, and the two saltwater systems. I also own 2 freshwater tanks and a saltwater tank at home.

Good luck with everything!

Wow! That is perfect! I love getting information like this. lol For the record I do change about 25% of the water once a week. I don't have a gravel cleaner; I plan on getting one very soon. This is my first tank ever so I didn't realize that cleaning the gravel was so essential. Now that I think about it it's pretty obvious though. I DO change my carbon filter once a month. I rinse sponges in the filter with water from the tank.

I did go to my LPS and got a water test. My phosphates were ridiculously high, so I got this special little filter thingy that's supposed to reduce phosphates. The cloudiness is clearing up gradually. I'm keeping the lights off most of the time now though.

I had an algae bloom not too long ago which might be linked to the phosphate problem. And I'm pretty sure I give them too much food at one time now. I will cut back on that as well.

Thank you so much for your help, guys. My fish seem really happy now that the water is clearing. My black moor especially seems to have a lot more energy now. lol I don't know if that's just me or what, but when it was cloudy he seemed like he was resting a lot more under his plant.