jono300

iTrader: (8)

Anyone any idea what could be causing the water to go dirty within my cold water fish tank ?? only get around a couple off weeks before the water is so bad that the fish disapear from view !!

small octanganol tank containg two gold fish, water pump, gravel, small rock, bridge type ornamnet !! not exactly luxurious living surroundings but sure they have always kept there living condition cleaner for longer than a fortnight ??!!

when cleaning the tank always make sure the actual tank , accesories, gravel etc is cleaned, cleaned and cleaned again but admittdly all including the gravel are around 6 years + old now could it be this that needs changed ?? same level off food given out so its not overfeeding as far as I know ??

any cure for this so called " dirty protest " from them ??!!!

cheers,
john

Mice_Elf

Tank could be too small for the fish.
Filter could be too small for the tank...actually you don't mention a filter...do you have one?
Tank location is too close to window and is receiving too much sunlight.
What do you clean everything IN? Is it the aquarium water or running tap water? It *should* be the aquarium water otherwise you could kill off the bacteria that helps break down the waste.
Are you changing 10% of the water every 2 weeks, or just dropping it to bare tank and re-filling from scratch?
How often are you feeding them?
Do you have any live plants in there?

jono300

iTrader: (8)

Hi there apprecaitte your informative reply, okay in answer to your questions
the filter was the one supplied with the tank came as a complete starter kit. tank is not in view off direct sunlight.
not to sure what you mean by what do I clean everything in ?? running tap water or aquarium water ?? just normally empy everything out, clean out with running tap water and refill with fresh tap water. now cleaning agents etc used at all.

fish are fed once a day in the morning.two fish =pinch off fish flakes, funny as they come straight to the top off the tank as soon as they see you comming over to the tank at feeding time !! possibly underfed ?? surely not ??

no plants in the tank.

the thing is that I have had the tank going for years but as I say as far as I can see nothing has changed, but the water seems to get so dirty in such a short space off time where as before it would only need cleaning out around every 2 months or so ??

sorry forgott to mention nope never change 10% off the water every two weeks just normally empty the whole lot and start again. agood tip thou and shall certainly start doing this when I get the main route off the problem sorted.

as I say thou as far as I can see I have nothing changed in the set up but something is causing the water to go very dirty very quickly ??

any further ideas to try ??

cheers,
john

Johnny E

Stop feeding 'em

Tiggs

"just normally empy everything out, clean out with running tap water and refill with fresh tap water. "


lol....well the fish are tough if nothing else!

Warwick-hunt

i agree with johnny
don't feed them so much, also you could get some of those sucker fish?

ajm

Firstly, are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle?

Your fish excrete ammonia, bacteria living in your filter convert that ammonia to nitrites, then another type of bacteria living in your filter convert nitrites to nitrates. Until there is enough bacteria present to convert all the excreted ammonia into nitrites, and all the nitrites into nitrates your fish will be in danger of ammonia or nitrite poisoning. Bacteria typically takes at least a month to become established, and every time you clean your filter with chlorinated water you are killing it all off and it has to start again!

Secondly, cloudy water in an aquarium is almost always due to one of three things: particulates, such as dust from new sand/gravel etc., algae blooms with a green tint, and heterotrophic bacterial bloom, which is a white coloured mass cloud of bacteria multiplying in the water and feeding on nutrients such as dissolved organics, excess food, oils and other chemicals such as excess ammonia.

This is why it is common to see cloudy water in newly set up tanks. Once the nitrogen cycle above has settled down after a month or so and the bacteria in the filter are keeping the water healthy and there is no excess food etc in the water the heterotrophic bacteria will die back and the water will become clear.

To sort out your problems properly you need to:

1) Refill your tank with water that has been treated with a conditioner/de-chlorinator such as aquasafe. Simply letting the water stand is no longer good enough because most water companies now use chloramine intead of chlorine which is not as volatile and will not dissipate from the water as quickly.

2) Buy water test kits to test for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate.

3) You now need to leave the setup alone to let bacteria establish in the filter. However, you need to test regularly for ammonia and nitrite to make sure the levels don't become dangerously high. Guides for what are safe levels will be included in the kits. The water will go cloudy after a week or two and will last for a week or so. Don't be tempted to do huge water changes, you need to let it sort itself out!

4) If ammonia/nitrite levels become dangerously high you will need to do regular but small water changes to keep them in the safe zone until the bacteria catch up. The reason we try to keep water changes to a minimum in this phase is because doing large water changes can prolong the time it takes for the bacteria to become established.

5) You will hopefully see the ammonia levels spike and then reduce after about a week or two, then the nitrites will spike and reduce, usually over 2 or 3 weeks. When the tank is cycled you should see zero ammonia, zero nitrite and a moderate amount of nitrate.

6) Unless you have plants the Nitrates don't go anywhere, so these have to be managed by weekly ongoing water changes of 10-20%.

7) When you clean your filter only use water you have siphoned from the tank to do the water change. The reason for this is that it will not be harsh to the bacteria. You want to remove solid particles from the filter sponge whilst trying not to kill or remove much bacteria.

8) Once the tank is fully cycled it is still common to see slightly cloudy water for a day or two after doing a waterchange/filter clean. This is due to the bacteria having to regenerate its numbers in the filter, particles dislodged from the filter and heterotrophic bacteria feeding on nutrients present in the new water.

Best of luck!

jono300

iTrader: (8)

Thanks so much mate , a very informative and detailed reply there, will see how I get on.

cheers,
john

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

isnt it meant to get dirty after a while, i know a toilet would if it wasnt cleaned often enough
maybe you are putting too much food in