overkill???????

[bra8ndy8]

ok.......on my 300 I have 2 aquaclear 110's a fluval f5 and a undergravel......after 3-4 days after a water change my water gets cloudy! I have stopped feeding so much at one time....and I have no clue how many juvis I have in my tank.....but I know more than 50.... I was thinking about adding another f5 and removing one aquaclear.....what does everyone think??? or what am I doibg wrong? any suggestions are appreciated!

[biggin]

Do you do a water change and then 3 days later it gets cloudy?

[tsunderl]

I always say you can never have too much filtration. It really sounds like its the water quality that makes your tank cloudy. Some chemical and/or biological something happens and poof!, you have cloudy water. It's happened in my 135 from time to time. Annoying, but harmless.

[poel_19]

sounds like a bloom........but im drunk so i could be wrong

[rolloffhill]

How much were you feeding?

[tsunderl]

Quick Google search results:

"If your tank was cycled before the water change, then you are most likely going through a mini cycle. Somehow, you have killed off some of your bacteria, and it's playing catch up right now. If it's something that happens every week when you do a water change, you might want to consider adding another filter to your tank. I have a 55 gal. with 2 angels and a 6 inch pleco in it right now, and when it had 5 angels in it, the water would turn cloudy the next day after a water change. I was running 2 sponge filters on it and added a 3rd sponge filter. Now it stays clear, and did when it had more fish in it. "

"I used to have that problem till I realised that the tap water was high with ferrous salts which were oxidised to insoluble ferric salts in the aquarium."

"The cloudy water doesn't happen because you removed bacteria from the system but from the new water itself. The bacteria in the new water takes off for a day or so and then usually crashes."

"Well that would be the problem...cleaning out the entire filter kills off all the beneficial bacteria that keeps the tank balanced and the fish alive. If you do not have a filter that allows you to partially change the media I suggest investing in something like an aqua clear filter. There is rarely any need to actually clean out a filter that is functioning properly. Regular replacement of carbon (if used) is about all that is neccessary along with an occasional rinse of the the sponge portion of the media (in tank water to avoid killing the bacteria). It is a safe bet that any problems you are having with this tank is in some way related to the cleaning of your filter."

All seem like logical explanations.

[bra8ndy8]

I do my water changes every 5 days.....or so! I feed a little.....I make sure the eat all the pellets before they fall to the gravel....and I feed 2-3 times a day. I have even tried nit feeding the first couple days and minimal light.....and still milky!

[AndrewH]

Is it white cloudy or green cloudy?

Have you tested your tap water to make sure you're not getting a ton of junk from the tap?

I agree, too my filtration isn't posssible. Too much flow yeah, but not too much filtration.

[tsunderl]

How much water are you changing out at once?

[bra8ndy8]

its kinda brown cloudy.....I do about 30-40 percent to get the muck out.....I had my water tested by dane.....and he didn't say anything about it being bad.....I don't own a tester cause everytime I look....I get confused and say f it and walk away!!lol do u recommend one?? easy to read!

[glostik]

Do you gravel clean and clean your filters on every water change?

IF so, thats your problem.

I have an AC 110, an Eheim 2260, Eheim 2217 and a sump w. filter sock on my 150. My water only gets cloudy when I feed, then it clears up.

[tsunderl]

I was leaning that direction too, but the cloudiness shows up 3 days after a water change. Seems like if it is muck, it would happen at the time of the water change.

[greeneyed]

I agree if you are over cleaning you could be causing a mini-cycle.

[bra8ndy8]

no I clean the aquaclear every 2 weeks...and the f5 once a month....heck I don't know....lol

[tsunderl]

I'd add the other filter and do 25% water changes and see what happens. I bet you're having mini blooms.

[bra8ndy8]

I will cut down on taking sooo much water out....but I was doing them so big to get the brown out!! LOL I'll try it and see what happens! Thx hun!

[tsunderl]

I'll send ya my bill.... :spend:

[bra8ndy8]

I'll just let you come do the next one!

[tsunderl]

Um, lemme think on that...............


















NO!

[biggin]

You clean the aquaclears? I never clean mine.... sounds like work.

no I clean the aquaclear every 2 weeks...and the f5 once a month....heck I don't know....lol

[bra8ndy8]

Ummm yeah cause that sponge gets NASTY and Stinky!!

[biggin]

Christine can smell anything.... some people have good ears...eyes.... her sense of smell is better then most people.... if they smelled bad I would hear about it....

You are doing something wrong if you can smell it while it is running....

Ummm yeah cause that sponge gets NASTY and Stinky!!

[bra8ndy8]

No it doesn't smell while running......but it's yucky when u clean it!!

[biggin]

That means its working....

leave it alone....

No it doesn't smell while running......but it's yucky when u clean it!!

[bra8ndy8]

hummmmm ok!

[rolloffhill]

I will cut down on taking sooo much water out....but I was doing them so big to get the brown out!! LOL I'll try it and see what happens! Thx hun!


How much are you sucking out? 1/4, 1/2 the tank???

[fishyjoe24]

you can get a MASTER test kit for thirdy bucks.

[kewlkatdady]

Brandy...
I do at least a 50% WC every couple of weeks on my tanks.
-this isn't a problem
As long as you are cleaning the filter sponges in aquarium water you are not hurting your bio load as the sponges are a prefilter and do not house a big bio culture anyway.
-this isn't a problem
Make sure you stagger the filter services and do not do multiple filters at once.

3 days after a water change... it turns brown cloudy????? and you did get the water tested and all the parameters are in line... I'd say it was some sort of algea/ bacteria bloom.

Turn the lights out for a weeks and it should be fine, but do a water test every day to make sure the parameters are still good.



oh and by the way, do you add any type of cichlid salt or buffers to adjust your PH?


Also, as stated before, you cannot have enough filtration. I wouldn't remove a AC 110 to add the FX5. I'd just add the FX5 and keep the AC 110 and stuff it full of pillow batting.

[rolloffhill]

Good point, how long do you have the lights on??

[bra8ndy8]

humm the lights r on about 7 hours....and not everyday! I would have to remove the aquaclear to fit another f5 in.....and just pillow stuffing?!! I've never done that.....do I just rinse it once a month? when do I throw it away?

[spxsk]

I clean my filters only every few months, I often find they are incredibly dirty when I do so, yet the tank parameters are perfect. The only reason I clean them is to increase the water flow through them. It is never to have a clean filter.

Clean filters = no bacteria to clean the water.

I think you will find that unless your bio load is unbelievable, letting your filters go longer will help you in the long run. Staggering their cleaning was a great suggestion and will help with maintaining your bacteria colony.

Bravo on your diligence with water changes.

[bra8ndy8]

well I will keep that in mind....and leave them a little longer.

[biggin]

X2 very well put.


I clean my filters only every few months, I often find they are incredibly dirty when I do so, yet the tank parameters are perfect. The only reason I clean them is to increase the water flow through them. It is never to have a clean filter.

Clean filters = no bacteria to clean the water.

I think you will find that unless your bio load is unbelievable, letting your filters go longer will help you in the long run. Staggering their cleaning was a great suggestion and will help with maintaining your bacteria colony.

Bravo on your diligence with water changes.

[kewlkatdady]

The only reason I clean them is to increase the water flow through them. It is never to have a clean filter.

I think you will find that unless your bio load is unbelievable, letting your filters go longer will help you in the long run.


I couldn't agree more.



My FX5 went into almost a safe mode...
it was barely pumping any water.

I took it apart and rinsed the bio media and replaced all the pillow stuffing.

Runs like new.




And Brandy, to answer your question and how often to "rinse" the pillow stuffing....

NEVER, throw it away, its sole purpose is mechanical filtration. It will have some bio culture in it, but not enough to worry about.

In my FX5, I run 2 baskets of bio media, with pillow stuffing bin the bottom of each basket, and then the top basket is full of pillow stuffing.

I just throw the pillow stuffing out every 3-4 months and replace.

This is also what I do in my AC110.

[bra8ndy8]

I have bio media 2 and a sponge in the other.....I will have to add the stuffing next time I clean it......I have bio media in the aquaclear.....do u just have pillow stuffing? or did u replace the sponge?

[kewlkatdady]

I actually cut te sponge in half...to make it thinner from top to bottom.

That is still in there plus pillow stuffing. Thats it.

Water is very clear.

[bra8ndy8]

humm........well I will have to do that!! thxs for the advice!

[fishyjoe24]

going to steal this thread my water is starting to get brown color and brown/green alege on the sides what can i do?

[biggin]

You need to do water changes....

[sap]

going to steal this thread my water is starting to get brown color and brown/green alege on the sides what can i do?

Clean your tank......

as to the original post I have stacked 2 #5 pro hydro sponges put a fluval 402 powerhead on it and adjusted the flow to the lowest setting possible and it along with my fx5 provide me with enough bacterial colinization for 2-3 90 gallon water changes a week. I also cut off all power to the filters/FX5 during the water change and then treat the whole tank with enough chloram-x or prime for 180 gallons. turning the power back on to pumps 15 minutes after using the prime or chloram-x.

[fishyjoe24]

yeah it's about time for a water change how much procent of water should i do?

[rolloffhill]

How much do you normally do?

[AndrewH]

If you have to ask... http://skinheads.net/forums/images/smilies/NewSmiles/stop.gif