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Anonymous
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Monday,
July 16, 2001 - 01:19 pm
The filter is a Whisper filter. I change the cartridge once a month
as per my book that I've been reading that explains what should
be changed and when. Is that not right/? Is that causing this sudden
cloudiness?? If it is, why did this suddenly happen??
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joycedonley
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Monday,
July 16, 2001 - 01:31 pm
What book? The one that came with the filter? The bacteria accumulates
on gravel in only a UG, on a sponge in a aquaclear, on the biowheels
in the biowheel filters, filter wool or fibers on some old rare
filters. If you don't have ANY media staying in the tank with
'good bacteria' there is nothing to cycle with. Also if
you clean off the media with water that is not tank water you can
destroy the good bacteria! Plasic does not hold any good bacteria
and if this is all that is left after your maintenance the tank
is recycling. I have never checked the whisper filters, but think
I have heard they aren't the best. If your instructions were
on the filter I would say 'BAD ADVICE'.
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jeff
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Monday,
July 16, 2001 - 02:27 pm
ok..sorry new person..buy the way how big is this tank?..how many
fish in there?..but anyway if you have one of those filters with
the whole throw away cartrige and you can't keep part of your
media..like aquaclears...then you can't change the cartrige
during a water change..or you will be fighting the cycle all the
time..go light on feeding for a few days...wait till you water clears..and
see how it goes..don't put any of that cloudy clear crap in
your tank either..
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Anonymous
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Monday,
July 16, 2001 - 02:47 pm
The book, I'm now embarrassed to say after your responses, is
"Freshwater Aquariums for Dummies". I guess they give advice
to dummies like me that follow it. The tanks is 29 gallons and has
25 fish in it. I also have 2 crabs and a pleco to help keep things
clean, along with a snail. Do you have a recommendation on a better
filter?? I have waited 2 1/2 weeks for the cloudiness to clear up
and it never did. I then bought that "cloudy clear crap"
and it's not working either. How long should it take to clear
and did I damage anything with that liquid to remove the cloudiness??
I really appreciate your help.
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jeff
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Monday,
July 16, 2001 - 04:38 pm
ah..so you got the dummies book huh?..ok..now you have something
for your yard sale!..seems to me you may be fighting a bio-load
problem and your filtration can't handle it..if you are getting
high nitrate reading you will get another algea bloom..please re-test
your water for ph,ammonia,nitrites and nitrates(get actual numbers
not high or low). or get your LPS to do it for you for free..if
this is not the problem.. have you changed anything in your tank
just before the cloudy water started up?...try to keep a log or
journal..it will really help you out and us too..
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Anonymous
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Monday,
July 16, 2001 - 05:19 pm
Ph is 7.0 and ammonia is .25. I know that it should be 0 and the
ph should be closer to 6.5, at least according to the dummies book.
Is that causing the cloudiness??
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joycedonley
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Monday,
July 16, 2001 - 09:48 pm
Anonymous that book should go to the yard sale like Jeff said. Try
to get ahold of an Aquarium Fish magazine like Kick mentioned in
her algae post. It has very up to date methods of fishkeeping and
probably costs a lot less than your dummy book. Ph is not that critical
for most tank bred fish. There are a few exceptions, but those fish
aren't for beginners. Most of the tropical fish at your LFS
are in water the same ph as your tap and Ph of 7.0 is a fine for
your tank.What fish are in the tank? I agree with Jeff and think
your bio-load sounds pretty high unless those fish are all neons.
How often do you do water changes and how much?
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Anonymous
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Tuesday,
July 17, 2001 - 08:17 am
I have tetras, barbs, mollies, swords, danios, 1 pleco, 2 crabs
and a snail. I do the water changes 1 time a month and take out
approximately 1/4 of the water. ( I do have a few babies in
the tank too in a net enclosure. Baby mollies. ) Does that sound
ok?? None are big, all an inch long except for the swords. They
may be about 1 1/2 inches.
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Kick
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Tuesday,
July 17, 2001 - 10:22 am
Busy message! With the Whisper filter, do you also have a sponge
filter in place? When changing the filters, you should only rinse
the sponge in some aquarium water that you siphoned out. Replacing
the sponge takes with it all the good bacteria that you need. What
you are seeing is a bacteria bloom, and I think this has probably
happened from too frequent changing of your filters. Also too much
siphoning and cleaning of the gravel can cause this too. Don't
mean to stick my nose in here, but I had the same problem years
ago. Didn't change my "carbon" filter but every 2 months,
swished the sponge in old aquarium water to clean and didn't
bother the filters at the same time I was changing the water and
things straightened right up.
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joycedonley
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Tuesday,
July 17, 2001 - 11:57 am
Anon everyone gave good advice on you filter situation. Your question
on the fish load....your swords and mollies can get to be about
4 inches.I never kept mollies, but I have had swords. Since you
already have the fish keep up on yor maintenance and if any die
don't run out and replace them. 25 fish plus a pleco is a lot
in a 29 gal tank especially if your fish are just juvenilles.
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cq
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Tuesday,
July 17, 2001 - 01:46 pm
I think you have problems in your future. As joyce said, swords
get to be 4 inches long. I looked into keeping mollies and they
get to be around the same size. Both are also prolific breeders
so you will constantly have babies in your tank. Also, what kind
of pleco is it? Some of them get to be huge (although they grow
slowly). Have room for a second tank?? At any rate, I would
do water chages more frequently than once a month with that bio-load.
BTW I also bought the Dummies book when I started. It is now residing
in the local garbage dump. I felt like a "dummy" after buying
it. Half of the stupid book dealt with Marine tanks and the half
that dealt with freshwater wasn't all that helpful  .
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Anonymous
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Tuesday,
July 17, 2001 - 04:39 pm
You all have been great. Thanks for the suggestions and the help.
I do appreciate it. The "Dummies" book is now holding up
our bbq grill. Is that a better place for it?? I really appreciate
your patience with me.
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Kick
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Wednesday,
July 18, 2001 - 02:02 am
Glad that we could help you. Be patient, slow down just a little,
and I think this problem will hopefully correct itself.
P.S. No need to be too embarrassed to tell us your name. We promise
we won't bite and we really like to know who we are talking
to.
P.P.S. Dummies book holding up the grill is just fine as long as
there are no fish in it....hehe...just joking!!!
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badman
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Wednesday,
July 18, 2001 - 05:59 am
Wait!!! badmans is listed as a resource in
that book. It can't be all bad
Pat
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jeff
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Wednesday,
July 18, 2001 - 01:37 pm
hey badman you are right..as a internet link!..which is about the
only smart thing in the book!..I have read it and it is only good
for well ya dummies!..way too much grey areas to get you into trouble...
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Anonymous
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Wednesday,
July 18, 2001 - 03:07 pm
hey now, be nice to us newbies....we don't know any better.
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jeff
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Wednesday,
July 18, 2001 - 05:11 pm
do not worry I was there once too, and made the same mistakes..(oh..wait
I am still makin em!)..that's why I am always here tryin
to help..
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lboy
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Wednesday,
July 18, 2001 - 08:44 pm
Hey Anon,
I use a Whisper filter also and the one I have is too small to have
the biosponge like the larger models have. I alleviate this problem
by adding a small amount of my old carbon in the new filter cartridge
when I do my monthly replacing. This leaves enough bacteria to make
a decent starter culture. This method has given me no problems of
a monthly re-cycling ;) Good luck! We've all learned from
our mistakes and rest assured that things will go better once you
know what you're doing ;)
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jeff
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Wednesday,
July 18, 2001 - 11:55 pm
thanks Iboy good tip for him
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Anonymous
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Thursday,
July 19, 2001 - 09:37 am
How do you add a small amount of the old carbon?? Is there a way
to take the filters apart??
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lboy
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Thursday,
July 19, 2001 - 02:39 pm
Well, yes you can take the filter apart. If you are using the Whisper
filter, you replace the cartridges by throwing out the floss and
carbon while keeping the old frame right? The frame is detachable
from the floss/carbon insert. What model of the Whisper filter do
you use? What kind of cartridges do you use? Do you buy single packs
of cartridges or do you buy multipacks? Single packs will have one
frame for each cartridge whereas the multipack has one frame a whole
boxfull of inserts.
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Kick (Kick)
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Tuesday,
July 31, 2001 - 01:47 pm
Rachel Foreman, I moved your post to the next thread as this one
was getting too long. Check under "Suddenly Cloudy Water in
the Tank...continued....you will find it there.
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