how can i get my aquarium water clear again?
by Aquaboy on Sunday, February 21st, 2010 | 4 Comments
i have a 10 gallon aquarium with a 30 gallon filter and 3 sword tails 3 mollies and 6 pleco’s and my water is constantly cloudyi can barely see me background even after water changes how can i make it clear again?
i have regular plecos and to those who didnt see the first time as stated above i have a filter ment for a 30 gallon aquarium.
i might go out and get a bigger aquarium today any suggestions on how big? im not planing on getting any more fish for this aquarium.
your tank is over stocked
what sort of plecs have you got
IS THE TANK CYCLED?
unless you move the plecs and sword tails into a bigger tank you wont stop the cloudy water
Give your tank a shade and get some catfish. Change a quarter of your tank water weekly.
Your tank is too crowded. With that bioload in your tank, you’ve probably got very high ammonia levels (created by fish breathing, their waste, detritus, etc.). High levels of waste mean that there’s a lot of nourishment for bacteria and algae. Your tank is probably constantly cloudy because of this constant nutritious “soup” for the bacteria and algae which then thrives and blooms.
Usually in a regularly stocked tank with adequate filtration and colonized bacteria to keep the tank cycle in check, ammonia and nitrates aren’t an issue. Your tank however is so overstocked that even if the tank was cycled and you and a wonderfully colonized tank of beneficial bacteria.. there would still be excess waste.
The only way to fix this is to reduce the bioload by separating the fish into other tanks, or increase the frequency of water changes immensely.
I would recommend testing your water (using drop testing) for ammonia and nitrates. If possible, a whole master kit would actually be more beneficial. You’re looking for 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites, and less than 10ppm nitrates. Anything above that means that you need to do a water change.
::EDIT::
Your common plecos, if you plan on keeping all of them will be the main factor of waste being produced in your tank. If you’re keeping all of them, you will need something along the lines of over 500+ gallons. They will require around 100+ gallons eash. They will also all grow to be massive. That, plus they live like FOREVER!
Keep in mind the size of the plecos now in the 10 gallon tank… here are pictures of my one common pleco that I’ve had for over 6 years now.
September 2006, temporarily in a 2.5 gallon tank while when we moved to our new house:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v138/Tinkokeshi/Tropicals/?action=view¤t=20060915-185631.jpg
January 2008 isolated in a 29 gallon tank because he started to feed on the slime coats of my goldfish (you can see the previous tank he was in to the left of the 29 gal:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v138/Tinkokeshi/Tropicals/?action=view¤t=20080119-112127.jpg
April 2008 in a 55 gallon tank because he started having trouble turning around in the 29 gallon tank:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v138/Tinkokeshi/Tropicals/?action=view¤t=20080416-120121.jpg
June 2008 he’s still growing… 8-:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v138/Tinkokeshi/Tropicals/?action=view¤t=20080607-113432.jpg
December 2008 pictured from above, during a water change. You can get an idea of how big he is compared to the adult mollies in the tank which are 2-3 inches:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v138/Tinkokeshi/Tropicals/?action=view¤t=20081231-215143.jpg
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v138/Tinkokeshi/Tropicals/?action=view¤t=20081231-215132.jpg
January 2009 the most recent picture I have of him:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v138/Tinkokeshi/Tropicals/?action=view¤t=20090104-121918.jpg
Try a product called ‘Brite and Clear’ by mardel labs. It’s a water conditioner and anti-chlorinator and it really works.