Why is my 75 Gallon African Cichlid tank cloudy?
In November/09 I upgraded from a 46 Gal tank to a 75 and have had experience with Cichlids for almost 13 years now. I started out with a desk top 2.5 gal up to 75 gal. My tank was clear as clear can be until about Jan. In Jan I went to a local pet store and switched out my Cichlid Sand to regular aquarium sand made for fish. The sand is blue and I love the way it looks and so do my fish! well, they like playing/rolling in it. Regardless, they’re very entertaining and fun to watch. the only trouble is since Jan my tank has cloudy as heck! I can hardly see the other side of the tank! I have done partial water changes and taken water samples to have them checked and everything is fine. I do regular water changes about every month or so and only drain about 10-15 gals at a time. I got so sick of it this past Tues, that I took out all the deco’s and plants and really vaccumed the sand. I have yet to put anything back in because I’m waiting to see if it’s clearing up….It’s not…getting worse again. If you ask if it’s a cloudy green or a cloudy white, I’m not sure on how to respond because it looks kinda like both colors. I have a decent sized pleco that seems to keep up with the tank as well. I did have a chance to count my fish and to my suprise I have 36, which I know is a lot, but only about 5 are full grown at 4 in or so and the rest range from .5in to 1.5 in. I need to downsize, but I really don’t think this is the problem because I have always had 25 to 30 fish at a time. A few have died off, but not because of disease or anything that I’ve noticed. I also have a convict cichlid in there but he is totally fine with the others! They all get along believe it or not! I have probably have had some breeding going on too. I think everything is perfect except the cloudiness of the water! It’s driving me nuts and has me so frustrated! Does anyone have any ideas and do you think it’s the sand? Should I go back to gravel or cichlid sand? Help…so beside myself here! lol
I also keep my heaters at 78 degrees and have 2 high end working filters that I keep changing every month as well. I only feed once a day and usually about a teaspoon of the new life spectrum pellets…
I do have carbon filters! Thanks! Also, what does colonizing mean there! Is that a problem or something that naturally happens. Lately I have been doing water changes ever 10 days or so and it got worse. Is there something I can treat the water with. The cloudiness treatments work, but only for about 12 hrs or so! thx
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do u have an activated carbon filter? it takes down the cloudyness
It sounds like the bacteria is now colonizing the new substrate (which is where most of it inhabits). Plus you should probably do water changes more often than every month. Every two weeks would be better.
EDIT: I’m sure you know all about beneficial bacteria and it’s role in producing ammonia to nitrites to nitrates. Well, a lot of the bacteria lives in your gravel, and when you changed it the bacteria had to multiply. This is a bacteria bloom which makes the water cloudy. When you vaccumed the gravel you removed water and slightly disturbed the bacteria, causing it to need to grow more which in the end made the water cloudier. I wouldn’t do the tablets, the excess medicine is never good for your tank. I would just wait it out. Once the bacteria colonizes the sand, your water should be crystal clear.
Ok,there is a cheap solution to your problem. Take a cup that you dont mind to have to throw away, and urinate in the cup. Youll need a good 8 ounces for a tank that size for it to work. Fresh human urine will sometimes help the aquarium filter to jump start the nessecary bateria needed for the filter to work correctly
You need to do a water change every week!(25%)and don’t change all your filters at the same time you lose your good bacteria! If your water is green get a UV water sanitizer (24 watt)!Also get a good canister filter ,You need to over-filter for African cichlids.If you do all that your water will clear!
this Information may helphttp://www.firsttankguide.net/cloudywater.php andhttp://www.animalpetsandfriends.com/Article/What-Causes-Cloudy-Water-In-Fish-Tanks-/96
good luck!!
Why is my 75 Gallon African Cichlid tank cloudy? | Aquarium Blog