# Help me clear up my water please



## Firstaqua (Mar 17, 2012)

Hi everyone. This is my first post. I am posting here as I have a water issue that I want to try to work out right away (to keep my fish happy and safe) but I am looking forward to posting in the new members forum and meeting you all.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Backround:
I started with a 5 gallon tank about 4 months ago. Being new and knowing nothing I made a common mistake..... Doing before learning. I set it up and got it running and added fish. In hindsight I can't believe they did as well as they did but none the less they did fine. As time went by I overstocked. (6 female beta's) Again didn't know better. Then my water started getting really dirty brown cloudy. I think it was trying to cycle but crashing as it was so overstocked) Long story short I started learning and realized I made a LOT of big mistakes. Started to fix it right away.

Where I am now:
Got a 26 gallon. Filter system for 50-60 gallon. Lot's of live plants (beginners plants) 150W heater. Lots of hiding places. A quality light. API master kit. 
Still need a dif light as the one I have is nice but is not right color spectrum for plant growth.

The problem: 
The girls water in the 5 gallon was getting really really bad. My API test kits was basically saying the fish should be dead by now. (lol but no joke) SO... I made the hard decision to move them to the new tank before it was cycled. I thought they would be better off and at least have a chance. Within 24 hours the fish looked like they were doing very very well. Now (48 hours) they are doing wonderful. Look terrific. BUT. My water is lightly white cloudy.
Tank is on it's third day now. (fish in on eve of second day)

The specifics: 
What is in the tank:
26 gallons of good quality well water
heater/filter - (removed carbon)/thermometer
typical aquarium decorations (one from old 5 gal - washed)
lot's of live plants - (3 large bundles of anacharis - each bundle is made up of stalks that make a diameter of about 3 fingers), Some Anubia Nana, one grass looking type - I forget the name.
One fake plant. (from old 5 gal - washed)
Chemicals:
Aquazone - followed directions or a little over
250ml of Nutrafin Cycle over first 3 days. (Since I was going to have to put the girls in right away)
API - plant fert. followed directions.
Feeding normally. (enough to eat in 2 min once a day)

NOTE: Through the whole process the water looked great until I planted it. As soon as I put the plants in it turned cloudy. I washed all plants well before putting them in.

API kit shows all tests to be showing good numbers. Testing 3 times a day so far.

I know it is a lot but if you could PLEASE look this over carefully and give me some advise I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you very much.

Also note: Clearing up the water is important but second to happy and healthy fish. ALL advise is appreciated.


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Hello First...

The most important thing for water chemistry stability is to remove and replace at least half the water in the tank every week. This will guarantee no pollutants have time to build up and cloud the water and hurt the fish.

Second is attention to the filter and the media, like pads, bags, etc. The filter needs to be taken apart and cleaned. The media needs to be rinsed every couple of weeks in some of the old tank water and replaced monthly depending on its condition.

Do these two things religiously and the water conditions will improve.

B


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

For one thing all new tanks will go through this. Once cycled it will clear up.

Anytime ammonia or nitrites go above .50 do a water change.

How many bettas do you have in the tank? How many are males and females. Bettas can't be housed together long term they will end up fighting till all are dead but one.


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## Firstaqua (Mar 17, 2012)

Thank you to both of you.
So it seems nothing is "wrong" and that is good. I was hoping it was not a plant problem or something. Just seemed strange that it clouded up within seconds of planting.

Some questions on your comments please:
Cleaning the filter won't remove the beneficial bacteria? I have the standard filter cart in there which I removed the carbon from and then after the water passes through that I put in canister filter foam that the water will pass through before it exits. I was planning on changing the standard filter cart monthly or as needed and only rinsing the additional foam very lightly in old tank water only when needed. I was hoping to leave that foam untouched as much as possible to give the beneficial bact a place to grow. Good idea or bad?
Always 50% water change or are there guidelines for more or less%? Trying to learn more about this please.

Related to the specific question about my beta's.... I have 6. Will add one more in time and keep 7 total. ALL female. You can never house more than one male together as you already said. Most females can live together all their lives with no issues as long as requirements are met. Most. Certainly not all. Sometimes you get one that just refuses and she must be separated. This being said. Even with ones that are okay with it, it can still be touch and go at times as they will sometimes bicker. It is not a low maint sorority lol.

Thank you SO much so far for all the help. I am feeling better about the water already.
Should I continue adding the Nutrafin cycle to keep adding the beneficial bact for a while? The bottle said 3 days and I did that but I just feel like I should do more. I HATE that I had to put them into an uncycled tank.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

> Some questions on your comments please:
> Cleaning the filter won't remove the beneficial bacteria? I have the standard filter cart in there which I removed the carbon from and then after the water passes through that I put in canister filter foam that the water will pass through before it exits. I was planning on changing the standard filter cart monthly or as needed and only rinsing the additional foam very lightly in old tank water only when needed. I was hoping to leave that foam untouched as much as possible to give the beneficial bact a place to grow. Good idea or bad?
> Always 50% water change or are there guidelines for more or less%? Trying to learn more about this please.


Cleaning the filter won't remove good bacteria as long as you are cleaning it in a bucket of old tank water or clean dechlorinated water. The cartridge that your changing out is most likely carbon and it isn't really needed unless your removing meds.

50% changes right now while your cycling to keep the fish safe from ammonia and nitrites. Once they go to zero and remain zero for a couple of days you can cut back changes to 25 to 30% a week if thats what you want. 

The nutrifin is an iffy thing, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Personally I wouldn't waste the money on it.


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## Firstaqua (Mar 17, 2012)

susankat said:


> Cleaning the filter won't remove good bacteria as long as you are cleaning it in a bucket of old tank water or clean dechlorinated water. The cartridge that your changing out is most likely carbon and it isn't really needed unless your removing meds.
> 
> 50% changes right now while your cycling to keep the fish safe from ammonia and nitrites. Once they go to zero and remain zero for a couple of days you can cut back changes to 25 to 30% a week if thats what you want.
> 
> The nutrifin is an iffy thing, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Personally I wouldn't waste the money on it.


Thank you for the clarification. Glad to hear you confirm that removing my carbon was okay. I read from multiple sources that you should remove it if you are keeping live plants - so I did.
Oh no! not happy to hear the nutrifin is iffy. Not concerned about the money but I want the fish to be in a safe home. Now I feel like I need to watch it even closer. 
I am still testing 3 times a day. Just did a full test. I THINK all is going well. 
Opinions??
about 7.5ph
zero amonia
zero nitrites
10ppm nitrates

Thank you very much.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Looks good just keep an eye on the readings to make sure nothing rises besides nitrates.


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## Firstaqua (Mar 17, 2012)

susankat said:


> Looks good just keep an eye on the readings to make sure nothing rises besides nitrates.


Great. Thank you


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## Firstaqua (Mar 17, 2012)

Update:
Backed off of the testing to 2 times a day since none of the numbers are budging.
Did a 50% water change on Sat and obviously it helped clear up the water a good bit. So far the water has remained more clear and has not gotten any worse.
Still no change in any of the test numbers at all. (good)
The 6 girls seem very happy and look healthy. Their color has really come out more and they are really beautiful.
I did end up buying another bottle of the nutrifin. It was marked down 60% off so I thought I may as well. I am putting in a capful a day for now. So far so good.

Question: Since my tank is heavily planted is it possible I will not run into trouble with the test numbers? I thought by now I would see some rising in amonia and nitrites...but nothing. Still 0.


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## Firstaqua (Mar 17, 2012)

UPDATE:
Things are still going well. Keeping the numbers under control with daily 25% changes.
Just today i noticed "brown dots" all over some of the decorations and on the glass walls near the bottom. Def were not there yesterday.

All test numbers look good and water is very clear.

Any thoughts on this brown stuff please?


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Firstaqua said:


> UPDATE:
> Things are still going well. Keeping the numbers under control with daily 25% changes.
> Just today i noticed "brown dots" all over some of the decorations and on the glass walls near the bottom. Def were not there yesterday.
> 
> ...


Good morning First...

From your most recent post, I can pass on a couple of things. The water properties take time to establish, so there will be periods of cloudy water. I've been using poly fiber pad medium in my filters. It's good for filtering small particles of plant and fish material. A small carbon pad will also help.

You don't need to do the small, daily water changes indefinitely. Large, weekly changes of half the tank volume will be best and if you do them religiously, then you won't need to test the water. It will always be safe for your fish and plants. 

The brown stuff is likely a form of algae. Without getting technical, it's likely from too many nutrients in the water. The only thing I found to take care of algae in my tanks were "Ramshorn" snails. You can get them at the local pet store.

Just a couple of thoughts to consider when you're ready for them.

Please keep us all updated.

B


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## Crazy (Mar 1, 2012)

Chances are you have Diadoms Algae. This happens in a lot of new tanks, and all you have to do is black out the tank for about 4 days without peeking and it should kill it off pretty well. I am fighting a case of it myself in a new 10g tank.


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## Firstaqua (Mar 17, 2012)

BBradbury said:


> Good morning First...
> 
> From your most recent post, I can pass on a couple of things. The water properties take time to establish, so there will be periods of cloudy water. I've been using poly fiber pad medium in my filters. It's good for filtering small particles of plant and fish material. A small carbon pad will also help.
> 
> ...


Thanks. A question on the water changes. I am still trying to get the tank to cycle and the dailys I am doing now are needed to keep the amonia in check. Wouldn't be good to let that go and only do weekly's right??


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## Firstaqua (Mar 17, 2012)

CrazyMFFM said:


> Chances are you have Diadoms Algae. This happens in a lot of new tanks, and all you have to do is black out the tank for about 4 days without peeking and it should kill it off pretty well. I am fighting a case of it myself in a new 10g tank.


Thanks. Any other options? I don't want to blcak out as I just put in a lot of $ in plants and they are in rough shape right now. Need the light on them.
ideas??
Algae eating fish/snails etc..?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Blackouts are not necessary unless the tank is totally and completely covered in algae (severe case) or the water is green. Diatom algae will reduce over time and it feeds off of silicas, not heavy nutrients in your tank. Very common in new tanks. I would just rub off what you can and maybe reduce your lighting period by a couple of hours to see if that has an impact. Remove what you can first then adjust the lighting as needed.


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## Firstaqua (Mar 17, 2012)

jrman83 said:


> Blackouts are not necessary unless the tank is totally and completely covered in algae (severe case) or the water is green. Diatom algae will reduce over time and it feeds off of silicas, not heavy nutrients in your tank. Very common in new tanks. I would just rub off what you can and maybe reduce your lighting period by a couple of hours to see if that has an impact. Remove what you can first then adjust the lighting as needed.


Thank you. I will try that.
right now I have 2 T5 HO bulbs. 1 full spec and 1 grow
I run the grow 8hrs and the full spec 9 These are total "ON hours. (each bulb is on twice a day with a 3 hour off period in late morning)

wold you recomend a proper reduction for me? (actually I'll take any suggestions you have about lighting ))
Keeping in mind I have new plants that I want to take care of.

Thanks!


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Firstaqua said:


> Thanks. A question on the water changes. I am still trying to get the tank to cycle and the dailys I am doing now are needed to keep the amonia in check. Wouldn't be good to let that go and only do weekly's right??


Hello again First...

You're 100 percent correct. If you're cycling with fish, then you need to test the water daily and change 25 to 30 percent of the tank water if your test shows even a trace of ammonia or nitrites. 

B


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