Hello ,

I recently got a new hobby..... a 30 gallon aquarium.I have had it about 2 months. Initially i put in 6 gold fish,3 red cap orandas and 3 gold fish. I then went and bought ranchu(fat one) and bought 2 plecos(algea eaters) and 3 apple snails. All r fine, except that 2 of the snails died one after the other. now i have one left.
It doesnt stop here, i then went out and bought a beautiful silver blue koi and a golden koi, to small black moores, blue oranda and tiny " pond fish" just to company the goldfish. so all together i have 17 fish in my 30 gallon tank. they are from small to medium size. the koi is the biggest about 3 to 4" out of all of them

I also have 2 fifty gallon filters on the back of the tank. but my tank still gets cloudy sometimes???i feed them once a day or sometime twice a day.i just want to keep it clean. clear. what should i do?

All the fish look health and swim around a lot. some of the gold fish we developing some with dot on their red caps(head) so i went and bought this ick gaurd and used it 3 day in a row. but the spots are still there. i guess i need to wait a little??

Please tell me if im doing anything wrong here.

With thanks and regards,

Imran

AKaeTrue

From what you described, you're tank is overcrowded.
This can cause many problems.
You'll need to run some water tests so that I can better understand whats happening inside the tank.

Do you happen to have any water tests? The cloudiness may be due to bacterial blooms - white cloudiness. Or, algae - green cloudiness.
I'll need to know the levels of
ammonia?
nitrites?
nitrates?
Ph?
hardness?
alkalinity?

Can you explain what the dots look like? Are they white? big, little?

The more information you give me, the better I'll be able to help.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Kae

Boss

Hi Kae,

Thank you so much for your reply. I have never got the water tested. but i will take a sample to the pet store to test it.

at first i thought i was over crowding the tank, but then i met a few ppl that had like 15 fish in like a 20 gallon tank for a while where as mine is 30. i also know ...eventually i will have to get another 20 gallon tank as the fish get bigger.

I am wondering how come the filters are not helping? when i had 7 or eight fish and had the one 50 gallon filter(marine land - biowheel) it was still cloudy then i added the aqua clear 50 gallon filter and it was clean for a while but then cloudy again.

I did a water change using the mop bucket, but i clean it thoroughly. and after that i thought i should drain the water again and then thought that might be more dangerous to change all the water. so i took out 50 % of the water and a couple of days later i took out anpther 20 % of the water and put fresh water. still remains cloudy. It looks more cloudly if i look at it from the sides?? and looks cloudy when i turn on the aquarium light....but look fairly clean when the light is off. I put in the particle remover chemical, but it doesnt help. infact it clouds the tank when you put it in and say it will clear up in 1-3 hours, i think its bogus product?

The spots are very tiny ...not on all the fish, more so on one or 2 redcaps and a goldfish.
what should be the final final number of fish in a 30 gallon tank? please let me know.

I thank you for your help and am happy to know that you are experienced with fish

Many thanks,
Imran

AKaeTrue

Hi Imran,

Without knowing how your water is testing, I can only guess at whats going on.

I will guess that it is a combination of an overcrowded tank along with an under developed nitrogen cycle (beneficial bacteria in natures way of purifying itself). This would be the reason why a particle remover did not clear the water. Particle removers are great at removing particles, sludge, suet, or any type of dirt, but they will not remove ammonia produced by fish or bacterial blooms.

The 5 in 1 water tests have become real popular among fish keepers and are very affordable and easy to use.

But in order to really know whats happening, I would need to know the water readings.

Kae

Boss

HI Kae,

I got some time to go out and buy a water testing kit.its the 5 in 1 test with test tubes and pamphlets to match colour of the water ...etc. before the water test i took the filter(carbon sack and the zeocarb) of both 50 gal. filters and took them out and put them in a tub of the aqaurium water and moved it around and cleaned it. soo much dirt and muck came out. i then put them back in. the next moring my tank was clear(crystal clear). the water look very "thin"" i had put a lot of tap conditioner in it too and particle cleaner(not a lot). the tank looked perfect. .....but after i did the water change (and did the cleaning with the tube thing) ...added more water, the water did look as clean. it looked betterclearer b4. i did the water change cuz one of the test said if you ammonia is above .... so and so level change the water right away....i hope this information helps.

then 2 days later i go the water test kit.

the first test i did is as follows;

Nitrite = .3mg

PH Low range = 7.0

PH High Range= 8.4

ammonia= .6

General hardness = 40

KH(alkalinity) 110


Test 2: Soon after 20% water change


GH= 260

KH= 70

Nitrite= .1

ammonia= .6

High range PH= 8

Low range - i didnt do this.

AKaeTrue

Hi Imran,

Glad to have you back

One of my biggest challenges with helping people with their aquariums over the Internet is trying to help them understand the water chemistry inside aquariums.
You've done great by getting a test kit. It really helps me out, and will help you out too as you learn more about the water chemistry inside your tank.

Your water tests indicate that you have 2 causes for cloudy water:

1) bacterial blooms : natures way of purifying itself from pollution is called the nitrogen cycle and your aquarium environment is trying to develop this. This rapid bacterial growth clouds the water.

2) you have a lot of fish in an environment that has not yet established the nitrogen cycle, therefor the waste the fish are producing causes pollution and clouds the water.

From your water readings, I can tell that your filters bio-wheels have not yet established the beneficial bacterial colonies (the nitrogen cycle) that keep your water clean and clear. This process takes a lot of time and patience.

Since you have so many fish that will be producing ammonia (their waste) and the environment is going to be producing bacterial blooms to complete the nitrogen cycle, both are going to cloud the water.
I suggest for you buy a product by Nutrafin called Cycle.
This is an excellent product and it will help stabilize your water in about a 3 week period.
If you choose to let nature take it's course, you are looking at 8 weeks before you begin seeing a progress in your waters condition.

Your PH:
You have a fresh water environment, so you will only need to use the low range Ph test for an accurate reading.

The high range Ph test is for marine environments, using this test will give inaccurate readings.

particle removers:
After using a particle remover, it is very important to clean the filter cartridges. If the muck is not removed, it will break back down and return to the water in the tank making it dirty again.

Water conditioners:
only use the recommended amount. Too much can overdose and harm the fish.
Never go over the highest dose the bottle suggests.

Because you have a lot of fish and an incomplete nitrogen cycle, I strongly recommend the product Cycle by Nutrafin.
Clean filter cartridges only when dirty.
And never clean the bio-wheels...

Or,

If buying this product is not an option for you.
You can do 20% water changes daily.
Clean filter cartridges only when dirty.
And never clean the bio-wheels (this is where the beneficial bacteria live and you do not want to wash them away)


Are you ready to cycle your aquarium (the nitrogen cycle process)?
Do you know which method you'd like to use? (I suggest the product Nutrafin Cycle) because the amount of fish you have.

I am here to answer any questions you have, so feel free to ask.

Kae

Parajr

Dude you have way too many fish. In my 30 gal I had five fish and the experts in petco said if I wanted more I should get a bigger tank.

Boss

HI Kae,


Thank you for your detailed email thats a lot of help. i think soon after i asked you my first question the cycle completed. that is how i got a clear tank....to me th ewater looks thinner always when the tank is clear. i think did the tests and maybe i did it wrong ... the result was for ammonia , and it said do a 20 percent water change.

the secod test was ok. i then took a water sampleto the pet store and the guy told me to use this Big al's bio support....benificial bateria. i put double or so the amount for rapid growth. i then took another sample to this other pet store and they said the PH, ammonia were ok but my nitrates were high.


so i added a little more benificial bacteria and now i will just let it sit and add some weekly. i also added the tap water conditioner.

i notice the koi fish a little aggressive toward the algea eater fish and always chases it away.

other than that everything is ok.i have another question? if the water is crystal clean can we assume the tank and everything inside is ok and that nothing needs to be changed but the regular filters?



With thanks and regards,

Imran

AKaeTrue

Hi Imram

A healthy aquarium (when referring to the nitrogen cycle or "cycle") your water must read:

ammonia 0 ppm

nitrite 0 ppm

Nitrate .1 to 75 ppm

You are always going to have a nitrate reading in a healthy aquarium.
You remove nitrate from the water by doing partial water changes - not by adding more bottled bacteria.
You need to be very careful adding live active bottled bacteria to your tank. Adding too much can overdose your tank causing more harm than good. Adding more than recommended will pollute the water and cause toxic levels of nitrates (which is non toxic to fish if under 75 ppm).
Thats why I suggested the product Nutrafin Cycle, you cant overdose with this product. It is live inactive bacteria in a bottle. It's a lot safer.

Having "thin" looking water is definitely a good sign, but you cannot rely on that as to know when you need to make water changes.
You want it to always remain "thin" looking, so you will want to wash or replace filter cartridges before they are so dirty that it begins dirtying the water and you need to learn how to rely on your water test to know when you need to make a water change.

Most people come up with a weekly, biweekly, or monthly aquarium maintenance schedule that they follow.

For instance:

I have several aquariums that I make a 20% water change 1 time a month and replace filters.

And, I have some aquariums that require weekly water changes with filter maintenance only once a month...

you will need to get a feel for your tank and go from there...I can help you with that...

what are the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings? Lets see where your tank is...

Kae

Boss

Hi Kae,


Thank you so much for your reply. I always enjoy reading your emails as i can understand much better when you describe things.

So you have many aquariums! wow, how do you maintain those with 1 water change a month?(saltwater?)

You know i may need another tank maybe 12 x 30 or smaller. do you have any for sale? please let me know.

I will get home and get you some readings again.

Im actually worried cuz i put a lot of bacteria in the tank ... where i think its going througha bacterial bloom again. i also put some aquarium salt.
should i do a 20% water change becasue of too much live bacteria.


another thing i noticed, one of the red cap orandas i think is sick... he swiming ok , but slow sometimes (like floting swiming-slowmotion)sometimes.his red cap is fading to light red color. I feed them peas, and put more bacteria as it said use more if you have sick fish or something like that


i will be able to send you picture soon


Many thanks,

imran