[RN2bmumof3]

I have had tanks all my life but recently have discovered the joy of african cichlids. I have a 65 gal hex tank with about 18 fish mostly mbunas to start until I get the hang of it and feel comfortable getting more. I have never had any problems with water conditions Ph kH Gh etc. but this is driving me crazy! I cant figure out what is going on! The water is cloudy and I cant figure out why! It has been up since october and I had no problems until christmas. I had a really bad algea bloom and not knowing what else to do I broke it down and boiled all my rocks cleaned it out all but the bio filters was cleaned out really good. I figured I would have to watch it close and expect a bit of cloudyness for a while as I re-cycled the tank but it has been over a month and another algea bloom. This time I covered the tank with a blanket for a few days and moved the tank to a corner in my livingroom that gets no direct sunlight. It is no longer green but it is still very cloudy. What is going on?? My PH is very stable at 8.0 my temp stays at 79 degrees F my nitrates and nitrites and amonia are all within safe levels, but my KH is up over 400 and my Gh i couldnt tell you because i have tried up to 40 drops and still no color change! Could this be causeing my cloudy water problem? My other though was maybe some of the rocks I have, but they were all boiled and soaked 48hrs before I put them in the tank. I tried to take the rocks out but that causes my fish to become aggressive and I dont want that. I have been having to do a 15% water change every 3 days just to keep the hardness just under 400 and be able to at least see the fish. I only feed every other day and only enough that they can finish it in 1-2 min so I dont think its an overfeeding problem, I have 2 20-40gal whisper over the back filters running and 2 air bubblers on the bottom to help keep the bottom clean and oxogenated since the tank is deep and the filters dont have high turbulence to get O2 to the bottom. I have also tested my tap to see if that was the problem and th KH is around 107. What is going on I am going nuts trying to clear it up. Please dont suggest chemicals like aqua clear I really dont believe in adding chemicals the only thing i add is the API proper PH 8.2 and not very much since some of my rocks already raise the PH a little. Here are a few pictures of the tank maybe someone can spot a rock that may cause an issue of tell what is going on my the apperance of the water. Sorry I couldnt get the picture to show up but I am not sure how to but if you copy nad paste this you should be able to get to th picture.[/url]

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=8 ... 1676479624

 

[loffy74]

maybe one of those rocks are bleeding deposits, i dont know which one . try removing the large rocks first and do a water change to see if you can narrow down the cause of the milky water.

thats where i would start

dont add any chemicals

 

[Dowork11b]

i never like to boil my rocks becuz you can change a solid mineral into a liquid through heat in witch if you change the cimistry of the rocks. try taking out the gravel you have, that could be whats milking out into your tank. my brother had the same prob. i gave him some crushed coral and no prob now. the crushed coral works great to keep your PH up as well.

my way of cleaning rocks. (its A way not (THE WAY))
one 5 gallon buckit 1cap full of bleach fill with hot water add rocks. let rocks sit for 15min in bleach. empty out the bleach water, rince out then add cold water and 5tps of start right to nutralize the bleach. then rince them all off and alow to air dry.

most my not like how i clean my rocks but iv had no prob with this method in over 8years of have my tank up and runing. it works great even with my freshwater stingrays who have bread in my outdoor pond the last 2 summers i clean my pond this way once a month durring the summer. they are really easly harmed by cimicals and i havent had any probs.

 

[DJRansome]

Since your cloudy water has lasted more than a week and you have filters running with fine filter pads, etc. I would not think it was particulate.

The only other cause of cloudy water I know of is a bacteria bloom which would be a reaction to ammonia. What is the ammonia reading in your tank?

 

[Kanorin]

I'm not sure what's going on, but if it were me, I'd start with a large (about 70%) water exchange.

We might be able to better help if you can provide us with the exact ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings.

 

[RN2bmumof3]

My amonia levels are at 0 or at least low enough that the test is not detecting it I also use ammo chips in my filters so the levels should not have a chance to get high, but just in case I will change the chips out and reactivate them to see if it helps.

 

[Kanorin]

How about Nitrite and Nitrate levels?

 

[RN2bmumof3]

Also I do not have regular gravel I use smooth marble stones and some sea shells they are larger and make it hard for any waste to settle in the bottom and I have a large carved rainbow feller stone which helps to raise the PH similar to the crushed coral. Could the fact that my GH and KH are up over 400 cause this? and if so what would cause my GH and KH to be so High.

 

[RN2bmumof3]

nitrite and nitrate are 0 and less than 20

 

[RN2bmumof3]

It is about time to move the rocks around for them so I am thinking about doing about a 50% water change at the same time if this is a bacteria bloom would this be enough to clear it up or would it be too much risking going through new tank syndrome again?

 

[newforestrob]

you mentioned you boiled and cleaned everything except your bio filters,what type of filters and what kind of media do you use,you might try putting in fine pads of some sort-cant really say since dont know what type of filter
you mentioned covering the tank and it got rid of the algea,what type of lighting ,and for how long ,hrs/day

 

[Dowork11b]

idk if it works for fresh water tanks but i know if i had clowdy water in my salt water tank i would buy a small bag of Diatom powder and run a polisher in my wisper canaster. it would clear up in about 20min. afterwards clean the polisher and just run the normal filters. if you can get your hands on a cheap Diatom filiter youll never want to get rid of it. they work amazing.

 

[DJRansome]

I would try posting in Dr. Tim's forum and see if he can suggest something.