| | Crystal Clear Water in Tank | |
| | Author | Message |
---|
IbUdIDAHI Private
Posts : 20 Location : Allen, Tx 75002 Favorite Fish: : DATNOIDS!!
| Subject: Crystal Clear Water in Tank 8/17/2011, 3:31 pm | |
| I'm just wondering why the water in my tank isn't clearstal clear yet? I've had it running for about 3-4 months now and it still isn't clear to where I can say, "dang"! Maybe it's b/c I'm using sand rather than gravel? I also do regular water changes every week. It's a 135 gallon tank with a 8" Oscar, 8' Pacu, 3" Datnoid and a 5" Redtail Catfish. Oh, and I'm using a Fluval FX5 as my filter which is built for a 400 gallon tanks.
Any suggestions anyone?
Thanks, Jimmy | |
| | | jb1edlover Chief Wrnt. Off. 2
Posts : 363 Location : Hampton VA Favorite Fish: : I have the fish in my avatar but the photo was taken by Nick Andreola of the HCCC. His photography skills are a little better than mine!
| Subject: Re: Crystal Clear Water in Tank 8/17/2011, 4:34 pm | |
| When you say regular water changes how much are you changing? If you're changing too much maybe you're not letting the tank actually cycle. Sand would actually make the water a little clearer than gravel in my experience. What do your water parameters look like? (ie amonia, Nitrates, nitrites etc..). If you really are bothered by the "clearness" of the water open the canister and throw a couple pouches or a bag of Charcoal in the filtration system. It will clear the water up a pretty good amount. Most only use charcoal to remove medicines out of the water but it is actually very good at making the water sparkle! The Fluval is definately enough filter for the tank but you might want to consider adding some type of hang on filter. If nothing they will help with water circulation and keeping the temeratures down in the tank. One last "big" thing is what is your outflow like on the FX-5. Do you have much sag in the hoses? If you have much sag it really effects the 'inflow and outflow' of water. You need to cut enough hose that its pretty much comes from the top of the tank and goes right to the intake valve. Also the outflow should go pretty direct to the tank. If you have sagging in the hoses (Excess) then you really put a damper on the flow rate. JB
Last edited by jb1edlover on 8/17/2011, 4:35 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : typo) | |
| | | ornate12 Lieutenant Colonel
Posts : 1340 Location : New Iberia,Louisiana Favorite Fish: : Ornate Bichirs, Synodontis Angelicus, Filamentosus barb,
Aristochromis Christyi, Ptychochromis Grandidieri and all other Madagascar cichlids.
| Subject: Re: Crystal Clear Water in Tank 8/17/2011, 5:58 pm | |
| Without more information, I would say cut back on feedings! Your tank will clear up shortly. You'll drive yourself crazy with everyone's opinions. | |
| | | jb1edlover Chief Wrnt. Off. 2
Posts : 363 Location : Hampton VA Favorite Fish: : I have the fish in my avatar but the photo was taken by Nick Andreola of the HCCC. His photography skills are a little better than mine!
| Subject: Re: Crystal Clear Water in Tank 8/17/2011, 6:12 pm | |
| Ornate12 is probably right... sometimes we do over "think" and the problem could be as simple as over feeding! | |
| | | ornate12 Lieutenant Colonel
Posts : 1340 Location : New Iberia,Louisiana Favorite Fish: : Ornate Bichirs, Synodontis Angelicus, Filamentosus barb,
Aristochromis Christyi, Ptychochromis Grandidieri and all other Madagascar cichlids.
| Subject: Re: Crystal Clear Water in Tank 8/17/2011, 9:39 pm | |
| Sorry for the quick answer. My opinion is too much food leads to water quality problems. Heck we all do it lol | |
| | | Yeti Sergeant 1st Class
Posts : 202 Location : Tyler TX Favorite Fish: : Cichlids, Mbuna & Haps/Peacocks
Bitten by the saltbug
| Subject: Re: Crystal Clear Water in Tank 8/18/2011, 10:11 am | |
| I would agree with all the above, one other possibility is how often do you clean the glass?
I know it sounds simple, but sometimes, especially with a high flow filter I've found, the flow of water increases the slow build up of very fine particles on the inside of the glass. Only happens on one of my tanks, but that's the one where I'm running a filet that's 3x capacity of the tank. | |
| | | strikingthematch Captain
Posts : 1118 Location : Virginia Beach, VA Favorite Fish: : Discus, Stingrays, Arowana, Rams, and Angels
| Subject: Re: Crystal Clear Water in Tank 8/18/2011, 5:23 pm | |
| With a tank full of messy eaters it is easy to see why over feeding leads to large clarity issues and also some likely water quality ones as well. It is not uncommon to feed fish every other day. I tend to feed adult fish only once a day and no more then they can eat in 3 minutes.
With that FX5 you should have no filtration issues. I know the three I own keep the tanks looking amazing but the polishing pads to get dirty quickly if not cleaned out. The thing I found worked the best was to put a pre filter sponge on the inlet pipe. This kept the pads and large stuff out of my filter. It makes a world of difference and since those pads are expensive, well worth it!
Outside of that you may have to play around with how often you do water changes and how large each one is. One thing that can cause problem with any substrate (sand or otherwise) is trapping leftover food or waste. So a good cleaning when doing water changes can help to keep toxic levels of muck from building up.
Good luck!! | |
| | | IbUdIDAHI Private
Posts : 20 Location : Allen, Tx 75002 Favorite Fish: : DATNOIDS!!
| Subject: Re: Crystal Clear Water in Tank 8/19/2011, 3:04 pm | |
| Thanks everyone for the great advise!! You guys really are the pros. I really don't feed my fishes a lot, only about 1-2 times a day and I def don't over feed. Water changes every week is about 15-20%. It could be the carbon now that you brought it up, it's been about 2 months since I've last changed it. I do have a few questions and I'm sure one of you guys will be able to answer it.
I have a 135 g tank with a Fluval FX5 so keep that in mind.
1) How often do I have change the barbon out? 2) Will a lot of carbon harm my fishes? 3) How often do I have to change the Fluval BIOMAX Filter Media(white rings)
Thanks, Jimmy | |
| | | montemike72 Private First Class
Posts : 51 Location : kansas city metro area Favorite Fish: : oscars, green terrors
| Subject: Re: Crystal Clear Water in Tank 8/25/2011, 7:16 am | |
| have you ever noticed that some respondents have to say the same thing the person said before them, just in different words, its like they just want to hear themselves speak, it gets OLD people | |
| | | Sponsored content
| Subject: Re: Crystal Clear Water in Tank | |
| |
| | | | Crystal Clear Water in Tank | |
|
Similar topics | |
|
| Permissions in this forum: | You cannot reply to topics in this forum
| |
| |
| Who is online? | In total there are 12 users online :: 0 Registered, 0 Hidden and 12 Guests
None
Most users ever online was 885 on 4/28/2021, 6:39 am
|
Latest topics | » New To Site by Bishop 9/2/2022, 1:33 pm
» I'm BACK !!!!! by KMX 2/28/2019, 2:26 pm
» USA coming back? by lgsasquatch 1/12/2019, 9:06 pm
» -SL- Terrys Stocklist by Terry 1/9/2019, 9:36 am
» A look a my Set up! by BBurton 1/8/2019, 8:55 pm
» Send in your January POTM contest pics by ilicurtisili 1/7/2019, 1:55 am
» Salutations by BFinley 2/19/2017, 11:52 am
» Hello everyone by daenduckstreek 1/13/2017, 8:07 pm
» Hypancistrus (Colony Only) Sale - Shipping available - Allen TX by katiebear22 5/9/2015, 4:55 pm
» WTB L46 Zebra Plecos 2.5" or larger by katiebear22 5/9/2015, 4:53 pm
» algae prob please help!!! by wblueus 1/1/2015, 9:06 pm
» New to Fishbox by MitziK 12/28/2014, 9:57 pm
» Hello! by DreamFa11 12/26/2014, 3:06 pm
» -SL- proyect01 by proyect01 8/31/2014, 10:52 pm
» New to this forum by proyect01 8/31/2014, 10:49 pm
» Newbie by proyect01 8/31/2014, 10:46 pm
» Howdy...again! by proyect01 8/31/2014, 10:44 pm
» Hi Everyone by proyect01 8/31/2014, 10:43 pm
» Fort Myers, FL New Member by proyect01 8/31/2014, 10:40 pm
» Hello by proyect01 8/31/2014, 10:38 pm
» people in the dfw area. by koicrazy 8/8/2014, 3:12 pm
» where is the best place to get food for baby bettas? by Dr. Who 6/20/2014, 9:32 pm
» Water changes by Dr. Who 6/20/2014, 9:31 pm
» Anyone interested in - Samazi Frontosa - Mechanicsville, VA by Vikings 28 6/12/2014, 8:22 am
» Looking to buy Frontosa's by Vikings 28 6/12/2014, 8:17 am
|
|