Tank has been cloudy for over a month, what could it be??

[clawdate]

One of my tanks suddenly got cloudy over a month ago, and it has not gone away

The situation is almost exactly the same as described here:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...-substrate/66417-persistant-cloudy-water.html

-one axolotl in a 10g tank, with a small in-tank filter, feeding shrimp pellets
-using tap water run through a Brita filter, and also supplemented with distilled water
-barebottom tank, only ornaments are some PVC pipe, plastic plant, and large pebbles >1"
-cool room temps, in the mid to low 60's, so the water is not hot
-tank is near a window but the sides are lined with paper to keep out the light, very little algal growth
-there is never any food or waste debris lying around, I do not feed them much

Almost over night, the water took on a white cloudiness. What is interesting is that I have a second tank right next to it, kept in the exact same conditions, and it is not cloudy. I have had both tanks for several years under these conditions and never had this happen before. The cloudiness has persisted for over a month now.

I dont have any readings on ammonia or nitrate levels, because I dont test for them as I have never had to. Everything has been fine for more than 3 years like this. I have not changed anything at all about their care.

I tried doing a large scale water change, I replaced about 2/3 of the water with store bought distilled water, but it did not make a difference. I changed the filter, and that did not make a difference either. Not sure what to do next. I work in a Bio lab so I will take a sample in to see if there are microbes present in large quantities.

Any ideas?

 

[Sylerwin]

Even if you feel like you don't have to, get a test kit for ammonia anyway and test the water.
If it is high, one way to lower ammonia is to add bacteria to the water. (plants, chemical supplement, moss ball).

 

[clawdate]

yeah I will pick on up tomorrow

 

[FX1C]

Is there a reason you can't just use tap water that has been dechlorinated? Brita & distilling water remove all minerals which is not good at all & is not recommended for use in aquariums.

Keeping tanks without testing can be disastrous as you aren't aware of small problems building up in the water - it's only when they become bigger problems that you will pick up these issues. Clarity is no indicator of any chemical imbalances or spikes in dangerous toxins.

I'm currently reading about ammonia & how it can change in toxicity levels depending on the Ph of the water - higher Ph will mean that ammonia becomes incredibly toxic at much lower levels. Which means the 'safe' window is a very narrow gap between safe & toxic.

Also, why are you feeding shrimp pellets? They aren't really a highly recommended food - especially for adult axolotls - there are far better & easier food options that provide a better nutritional value for an axolotl diet such as earthworms



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[clawdate]

trust me there are plenty of minerals in the water, the sides of the tank are covered in scale

had these guys for more than 3 years, raised one from a juvie and one from egg, never needed water test kits

 

[FX1C]

trust me there are plenty of minerals in the water, the sides of the tank are covered in scale

had these guys for more than 3 years, raised one from a juvie and one from egg, never needed water test kits

Just because you haven't had a test kit doesn't necessarily mean you haven't needed it... It's more luck than science than you've managed to keep your axolotl alive.

I understand that some people seem to like to muddle through without testing - but given the easy availability of test kits it doesn't seem worth it to work on guess work alone. The people I know who are truly passionate aquaria lovers are adamant that testing is essential to keeping tank water & tank environment consistent & healthy.

Personally I prefer to know exactly what's going on with my tank & I'm not prepared to treat my animals like a sacrificial canary down the mines only seeing a water quality problem after it has affected the health of my animals.... I'll pass & stick with regular testing!

Post a picture of the cloudy tank & your axolotls so we can get an idea of what might be causing the problem.



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[clawdate]

pic attached

 

[abbeh15]

I see you are using Whisper filters. How long have you been using them? When the white cottony filter bag gets caked with gunk, do you replace it?

 

[Kaysie]

Cloudiness is usually caused by bacterial blooms.

What's your cleaning regimen like? Maybe you have a pellet that didn't get cleaned up, hiding under a decoration.

 

[clawdate]

I see you are using Whisper filters. How long have you been using them? When the white cottony filter bag gets caked with gunk, do you replace it?

Yes I replace the filter cartridge when they get nasty, been using these filters for 2-3 years

 

[clawdate]

Cloudiness is usually caused by bacterial blooms.

What's your cleaning regimen like? Maybe you have a pellet that didn't get cleaned up, hiding under a decoration.

I clean as needed, which is not very often since the filters get most of the debris.

I did a water change on the cloudy tank last week with a siphon, and just checked again with a flashlight, there are no large deposits of debris. A few small flakes of junk here or there but nothing that would appear to cause a bacterial bloom.

Also the cloudiness has been getting worse over the past week or so.

 

[CJ1981]

You need to do a 'hoover' with the siphon and at least a 20% water change every week irrelevant of whether you have a filter or not plus hoovering out any poops and uneaten food as and when needed.

It is most likely a bacterial bloom as Kaysie says.

 

[clawdate]

how do you get rid of a bacterial bloom

 

[FX1C]

how do you get rid of a bacterial bloom

Cleaning your tank & regular water changes will help a lot. Removing poo as soon as possible saves overloading your filter - the filter in the cloudy tank is smaller than the other & will probably require more regular cleaning, rinsing it regularly in the water you've removed may help it from overloading. Do those filters contain carbon? If so how often do you change it as it has a short life (2mths) before it can leach back into the tank.

There also seems to be a lot of algae in the tanks which could be a lighting issue (getting too much) & the lack of live plants doesn't help to gain a healthy environment both for the water quality & also providing better coverage for the lotls.



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[clawdate]

There is never any poop in there, it always dissolves and gets taken up by the filter before I even see it. The filters have carbon in them. I change them regularly.

I was just thinking that maybe there is something inside the filter that needs to be cleaned out, besides the cartridge.

The algae in there is really not much compared to what it was when it first cropped up. Its not like I can get rid of it, it subsists on light from the room's lamps. I would put something like a moss rock in there but I dont know if there is enough light for it. As an experienced axolotl keeper I am sure you know that the axolotls chew up and eat any plants you put in with them, or at least mine do.

 

[FX1C]

I have loads of plants in my tank & sustained zero damage from axolotls!
If you've got enough light for algae you've got enough for plants.


Try giving your filter a good clean inside & out in dechlorinated water or old tank water. Get a toothbrush inside & scrub it well.

Do you use a dechlorinator as well as using brita & distilled water? I'm thinking you probably should as the brita isn't guaranteed to remove chloramines.



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[Kaysie]

Brown algae is actually composed of diatoms, and it seems they thrive on high phosphorous levels, regardless of the level of light. The only way to effectively eliminate it is to black out the tank completely.

Brown algae is unsightly, but it's not harmful. It's nothing I would worry about.

 

[Coastal Groovin]

Best guess is that you are doing something to upset the bacteria levels. How often and how large is your water changes? Anything in a 10 gallon over 2 gallons is to much. Plus 10 gallons tanks are very sensitive to water chemistry changes due to the low water volume. Large water changes can keep crashing your bacteria levels. I would do 3 small 1 gallon changes a week. It should correct itself in a couple weeks.

 

[clawdate]

I do water changes rarely, maybe every 3 or 4 months. Mostly I just add new water as the old evaporates. Dont see the need to change the water when the filter is catching all the food & waste, and the tank is cycling. Like I've said before these tanks have run fine like this for years. Though I did a major water change recently to try and help the cloudiness, and yes the cloudiness has gotten worse since then.

And I do not use decholorinator on the water, I dont like the idea of adding chemicals to my tanks unnecessarily. Never had any problems using the water after running it through the Brita. Most of the time it sits out & open for a day or two as well before it gets put in the tank.

 

[clawdate]

Also if I try to grow plants the algae is just going to bloom up again so I really dont see the point, unless I want everything covered in algae