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

[wandering]

There are no local pet shops, thats one of the reason I've taken such a low-maintenance approach, couldnt even buy more food until about 6 months ago. Also I used to work for a place that did water testing and it was literally just a dip stick test with an electronic camera-reader plugged into a computer, so if dipsticks are inaccurate then I am not sure I would trust theirs to be accurate either.

I think you will find that low maintenance requires lots of plants especially those that emerge and interact with the air, and fairly low bio load. Not sure how big a water volume that would require for an adult axolotl but its going to be Big, I think. Bit of a pet subject for me, as I like to go out a lot in the summer Got Walsted book for Christmas from my brother year before last. Recommended for low maintenance systems! Its basically about putting nitrogen in via food and removing it via plants (via interaction with the air and some go on the compost heap or are given away). Its all about the nitrogen.........

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[clawdate]

Can you imagine using this "rule" on another pet such as a dog .. Well i wont give my dog as much water today so i dont have to let it out as much, i wont feed my dog as much anymore as less food = less waste less waste = my lawn staying fresher.. Damn irresponsible i u ask me .. Whats the point askin for advice on here if your just going to disregard it!!!! Rant over

dogs are not cold blooded.

And here is a question: If the cloudiness were caused by bacteria, and the bacteria were feeding on nitrates in the water, then why did the tank get cloudier after I did a 80% water change? There would have been 80% less nitrates for them to supposedly feed on, so that should have made it better, not worse.

Also the tank is a little less cloudy today

 

[Moobear2010]

dogs are not cold blooded.

And here is a question: If the cloudiness were caused by bacteria, and the bacteria were feeding on nitrates in the water, then why did the tank get cloudier after I did a 80% water change? There would have been 80% less nitrates for them to supposedly feed on, so that should have made it better, not worse.

Also the tank is a little less cloudy today

Aww well that makes all the difference doesnt it? Cold or warm blooded your under feeding to convenience yourself?
Sounds abusive to me...

Well the same thing happened to me and i changed a vast amount of water (which i now know is not good) change regularly instead of one big change keep up to changes but i dont know why i am even wasting my energy to type this to you as you have blatently already sed u are too lazy to do this... I dont see why u have any living thing if u cannot be ar**d to keep up to maintenance unfair on the animal if ya ask me ....

 

[clawdate]

Derailed..... How so?

My original posts asked you about your water parameters!

What else could it have been causing the cloudiness but bad water quality!
Eventually you got a form of test - even if everyone knows strip tests aren't accurate - but at least you got them! This proved my point that with your nitrates readings at the highest end & that can only be put down to your laziness & conscious effort to reduce basic maintenance, when apparently you do know better.

Seeing the way you keep them & hearing you brag about your lazy attitude towards keeping an animal in an aquarium properly makes me beyond annoyed! It'd be like keeping a cat on a litter tray so it was up to its own belly in putrid waste... People would never consider that acceptable yet you happily keep your axolotls in similar conditions.... Proudly! And you don't think you're going to be condemned for that? Sorry but I cannot hold my tongue when I see such blatant animal mistreatment.

As for rep... I couldn't give a flying f*** what rep I get! I will always stand up to idiots & speak the truth, I will not tiptoe on eggshells trying not to offend..... Pftttt to that! Let others sit on their hands & bite their tongues....
I won't ever do that & I will continue to call a goose a goose!

My greatest hope is that you have woken up to the fact that your levels of maintenance (or lack of) are not acceptable & if you can bring your standards up to a minimum basic level - then I hold hope for your axolotls. It is sheer luck that you have not had more serious issues up till this point & they do deserve better. I hope you can afford them that basic right - a healthy environment & I hope they reward you with long healthy lives.



<3 >o_o< <3

Not lazy husbandry, adequate husbandry.

And dont make claims like "what else could be causing the cloudiness but poor water quality" when you know NOTHING about my water quality until I've reported it, and even then you have no way of knowing that the water quality is indeed the culprit. Those kinds of claims are pure conjecture and are not worth much in my eyes. If you have a good, solid reason for thinking that, then I would love to hear it. But if you are gonna blame the cloudiness on water quality simply because you think the water quality is bad, then you are just pulling ideas out of your butt.

 

[clawdate]

anyone know if a moss rock will survive on ambient lighting? I think it might survive better than the elodea I used last time, will pick some up from Petsmart later.

 

[Moobear2010]

Not lazy husbandry, adequate husbandry.

And dont make claims like "what else could be causing the cloudiness but poor water quality" when you know NOTHING about my water quality until I've reported it, and even then you have no way of knowing that the water quality is indeed the culprit. Those kinds of claims are pure conjecture and are not worth much in my eyes. If you have a good, solid reason for thinking that, then I would love to hear it. But if you are gonna blame the cloudiness on water quality simply because you think the water quality is bad, then you are just pulling ideas out of your butt.

But... What else could it be other than water quality n bacteria bloom? In your eyes u see adequate husbandry but it would seem to a majority its inadequate sorry for been blunt

 

[clawdate]

Aww well that makes all the difference doesnt it? Cold or warm blooded your under feeding to convenience yourself?
Sounds abusive to me...

It makes a big difference because its based on my understanding of the animal's physiology. My aim has been to keep them in a low metabolic state.

But... What else could it be other than water quality n bacteria bloom? In your eyes u see adequate husbandry but it would seem to a majority its inadequate sorry for been blunt

If I knew what it was then I would not be posting on here about it.

Look at it from my perspective. I have been caring for them in this manner without negative consequences, why would I change that? Dont fix what isnt broken. You can tell me that what I am doing is wrong, but the facts disagree. They have been fine like this for 3 years. If it was the water conditions that caused the cloudiness, then wouldnt both tanks be affected? There are a lot of unanswered questions, but I am not going to jump to conclusions without sufficient evidence.

 

[tigmades]

Like someone else said, the fact that it's in one tank over the other likely means that there was a source of food for the algae to thrive on - could something have fallen in the water? a hidden pellet that dissolved? Did you add any new items to the tank recently/a bit before the cloudiness started? Depending on where you got the items, they could actually react with water over time and release elements into the water.

I think what most of us are thinking is, if the water quality was fine, you wouldn't have any issues with your algae. No matter what the cloudiness is from, either directly or indirectly it is because of the water parameters. The only other thing that would cause cloudiness is dust, so unless you recently put in sand it will be due to an issue from the water parameters.

For plants, I would suggest anubias. They are very hardy and very hard to kill - mine has thrived in my low light tank - I started with about 5"x5" piece and now 2 years later it's 30" x 5" of a few pieces together.

 

[tigmades]

Reducing the amount of food doesn't change their metabolic state/rate. Temperature, however, will.

 

[Kaysie]

If the cloudiness were caused by bacteria, and the bacteria were feeding on nitrates in the water, then why did the tank get cloudier after I did a 80% water change?

Because the bacteria are starving/dying, causing them to be more opaque. It's a case of "it'll get worse before it gets better."

Electronic testing is much different than 'dipstick' tests, where the water reacts with chemicals on a paper. Electronic testing is the most accurate, but isn't available to most home aquarium enthusiasts.

Moss usually thrives well at lower light levels than Elodea. I can't keep elodea alive to save me. lol

I'm going to lock this thread before it gets any more out of hand. Personally, I agree: if you've been keeping them this way for 3 years and they haven't died yet, why would you change? Professionally, I don't think you're keeping them as well as you could be. But it's like people who keep their axolotls on gravel; it works for some, but not for everyone.

This forum serves to help people, not berate them. If someone is doing something that isn't conducive to keeping animals healthy, we inform them of the correct way to do it and encourage them to change. Do not resort to petty insults and name calling.