kariF Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 Hi, I am writing about my son's tank. He started it about 7 weeks ago. Starting 3 weeks ago it had an algae bloom and was very green. I helped him with water changes and the algae is better, but the tank is so dirty. We bought the largest sponge filter and noisy pump from Aquarium coop. I swapped out the pump for another brand and still the tank is so dirty. I have helped him do a lot of water changes and use the net to clear any debris. I have had aquariums for 20 years on and off and never had an issue with a dirty tank. I have cleaned the sponge filter when we do water changes. We use a sponge filter in a small 5 gallon for my other son and don't have any issues. Why such a dirty tank? The water has so much particulate matter in it. I will say the last 7 weeks is my first experience with sponge filters. My daughters have a small 5 gallon tank that is so clear and pretty, we want the same for my son's 29 gallon. Thanks for any ideas or advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenFins Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 what size is the tank, a 5 gallon or a 29 gallon? Whats the stocking like? What are your water parameters? Could you send pictures? I have a feeling there is still some green water from your algae bloom, green water is especially hard to get out with waterchanges. I would suggest to do ONE of the following: -Turn off all lights in the aquarium, wrap a towel around the tank so no lighting can get in, make sure there are still some holes visible as we don't wanna suffacate the fish -Get floating plants, they will pull out the nutrients that the algae in the water is feeding off of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kariF Posted January 12, 2021 Author Share Posted January 12, 2021 (edited) It is a 29 gallon tank. He had 2 apistos and one died other than that he has 5 tetras and a mystery snail. Two days ago he added a bristle nose pleco and an algae eater. He has some floating plants, but maybe we need more. Also we have consistently checked the water and the parameters have all been normal. We were so surprised when the apisto died. The other one didn't look too good for awhile, but is perking up. He is a young teenage kid and he bought 2 fish that cost $22 each, he wants more expensive fish. I want to ensure his tank is healthy before he adds more expensive fish because I don't want him to lose anymore. Thanks for your help! Edited January 12, 2021 by kariF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marnol D Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 It looks like a bacteria bloom. Did you wait inbetween fish added or were they all added at once? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quikv6 Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 If I may add....it helps to have realistic expectations regarding mechanical filtration and the Coop's coarse sponge filters. They simply don't pick up really fine particulate in the water column, as they are just too coarse. Personally, I find that a worthy trade-off for the fact that it really doesn't clog up with debris, and I don't need to clean it nearly as often. I had a fry grow out tank running a co-op coarse sponge filter. I switched it out to another brand of very fine sponge, because fry kept swimming into the coarse sponge and getting stuck. Immediately I noticed a clarity in the water column that didn't exist when using the course sponge. Just my .02 with an A/B comparison in the same tank, with sponge as the only means of filtration. I am in no way knocking the co-op's course filters. I think they look great and work well, and use them in my main tank. Everything has pros and cons, and for me, the fine filter just made more sense to avoid fish loss in a fry tank. A bonus was the increase in water clarity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenFins Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 2 hours ago, kariF said: It is a 29 gallon tank. He had 2 apistos and one died other than that he has 5 tetras and a mystery snail. Two days ago he added a bristle nose pleco and an algae eater. He has some floating plants, but maybe we need more. Also we have consistently checked the water and the parameters have all been normal. We were so surprised when the apisto died. The other one didn't look too good for awhile, but is perking up. He is a young teenage kid and he bought 2 fish that cost $22 each, he wants more expensive fish. I want to ensure his tank is healthy before he adds more expensive fish because I don't want him to lose anymore. Thanks for your help! I would get more live plants especially floating plants. Here is a link to a list of aquarium plants that aquarium co-op recceomends for beginners: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/easy-aquarium-plants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancing Matt Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 (edited) I would try and dial in what is making the water cloudy. If it is green water it is likely not harmful. Combating it could require change in lighting and possibly extreme filtration. A bacteria bloom could resolve it self, I'm not sure if it would be harmful or not (my gut is likely not). How long is your light cycle? It may also be good to investigate why the aposto died. It may not be related to the cloudy water. Edited January 13, 2021 by Dancing Matt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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