Aquarium Help

[mooseroo]

Follow the advice of everyone above. They are all pretty bang-on in identifying the potential sources of your problem.

 

The two biggest things I'd warn you against are:

 

1) Don't clean the filter pads with tap water. The filter pads are not only there to mechanically strain the water but also to promote the growth of a bacterial colony within the pads that breaks down the nasty pollutants coming out of the business end of your fish. The chlorine (assuming municipal water supply) in your tap water will kill all the bacteria in your filter media and cause a yo-yo effect in the tank. The bacteria are more important than the mechanical filtration. You can use a bucket of stale water (water left in a clean aquarium-use-only bucket for 24 hours) and shake/squeeze the filter pads to remove much of the gunk (scientific term) and then replace the pads in the filter. A healthy filter can absorb a little over-feeding.

 

2) Don't do 50% water changes unless absolutely necessary. A 50% change will so radically change the chemistry of your tanks water that you will again get that yo-yo effect and it will never stabilize. Stick with 10-20% changes weekly and always (if not too inconvenient) use stale water (water in that same bucket at least overnight) to do make your changes. By doing only 10% water changes, you can use a small 1+ gallon bucket to "make" stale water overnight and another bucket as a drain/wash bucket. You also won't have to run back and forth from the tap multiple times to make your changes. Two dedicated buckets makes tank maintenance pain free.

 

The key to easy tank maintenance and healthy fish is to minimize the drastic changes in water quality and balance the feeding with the filter/plants/light levels/temperature.

 

Bonus Thought: Make sure that only one person in your house can feed the fish. If the food is out, the tendency is to just pop in a bit of food cause they "looked hungry." Fish, in particular goldfish and koi, will eat food until the cows come home! Put the food in a cupboard and feed them only once a day. Don't skip days, just feed much less.

Edited October 24, 2007 by mooseroo

[Uncle Buck]

Tank Update...

 

Water is relatively clear...

no greenish water, but it is still cloudy white....

 

looks like the new filter/phosphate is doing it's job? but again, i'm still not getting crystal clear water?

i changed the water/filter Monday Night...

 

i can't see clearly through the aquarium? any ideas?

[Mike Pike]

I had a similar set-up to yours Buck, just no Pleco. A couple of fancy goldfish about the same size as your koi in the same size take and no problems. I'm outa answers, myself. Really odd your problem.

[mpt]

Buck, Take it easy. Wait 2 more days. Once you disturb the bacteria layer it takes a while to clear. There may also be decomposing food still in the tank which has to get broken down. I think the tubidity is from dead bacteria and they need to get broken down also. The filter won't filter them out it has to run it's course. If the fish look health just wait, if they are breathing hard or in active then you may have to try something different. Don't go over 10-15% water changes that really stresses the fish unless you do it quite often to try to get the fish to spawn but they need to get used to it. Good luck and just relax.

[noofy]

budk its noofy,i traded u motors,k.at big als,get what they call a sponge filter,.it takes in backteria and breaks down in the sponge and gets a colony going,,works well,,ive bred discus n angels for years and all i had was a bare botton tank with sponge filters and a slate,hope it helps,,noofy