Yellowish/Cloudy Water

[lissa]

Thanks Kimmy for your advice,

I was seriously considering adding some LR actually yesterday, but when I found out the price($8.00 /#) , I decided not to add it at this time. My tank is fish only, and when I upgrade my size/system then I will add LR and corals.

But greatly appreciated your advice,
Lissa

[Bogie]

You don't have to wait until water changes to clean the glass. Just buy the magnetic MAG-FLOAT glass cleaner. It works awsome, and you don't have to get your hands wet.

[R34dawn]

Dear Lord! that's like $360.00 for 45# did you try live aquaria delivers
I gave $182.00 for it because of where I live....that is shipping and all
fiji premium

[lissa]

In response why I clean the back of the fish tank at water changes, so that the water gets disturbed while vacuuming and cleaning of the rear glass at the same time.

I do have one of those magnetic cleaner which is fabulous, which I use every other day, on the front and L/R sides.

[lissa]

In response to the LR:

Yea no doubt...., not ready to invest that much on this system....but will look into alternative places to buy in the future.

I did see on ebay people/stores selling LR at about $4-5 #, but I think the shipping will get to about the same by the time I landed here.

Somone suggested craigslist.com, I will check it out, if I do find something more reasonable I will definetly consider adding some now just for the cleaning and cycling aspect of it.

[kimmy]

craiglsit is a great option. Mostly if you can get some out of an established tank, comes with great critter (fingers crossed) and quite possible no cycle!!!

[sssnake]

Originally Posted by lissa

...So when and how often should water changes be done, becasue a previous memeber suggested at least once a week.

For a fish only system with LR/LS I personally don't believe in water changes for the sake of just doing a water change. If my water params are good I leave things be. Like I previously mentioned my tank is one year old and have yet to change any water.

In a reef system this may be different as you may need to replenish some of the elements which are consumed by the corals themselves. Check this out:

Water Changes

[Tangster]

Originally Posted by lissa

I have noticed the last couple of days, the water looks cloudy and yellowish, especially when the lights are off in the daylight. When I turn on the canopy the water looks great from the front, but from the sides it's cloudy and yellowish.

What can I do and or buy to have pristine water.

This aquarium sits on top of my wood burning fireplace (which gets rarely used) and takes up the whole depth of the mantel. Therefore not leaving space for additional attachments ie; protien skimmer, which I think could be the solution.

Lissa

You are now at 5 months with a rather heavy bio load on a new smaller tank.. And at 4 to 5 months a skimmer is required really , And by being a F/O its more so needed then on a more naturally balanced reef system where the corals help to clean up the fish waste to a point.. Now if it where myself and its not and with the location of the tank as described by you would not have been my 1st choice of spots to set the tank in.

But if it where myself I'd at least get myself a internal air powered skimmers like a Lee's or Red sea or Turboflotor and a good strong air pump that can set on the floor and a few spare Coral-life wooden air blocks so as to keep one ready one in the skimmer and one in a bleach /water soak. and a new spare. Thats will do much to help with the cloudy looking water.. Now if it where myself I'd find away to get some Carbon in that system somehow/somewhere and that is the major cause of your yellowish water.. Lack of carbon.. What type filter do you use on this system ? Not sure I saw it or I missed it ?
But there are certain have to have and items in any aquarium and with these I find a skimmer of some type is far better then none at all and Carbon for myself its as necessary as water is to keep them healthy and clean..

There is no such thing as new water just filtered water.. There has been no new water added to this planet since time began.. Its just filtered and re mineralized old water.

There is a yellow water test we used to do in the old days low tech and all but we would take a piece of white photo paper or a square of white plastic like a old bleach jug take a yellow highlighter marker and make a yellow circle on the white paper or plastic stick it on one end of the tank then look through the other end to see how well we could see the yellow mark.. To know when we needed to use carbon. But that was way way back when it was truly thought that carbon would strip the saltwater . But over the last 40 yrs or more many of us found out carbon helps more then it harms and I run it in a reactor 24/7 1 cup per 100 gallons and change it out every 4 weeks. And I never change water.. Have tanks running 12 yrs now never a changed drop of water.. And the old carbon hurts the system myth seems to be a hold over that almost went the way of the Dodo bird and deep sand bed systems (:

[lissa]

Hey tangster,

Great advice !

I introduced on April 26, a protien skimmer and a sack of pura complete, and wow what a difference in my tank. I should have taken before/after photos.
Too good to be true

The reason I decide to place the tank on top of our oversize fireplace mantel was so that we could all enjoy the fish. It's in our family room which due to a large sectional, window, fireplace and large media cabinet, left no real wall space for it. (we spend most of our time here as a family)

On previous installation of fresh water, I have had the tank in an upstairs hall, master bedroom and in childrens playroom, but what tended to happen we would not enjoy them as much and they became forgotten, and I was the only one who took care of them. (cleaning/feeding).

So when I ventured into this set-up I though this would be the best option for the tank. We do not use the fireplace, it's purely ornamental, but it is very large and deep, and at the perfect height to be viewed by all who sit/stand in our family room.

I enjoy this hobby too much, that I will be upgrading this system by next year, and already deciding to knock out a wall between the family room and living room to accomodate a 200 gal, that can be viewed by both sides.

I hope when the time comes, you and the other memebers will be able to guide me each step of the way to a succesfull aquarium.

Lissa

[Tangster]

Thats great to hear Lissa happy you got it all fixed up a happy hobbyist is a hobbyist that will stick around .