swissian Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 I am having a serious problem. My tank became cloudy about a week ago. I think it started occurring after I did a rescape or shortly after adding some shrimp I had ordered. There is also gross fungus like on new driftwood everywhere. It was so bad that it clogged a filter intake pipe and its impeller. I have upped the water changes to daily 10% and then today did a 60% water change after finding dead shrimp. I now have no PRL CRS left... Anyways, I am including a picture of the gross tank and the 3 shrimp I pulled out today that are alive but have their own cloudy issues... I hope that someone here has some idea on what I can do. ammonia, nitrate and nitrite are all at 0 ppm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 Looks to me as if something is fouling your water and causing a bacterial bloom. What kind of food are you using, and when do you remove uneaten food, if at all? If those shrimp were cherries, I'd say they had a bad bacterial infection. Someone else will have to answer for crs though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mamashack Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 How on earth do you manage to keep your nitrates at 0? I'm struggling to keep mine below 10 ppm. Is it a mature tank - did you keep the substrate wet whilst you were rescaping? Did you use dechlorinated water for rinsing everything? In other words did you do anything that could have compromised the beneficial bacteria? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miwu Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 Yeah, how long has this tank been set up? Sounds and looks like it's not established well. To be honest it looks like a mess :/. I think I'm seeing dead leaves in the tank which can be fouling your water. I think you need to clean up the tank and let it establish some kind of balance before adding shrimps. I'd especially not mess in a tank of PRLs... Keep doing water changes and I think it's always a good idea to dose some of that stability when you're not sure. Are you using RO water? It keeps your water source stable and in your control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenteam Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 remove the new driftwood see if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swissian Posted September 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 I actually have not fed them in over a week. I normally only feed them a little every 3 days. I have only added some shield with every water change.The tank has been set up for 2 years with this current substrate. I always rinse sponges off in chlorinated water and add prime to water before adding to the tank. Water where I am at is extremely soft. With the rescaping, I actually did not remove more than a gallon and a half of water. I also only removed some hair grass and replaced it with a different type. I'm going to go buy some paraguard today to see if that helps. It does seem like a bad bacterial bloom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpo Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 What is the KH reading? I guess the beneficial bacteria is not functioning at extremely soft water tank that is 2 years old, in other word, all the KH been used already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swissian Posted September 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 KH is 1 and GH is 4. The pH is 6.5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MN Shrimping Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 I always rinse sponges off in chlorinated water and add prime to water before adding to the tank. It was my understanding that sponges should be rinsed off in water taken from the tank, or at least decholinated water. Rinsing them in chlorinated eater could kill the beneficial bacteria. This combined with the escape probably started a mini cycling leading to the bacteria bloom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc4PC2 Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 That is strange that you are getting that, with a Ph, GH, and KH all right in line. Sometimes the water will just clear up by itself in a day or two. Check your filters to make sure they are all running and not clogged at all. But with your water parameters where they are, it is strange that your water is getting cloudy like this. Is the temp around 72, 73 degrees? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swissian Posted September 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 It was my understanding that sponges should be rinsed off in water taken from the tank, or at least decholinated water. Rinsing them in chlorinated eater could kill the beneficial bacteria. This combined with the escape probably started a mini cycling leading to the bacteria bloom. Sorry, that was a typo! I meant dechlorinated. Normally it is water I take from the tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swissian Posted September 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 That is strange that you are getting that, with a Ph, GH, and KH all right in line. Sometimes the water will just clear up by itself in a day or two. Check your filters to make sure they are all running and not clogged at all. But with your water parameters where they are, it is strange that your water is getting cloudy like this. Is the temp around 72, 73 degrees? I check the filters everyday since the pre-filters clog so easily with this gross water. The temperature is around 74 degrees as I am running a fan on top of the water too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 I had cloudy water when I was using a sponge pre filter. I got a ss mesh filter guard from Han and my tank cleared up. Are you using carbon in any of your filtration? If it's bacterial infection maybe try some alder cone's, leave the tank light's off for a few day's try not to mess with it too much sometimes it dose more harm than good. Doc4PC2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swissian Posted September 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 High5, I have the carbon insert in my hob and purigen in the canister. Goodnews, 1 day of paraguard and the water already looks way better. I also have not noticed any more dead shrimp! I'm hoping this keeps up! High5's 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie1208 Posted September 2, 2014 Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 Sounds like you may have lost your BB and are going through a re-cycling event. Painful as it is. I hope I'm wrong Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie1208 Posted September 2, 2014 Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 Once you start seeing nitrates you could most likely use purigen - it does away with most ammonia, nitrates. Will definitely clear your water while the cycle continues. The purigen may prolong the cycle but as long as you have nitrates you know you haven't killed it Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted September 2, 2014 Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 Take the carbon out it's not bad and it's not good. It will absorb ammonia and when it's done it will also release it , most shrimpers will tell you not to use carbon. Stuff some filter floss in there instead or some sponge maybe some bio media. Good to hear thing's are clearing up for you = ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swissian Posted September 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 Take the carbon out it's not bad and it's not good. It will absorb ammonia and when it's done it will also release it , most shrimpers will tell you not to use carbon. Stuff some filter floss in there instead or some sponge maybe some bio media. Good to hear thing's are clearing up for you = ] Thanks for the advice. I will be getting rid of the HOB soon. I removed the carbon and the purigen while I am doing the paraguard treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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