cloudy water, strong smell

helpcomputer

tank is a 29 gallon high, aquaclear 200 filter. (all 2-3") 3 red tail tinfoil barbs, jewel, jaguar, green terror. all acting normal... or normal for them, crazy fish!


Anyway, did my 20% water change yesterday, normal dose of aquasafe and salt, everything was normal when I woke up this morning. Replaced filter media earlier today, about an hour or so afterwards I noticed the water started to become cloudy, and a few hours afterwards I noticed the odor of the tank had gotten a bit stronger (can't normally smell it from my computer desk.) Now, I had dropped and broke the hood that fit on my tank, didn't want the barbs to jump out so I found an old screen lid and placed a 10 gallon hood on top of the screen for now. When the bubbles on the surface of the water pop, condensation builds up on the mesh and eventually drips back down into the tank. I'm not poisoning my fish with this mesh lid, am I?


thank you!

brian

Dtld9

Did you clean the hood before you put it on there? What are the water parameters? Do you gravel vac when you do your water changes?

jeaninel

What does the odor smell like. And did you replace ALL your filter media? How long has the tank been set up?

helpcomputer

Cleaned the hood and the screen lid with hot water. I do indeed vacuum the gravel when I do water changes. Tank has been up for about a month. All filter media was changed... i can't place the smell, its not offensive, but its not pleasant either.

jeaninel

Most of your beneficial bacteria lives on your filter media. By changing all the media you probably caused a mini-cycle and that's why your water clouded up. What type of media is in the filter? You should just rinse it with old tank water and reuse it except if your running carbon, that should be replaced every 2-3 weeks.

willow

we really need to know please.

helpcomputer

I am heading out in a few to look at filters, seems i don't have a test kit atm. I'll respond with my parameters in an hour or two..

bettababy

While we're dealing with the water quality issues, you'll also need to realize that these fish can't stay in this tank, and not together. Your tinfoil barbs will eventually be food for the jag and terror, who may easily tear each other apart, too. I'm not sure who helped you to stock this tank, but they need a good kick in the pants.

These are all extremely large fish. While they may be small now, they grow fast, are known to be overly aggressive (jag and terror) and waste machines. That tank won't sustain them for long.

For the jag and terror alone, minimum about 75 gallons with extreme amounts of deocrations is going to be needed. For the tinfoils, with 3 of them, 200+ for sure. You can move up in steps as they grow if you want to spend all the extra money, but if left in that tank, but this time next year I wouldn't expect there to be anything left.
Sorry if that sounds blunt, but sometimes that is the only way to be honest.

helpcomputer

Just inherited a 40 long from a friend, she couldn't handle the bearded dragon that was in it, so one of her friends adopted it and she gave the tank to me. Also picked up a Penguin 350 today. $26.99, petsmart (yeah, i know) I only intend to use this tank for maximum of 3 months.. hopefully I will have a JOB by then and can afford the 55 or 70 I've been eyeing. Still no water parameters, though the stank has subsided, water is clear. Left the old hagen in the tank so I don't have another minicycle.

bettababy

The 70 might hold the jag and terror for a while, but not those tinfoil barbs. The barbs will get 14 inches each... nowhere in a 70 gallon tank to put 3 of those. In 75 gallons you might be able to keep up with 1 by itself.... It would be a smart idea to start thinking "really big" for those barbs if you intend to keep them long term. These fish grow quite rapidly.