Aquarium maintenance help

[frusterdated]

Heres what the tank looks like. 6 tiger barbs, 4 clown loaches, green terror, red tail shark, rhino plecco are its occupants.


Particles started appearing coming outta the return line from the sump





This is what my "mechanical filtration" looks like after a week or 2



And this is how nasty the return tubing looks coming from the sump



Does anyone have any input to what i need to do to get the water clear again?

I do water changes about every 3 to 4 days because the clowns and pleco poop sooo much.

Thanks

[mistahoo]

Wow! If you hadn't told us that that was from your mechanical filtration, I would've thought you had a piece of BBQ on your hands

[mistahoo]

All jokes aside, I would just keep up the water changes and replacing the filter batting on a regular basis. All that junk looks like debris from the filter batting being disturbed. I noticed there's some leftover food on the batting. Try lessening how much you feed as well. Looks like algae growth inside your return line. You could dose liquid CO2 to get rid of them, but since you have no plants, that wouldn't be a good idea. I like to use PVC or black vinyl tubing to prevent algae growth inside the tubes. Not much you can do about that one. Cutting back on feedings will reduce waste created and limit some of the algae growth.

[frusterdated]

yea its nasty. any ideas to if this is normal?

[newb]

Is that driftwood new to the tank???

[SunnyHouTX]

Op, how long has the tank been running? How often do you clean filters?

[mistahoo]

How your batting looks is normal, but looks like you left it there for quite some time. I feed very heavily, so when I would leave mine there for about 2 weeks, it'll turn black from food debris. Driftwood tannins will also stain the tank water brown and turn your batting brown as well.

[frusterdated]

Is that driftwood new to the tank???

no its been there since i started the tank.

[SunnyHouTX]

All jokes aside, I would just keep up the water changes and replacing the filter batting on a regular basis. All that junk looks like debris from the filter batting being disturbed. I noticed there's some leftover food on the batting. Try lessening how much you feed as well. Looks like algae growth inside your return line. You could dose liquid CO2 to get rid of them, but since you have no plants, that wouldn't be a good idea. I like to use PVC or black vinyl tubing to prevent algae growth inside the tubes. Not much you can do about that one. Cutting back on feedings will reduce waste created and limit some of the algae growth.

How your batting looks is normal, but looks like you left it there for quite some time. I feed very heavily, so when I would leave mine there for about 2 weeks, it'll turn black from food debris. Driftwood tannins will also stain the tank water brown and turn your batting brown as well.

+1

[morpheus]

I cant speak much for the pump, but tanks are naturally cloudy when you first start them. Ammonia and toxins can spike. A tank of that size with 13 fish, you are nowhere near the capacity to require water changes every 3-4 days (unless you verify with tests that ammonia, nitrites, etc. are high). Otherwise you are stressing the fish changing so often. If toxins are continually high I would point to possible over feeding to cause the cloudy look. Can also use some commercial chemicals to bind particles so the filter catches them

[mnemenoi]

Add some Purigen to clear those tannins

[mistahoo]

Add some Purigen to clear those tannins

Purigen is a great water polisher! It's like carbon x99999999

[frusterdated]

Op, how long has the tank been running? How often do you clean filters?

Around 3 - 4 months. I change out the mechanical filter batting every couple weeks or whenever it looks bad.

How your batting looks is normal, but looks like you left it there for quite some time. I feed very heavily, so when I would leave mine there for about 2 weeks, it'll turn black from food debris. Driftwood tannins will also stain the tank water brown and turn your batting brown as well.

i might have left this 1 longer since we went on vacay for a week.

[mistahoo]

I cant speak much for the pump, but tanks are naturally cloudy when you first start them. Ammonia and toxins can spike. A tank of that size with 13 fish, you are nowhere near the capacity to require water changes every 3-4 days (unless you verify with tests that ammonia, nitrites, etc. are high). Otherwise you are stressing the fish changing so often. If toxins are continually high I would point to possible over feeding to cause the cloudy look. Can also use some commercial chemicals to bind particles so the filter catches them

I wouldn't say it's still cycling. It just doesn't look like it. Usually it'll be a white haze. The OP confirmed that it's been setup for 3-4 months. The tank should be able to handle the bioload of so few fish. Frequent water changes will not cause stress to the fish. I used to do 100% water changes every 2-3 days. If anything my fish enjoyed it very much based from their reactions. I would highly disapprove of those chemicals to bind particles. Why add more chemicals when you can do what it'll do but faster through a water change? Plus you'll be adding in fresh new water.

[SunnyHouTX]

How much water do you take out every water change? Could you also describe your filtration in more detail?