Cloudy Water Problem in a New Planted Tank

[puncak82]

Hi all,

I have a brown cloudy water problem on my new 75 gallon planted tank (4 weeks old).

Specs:
ADA amazonia and power sand (bought from HAW)
Eheim 2215 and 2217
Wavepoint HO T5 216 watt (2-6700k, 2-12000k) - on 8 hrs everyday
Co2 Injection (2bps, on 8 hrs everyday)

Plants: Dwarf hairgrass, glossostigma, and green rotala indica.
Ammonia:0ppm
Nitrite: 5ppm
PH: 7
Temp: 75F

The tanks is still cycling now and the water is brown in color since the first day. I heard that ADA amazonia soil is what causing this but should clear within 1 week with frequent water change. Some people put gravels on top of the amazonia and it solves the problem. I do not want to do this since it will make my planted tank look unnatural.

I did 90% water change every 3 days and dose seachem stability everyday with no luck. I do not think it is a bacteria / algae bloom since the tank is still new. In addition, some of the plants are not in good condition and start to die off.

Any suggestion?

[wesleydnunder]

If you can find some polyester angel hair and put it in your filter it should remove suspended silt from the water quickly. Untreated pillow suffing will work too.

Mark

[Navarro]

Can you tell how did you set it up, step by step? I think I know what happen but I will wait for your reply.
Regards,
Luis

[Complexity]

Do you have driftwood in the tank? The brown coloring could be tannins.

[puncak82]

On the first week, I put the amazonia, power sand, plants, light (108watt Ho T5), and dose excel everyday.
2nd week, Installed heater, Co2 injection, put more plants and upgrade the light to 216watt Ho T5.
3rd and 4th week, dose Seachem stabilty since the tank isn't cycling at all due to the frequent water changes.

Can you tell how did you set it up, step by step? I think I know what happen but I will wait for your reply.
Regards,
Luis

[puncak82]

@Wesley - What is polyester angel hair and where can I buy it?
@Complexity - I do not have driftwood in the tank. I use petrified woods for the layout.

[Complexity]

Can you post a picture of the tank?

[Complexity]

I noticed a few things in your stats that are worth mentioning. They may not be the cause of your current problem, but they still need to be addressed.

Wavepoint HO T5 216 watt (2-6700k, 2-12000k) - on 8 hrs everyday

This is too much light, especially for the tank in its current state. Run all 4 bulbs for only 4-5 hours/day. Run only 2 of the bulbs for the remaining 3-4 hours. After your tank matures, you can stretch the photoperiod out, but even then, you won't want all of those bulbs running for so long. On the planted tank in my sig picture, I run all 4 bulbs for only 5.5 hours with just 2 bulbs running the rest of the time.

Co2 Injection (2bps, on 8 hrs everyday)

It's not possible to determine how much CO2 is actually in the water based on how much is being injected. You need a drop checker. Things, such as surface turbulence and the method of dispersion of the CO2 into the water will have a huge affect on how much of the CO2 is actually dissolved into the water itself.

Plants: Dwarf hairgrass, glossostigma, and green rotala indica.

This isn't enough plants. You need to stuff the tank FULL of plants. Go ahead and get cheap, weedy plants to start things up. You can remove them as you plant more permanent plants. I recommend hornwort and anacharis (don't use excel with anacharis).

Ammonia:0ppm
Nitrite: 5ppm
PH: 7
Temp: 75F

As you already noted, the tank is cycling. If you have fish in the tank, you need to bring the nitrites down by performing water changes. Otherwise, you're okay. What's your nitrate reading?

I heard that ADA amazonia soil is what causing this but should clear within 1 week with frequent water change.

One week is optimistic. More like one month, especially with as few of plants as you have. Add more plants; that will help.

In addition, some of the plants are not in good condition and start to die off.

Please post a picture of the tank and the plants.

[puncak82]

I noticed a few things in your stats that are worth mentioning. They may not be the cause of your current problem, but they still need to be addressed.

This is too much light, especially for the tank in its current state. Run all 4 bulbs for only 4-5 hours/day. Run only 2 of the bulbs for the remaining 3-4 hours. After your tank matures, you can stretch the photoperiod out, but even then, you won't want all of those bulbs running for so long. On the planted tank in my sig picture, I run all 4 bulbs for only 5.5 hours with just 2 bulbs running the rest of the time.

Yes I think you are right. I will cut back my lighting period to 5-6 hours for now.

It's not possible to determine how much CO2 is actually in the water based on how much is being injected. You need a drop checker. Things, such as surface turbulence and the method of dispersion of the CO2 into the water will have a huge affect on how much of the CO2 is actually dissolved into the water itself.

I used a drop checker and my co2 levels currently between 15-20ppm

This isn't enough plants. You need to stuff the tank FULL of plants. Go ahead and get cheap, weedy plants to start things up. You can remove them as you plant more permanent plants. I recommend hornwort and anacharis (don't use excel with anacharis).

I will get more plants as suggested. I believe this will also help to prevent algae bloom.

As you already noted, the tank is cycling. If you have fish in the tank, you need to bring the nitrites down by performing water changes. Otherwise, you're okay. What's your nitrate reading?

I haven't check my nitrate. My nitrite is down to 2ppm this evening.

One week is optimistic. More like one month, especially with as few of plants as you have. Add more plants; that will help.


Please post a picture of the tank and the plants.

Here is the link for the pictures of the tank: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45175180@N07

Thanks

[Complexity]

Yeah, that water doesn't look right. I can't see anything to explain it, but let's try something. Pull out the rocks, do a 90% water change, and let's see what happens. There may be something on those rocks leaching out into the water.

Oh, and let's do a double test. When you pull the rocks out, put them in a bucket of water. Let's see if the water in the bucket changes color.

[puncak82]

Good idea...the rocks may have something to do with this brown color. I will let you know the results tomorrow. Thanks

[kwc1974]

What is your water change schedule?

[Navarro]

I have seen this problem before, unfortunately the consistency of Amazonia is never the same but it always works never the less.
The way ADA set up their tanks is by adding the substrate while the tank is empty then the hardscape materials are put in place and after water is added to barely cover the substrate.
Using tweezers the plants are placed where you want them and slowly the rest of the water is added.
If you had a batch that was softer than usual and your planting was done by hand or you moved the plants around a little too much this will more likely start the problem. You also said that you added more plants a day later which also indicates that the substrate was disturbed yet one more time.
Japanese fried of mine once told me that the instructions inside the bag advice to do small water changes for a week to deal with this problem; also if your water is too hard it will create this reaction, I personally don’t think is your case because your plants are melting.
Now the melting of the plants can only be one thing your KH drop so low that there is a good chance your Ph crashed and the plants are paying the price this happen to me before when I was not doing water changes as I should have so condition your water and change one third every day until your KH is stable and the dosing of co2 can be done more accurately.
I hope this helps and sorry again for losing so many plants I can donate some of my plants if you think you need them unfortunately I don’t have many foreground plants at the moment but many stem plants I can help with should you need them.
Cheers,
Luis
BTW after looking at your pictures I say is just the Amazonia and nothing else.

[kwc1974]

+1 to Navarro's post. This is usually the case with Amazonia.

[Mzungu]

I definitely agree that the picture from Week 2 looks like the Amazonia was still clouding up the water.

However, the Week 3-4 picture has me a bit confused. I know Navarro has MUCH more experience in this area than I, but it looks strange to me. I've never seen such a color with Amazonia. Then again, I'm kinda new to AquaSoil, so... But the water color reminds me of a combination of dying, melting plants in the water and tannins from driftwood, which you don't have. You seem to be good in the filtration department, so that has me stumped as well.

Like kwc1974 asked, I think posting your current water change schedule (how much, how often) would be helpful. For how long did you do the 90% WC every three days? Or is this still your schedule?

What media do you have in the eheims? Were they used, or new?

Finally, how do you like that Wavepoint fixture? (Off topic, I know, but I just saw this fixture for the first time last night when I was shopping online for a fixture, and would like to hear your review. )