We just bought a new 29 gallon tank to replace our old Hex, and made sure that we followed all the 'rules' first about treating the water. Now, though, of course it looks like milky water. It is annoying to say the least. Our levels are all doing fairly well, balancing themselves out it seems. Our ammonia is almost non-existant, the nitrate is in good range, along with the Nitrite. We keep the temp at between 76 and 78. All seems good minus the milky color and the Ph, it still keeps spiking up to about 7.6 to 7.8. It used to stay at 7.0 but I cannot seem to get it back down. (Have tried using 'Ph 7.0' to fix it and it keeps bouncing back.)

We have a few striped Danios (which we did NOT buy just to cycle the tank , we actually have them as our regular fish.) and a large Pleco in the tank.

Do you have any reccomendations? I just really worry because our Pleco is part of the family now, and if anything happened to him our family would be very upset.

Thanks!!!!

Hi JillDiebold!

I just wanted to say WELCOME to the board!

I don't know a thing about aquariums other than you put fish in them ;) but someone will be on the forum later that will so please check back later.

Tia

Besides chemicals to lower the PH I know you can use Peat moss, you can put it in your filter . There are also a type of substrate called Ecocomplete which also lowers the PH. I heard CO2 lowers the PH, so if none of the other choices work you can make a simple DIY CO2 system and even make it a planted tank =]

Congratulations on your new tank!

What exactly did you add to the water? I suggest dechlorinator and aquarium salt (a tablespoon per 5 gallons). What is in the tank exactly? Could the water be milky from say unwashed gravel, rocks, driftwood, used ornaments, or something else? Your pH is above neutral but it's not high enough to worry about. I suggest testing the hardness and alkalinity. Often, if they are high, there may be minerals in the water which can also cloud the water. Since your pH isn't that high, that doesn't seem too likely though. Minerals can come from the tap water (test that for comparison) or from rocks or other things in the tank.

How long has the tank been set up? If it's been at least a few days, and the water was clear at first, the milky color may be due to a bacterial bloom. If you have no ammonia or nitrite, then it would seem the tank is cycled unless it's just too new for those chemicals to have added up. In new tanks, often good bacteria will bloom (grow) in the water column as well as any biological filter material. In those cases, it should clear up once the biological filter material is fully colonized with good bacteria. You can help it along by adding good bacteria. I have a tiny section on cloudy water at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/plants/algaeinfo.htm#cloudy

ahhh i love my pleco too! He is my fave!. I have and established tank and it at times get milky which I agree is VERY annoying. I will check levels and all have always been a-ok so I dont worry and I say to myself clear water if for our enjoyment not so much the fish I guess. I attribute it to a bacteria bloom like Robyn said it will last about a week then one morning all is clear i have yet to figure it out. It seems to happen around water changes but as long as the levels are good I dont worry I too would just die if something happen to Big Daddy.

Good Luck
C2