Friday, March 27, 2015

Why do i have cloudy water and how do i solve it


What causes cloudy water in my aquarium?

The cloudiness is actually a bloom of a kind of organism (bacteria). In an aquarium, the organism usually remains at a very low level and invisible, unless food source are available to them. They feed on wastes that are found in the aquarium. The more waste that is available to them, the more they bloom. As they bloom, they fill up the aquarium, becoming visible to the naked eye, resulting cloudy water.

How do we clear up the cloudy water in the aquarium? 

To clear up cloudy water, waste level in the aquarium has to be reduced. Without the food source for the organism to bloom, it will reduce to a low level of existence in the aquarium. In turn, the cloudy water in the aquarium will clear up.

Some of the common issues that cause waste level to increase are:

1.       Over-feeding the fish that results in leftover food in the aquarium.
2.       Overcrowding in the aquarium.
3.       Dead plant or fish not removed from the aquarium.



Ways to reduce waste level in your aquarium

1. Do Regular Water Change

Doing regular water change will remove waste product and the organism physically. Change only 20%-50% of the water weekly, depending on the cloudiness of your aquarium. As changing too much water may result in dying live stocks due to the sudden change in the environment for them.

Regular water change is important as it helps in improving the environment for the live stock.


2. Add Beneficial Bacteria

Beneficial bacteria help in breaking down waste product biologically through the process of Nitrogen Cycle.

Adding beneficial bacteria regularly will help to maintain a low level of waste in the aquarium and prevent any sudden bloom in cloudiness even when there is a dead plant or fish not removed from the aquarium.

Some of the recommended beneficial bacteria are:
3. Add ANS Clearmax into filter

ANS Clearmax removes waste products by absorbing them, keeping the waste level low. Changing it every month helps to maintain crystal clear water and healthy water conditions for all live stocks.
It is simple and easy to use, just place it in the filter and ANS Clearmax will do wonders.



Special case

In some cases, cloudy water is caused by the accumulation of tiny floating particles that the filter is unable to remove. In such cases, clarifier solutions are used to clear the water by clumping these tiny floating particles together, forming particles large enough to be removed by the filters.

One common scenario for such cases is when new gravels or substrate are added into the aquarium. New gravel and substrate usually have a lot of tiny floating particles in it.

Clarifier solutions that we recommend: 
************Please Take Note************
Although the above ways are effective in keep your water clean and crystal clear, there are still factors that should be taken note of. Factors like overfeeding, overcrowding and having dead plants and/or fish in aquarium are not to be overlooked. Cloudy water would still occur if these factors remain unsolved.

Friday, March 13, 2015

4 simple steps to reduce the need of water change for your aquarium



We change water to remove waste and toxic in aquarium that will harm fish’s health.  To reduce need of water change, we will need to remove waste and toxic in the aquarium.

Here are 4 simple steps to how we remove waste and toxic in aquarium reduce need of water change.

Step 1: Get a good filter

A good filter is important as it remove waste and toxic in the aquarium effectively, it also provide good water circulation to maintain good water quality. There are many type of filter available. 


Guidelines: Flowrate (L/H) of filter need to be about 4 – 6 times of total water in aquarium. For example, a 60 litre aquarium needs to have a filter with 240L/H – 360L/H flowrate.



Step 2: Adding beneficial bacteria every week

Adding beneficial bacteria helps to break down waste biologically through the process referred as nitrogen cycle. it break down from highly toxic ammonia (NH4) to nitrite (NO2) to the least harmful nitrate (NO3).
 
Adding once every week will help to keep ammonia and nitrite at zero level. Most importantly, it prevents any sudden increase of ammonia in the water that will kill you fishes.

Some good beneficial bacteria are:
EIHO BacterGold
- JBL Denitrol


 




Step 3: Add ANS Clearmax in filter

Although nitrate (NO3) is the least harmful in the nitrogen cycle, it is still harmful to fishes when accumulated to a high level. We need to keep nitrates at a low level.

ANS Clearmax removes nitrates in the water effectively, keeping nitrate at a low level. It also removes toxins and ammonia, improving water quality and restores crystal clear water. Hence, reduce need of water change and tank maintenance.


             

Step 4: Get algae eaters and bottom feeders

Algae eaters will help to clear up algae keeping your aquarium clean. Algae eaters are otocinclus, Siamese algae eater and pleco

Bottom feeders will help to clear up leftover food or waste at the bottom of the aquarium. Bottom feeders are loaches and corydoras.

Guidelines: 1 algae eater and 1 bottom feeders to 15 litre of water

Otocinclus
 Corydoras