# Cloudy water after Ick meds



## overboard (Mar 11, 2008)

I bought two balloon rams from a fish store that I had sworn to never buy fish from, but they looked great and they were active and bold and I just did it. (mistake #1). I put them in a heavily planted 10 gallon tank (mistake #2) with two juvenile swordtails and a bunch of snails. Within a week they all had Ick. I used QuICK cure or something like that (malachite green & formalin) for eight days, while slowly cranking the heat up to 86 degrees. Everyone seems cured now, and I have dropped down to 84 degrees, aiming for 80. The water has looked yellow for the last week, like when wood is put in. Last night it was greenish and slightly cloudy. I changed the filter, put carbon back in, and did a 25% water change. This morning, no change, tonight, much more green and cloudy. Is this the sort of cloudiness to leave alone and wait out? Did the medicine throw something off? Should I move the swordtails to lighten the bioload? Could the medicine have killed snails that are hidden under the HC carpet? Are the swordtails "safe" to put into another tank, or could they spread Ick? And for the future, are the rams better off in a warm tank that will always fluctuate 2-4 degrees, or a 76 degree tank that stays 76 all the time? (I have no intention of raising the temperature on a larger tank just for them). Help!


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

A change in temperature of 1*C or 2*F is not too much over the course of a day. More than this will become questionable, and depends on the species of fish. If there is any way you could keep the temperature stable at 80*F for the Rams this would be the best. Can you wrap a towel around the tank at night to keep it warmer?

I would continue the water changes and not risk swapping fish yet.


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## tkos (Oct 30, 2006)

Green and cloudy sounds like an algae bloom.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Sounds like green water, which might have started from decaying organisms killed by the medicines. Green water can be stopped with a 3 day blackout, or with a UV filter or a DE filter. Water changes won't get rid of the green water, but it will get rid of the ammonia that is probably feeding it.


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## overboard (Mar 11, 2008)

I think I might give the plants some time to recover from the high temperatures, then try the blackout. What will happen to the HC? Is it possible to out-compete green water, with anacharis maybe? I have reduced other algae in this tank by tying bunches to suction cups and letting them float near the top. I might try some sort of insulation at night, and maybe a screen top instead of glass during the day. (I have 48 watts of T5 hanging 1 3/4" above the tank). I almost left the top off today, but then I remembered I had swordtails in there. At least the fish seem quite happy.
Thanks for the ideas!


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Check the algae forum here for ideas about green water. You can outcompete the green water algae because people successfully fight it with willow tree stems, and that has to be how it works.


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## overboard (Mar 11, 2008)

Wow, that was interesting. I don't remember if there are willows by the river, but my neighbor's cottonwood is looking pretty tempting. I'm off to experiment...


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## overboard (Mar 11, 2008)

Today the water is finally clear! It only took six weeks... ugh. The cottonwood stems helped a little, but when I got cynical and took them out five days later, it got worse than ever. I found a willow tree and, er, obtained some cuttings when the owners left town (only wealthy people can afford the water for willows around here, it seems.) Again, they helped a little, but couldn't overcome. Finally I did a 3 day blackout starting last Sunday. Tuesday night it looked about 50% better. The willows went back in, 50% water changes every two days this whole time (except during the blackout), and now apparent victory! And the male ram is HUGE. Woo hoo!


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