[Mcnada]

OK right to the problem: I have a ten gallon tank with a Koi and a goldfish in it. My tank already went through the cycling process and waters levels were great, water was clear. I went away for two weeks, had someone feeding them and when I came back, water was a little cloudy and PH was acidic and nitrite, and nitrate was a little high, also ammonia was high. I did a 25% water change, put in some PH 6.5 powder and thought that would clear it up. I was sadly mistaken. My water has turned super cloudy (can barely see my fish) my PH is still acidic (6.2), ammonia not as high, nitrite round 1.0 and nitrate between 20 and 30. I cant figure out the cloudiness though. Water almost looks dirty. I just did another 25% water change, levels are the same and cloudiness still very bad. Can anyone shed some light or help me please?

 

[obscbyclouds]

The first problem is that a 10 gallon tank is way too small for a Koi and a goldfish. No matter how often you do water changes, there's no way the bacteria will be able to keep up with the ammonia and nitrite buildup. They are enormous waste producers.

The cloudiness you are seeing may be the result of a bacteria bloom. How long has the tank been set up? Was it ever cycled?

I would recommend finding a new home for the koi and goldie, as they aren't suited to life in a 10 gallon tank and probably will not survive.

 

[Mcnada]

The tank has been set up for 6 months now, and has cycled. I have had no problems with waste or any kind of spikes in PH, nitrite, nitrate or ammonia, until recently. Never had any cloudiness except for when it was cycling, but after that the water has been crystal clear. I was thinking that the person I had feeding them while I was out of town for two weeks, just overfed them, and thats what caused the cloudiness and levels to spike. I just need to know how to fix the cloudiness and restore the levels.

 

[ladyonyx]

Definitely sounds like a bacterial bloom. The bloom itself it not that dangerous, it's mainly that the bacteria use up a lot of oxygen in the water, stressing out your fish even more. What level is your ammonia currently at?

Unfortunately, the root of the problem is the size of the tank. Like obscbyclouds said, those two fish are pretty hefty waste-producers, so no matter how good your biological filtration is the tank won't be able to handle that kind of bioload. Those two fish can't really be housed in anything less than a 30g tank (preferably planted), and that's probably pushing it for the koi.

In the meantime, keep checking water parameters to make sure ammonia doesn't get too high and keep doing water changes. Blooms like the one you're experiencing typically go away on their own after a few days. How long has this been going on so far? Keep us posted

 

[James0816]

The presence of NO2 tells me that your tank is in a mini-cycle. For what ever reason.

You were gone for two weeks and had someone just feeding the fish (koi and goldie) who just happen to be in a 10g.

This is bad. But I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that part.

During the time you were out and the possible amount being fed, the BB is this small tank can't keep up with the bioload that has been put on it. There were no water changes during this period to help keep things in check. Now, your BB is working overtime with all the "goodies" in the water column.

It will calm back down once you get your maintence routine back.

But please do consider a much larger home for them.