Sulfar in water

Question
QUESTION: I recently went to my local pet store the told the employee that i have extremely soft water and we use salt to soften it. my tank has been a yellow tint now for about 4 months and it is cloudy. he said that its because i have the sulfur from the softener in the tank thats causing it to turn yellow. do u know of a way to get rid of the sulfur from the water with out hurting the fish? chemicals? he said get plants that eat sulfur? do you know any?

ANSWER: Hi Ryan,

Yellow water is a sure sign that the tank's filtration isn't working, or you are overfeeding.

It's got little/nothing to do with water softness.  Why are you adding salt?

I need more information to properly answer this.  I need to know how large your tank is, the type and make and model of the filter and your filer media chaning habits.  I also need to know how often the water is being changed and at what rate.  How many fish are in the tank, and what do you feed them?

I can tell you that yellow water is a sure sign of nitrates, and probably ammonia, which is off the charts.

This is a water quality issue.

Please get back to me so we can work on getting this tank up to par. :)

Thanks and happy fish-keeping.
Renee

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: i have a 55 gallon tank. i just bought a casade 100 gal filter,  with a carbon bag in it for filtration. i have a well, so in order for us to soften the water we have a water softener that we put salt into soften the water. the guy at the fish store said it was the salt we are putting into the water softener that has sulfur in it causing the water to turn yellow.  i usually change do a tank cleaning every week and drain about 10% - 20% of the water out  to add new water to the tank.

ANSWER: Hello again Ryan,

The pet store guy is wrong.  It is not caused by sulphur or softener.  Yellow water, or cloudy water is usually from insufficient filtration or from too many fish in the aquarium.

Having been a Chemistry minor in college, I can tell you his explanation makes zero sense.

A canister filter is like a nitrate factory.  Water goes into it, and filters through media and then returns to the tank.  Inside that canister is a bunch of media used to filter the water.  That media has bacteria in it, beneficial bacteria.  Once established, if the filter is not cleaned bi-weekly or weekly, it becomes overloaded and feeds the bacteria back into the tank.

This is what is happening in your case.  I am very certain soft water isn't causing your cloud.

I would now have to ask one more question.  What do you have for media inside the baskets in the canister filter?

I would suggest Peat, Charcoal, Zeolyte and 2 sponges.  Charcoal to filter the water, which has quality issues or it would not be yellow.  Zeolyte to prevent ammonia and to capture any created.  2 sponges to filter out the goo and poo.  Peat to filter water before it returns and to house beneficial bacteria.

How often are you cleaning the tank and changing out the sponges and washing them?  Most people are under the assumption that a canister needs to be changed once every six months.  The truth is it is more like bi-weekly to monthly and if you have saltwater sytems, weekly at least.

For saltwater systems I do not recommend a canister at all.  I recommend a refugium. :)

Ryan, the filter is a lovely filter, but I hear this same question from people with them all the time..."What is causing cloudy water?" or " My tank is yellow and all my fish are dying"...and it's always a tank with a canister on it.  Try adding a second filter.  Perhaps a Hang on filter. :)

It will improve water quality drastically.

Please feel free to correspond much as you need to and I hope to help you get this under control.  

Happy fish-keeping,
Renee

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: i just have carbon in the canister now. there is 2 white filter sponge things to get rid of the big stuff. i had 2 aquien 55 gal filters before this one. i just could not get this to go away with those two so i got this canister filter and once installed it cleaned it up in 12 hours then in after that it for progressively worse.
i have only had the canister filter for like a week. i only have like ten or fifteen fish in the tank and half of them are tetra size. the biggest fish i have in the tank are 2 angels. i only feed them a little 2 a day.

you are being a wonderful help thank U

Answer
Hi again Ryan,

I have a suggestion.  :)

Put one of the HOB filters on and run the canister also.  Put the Zeolyte and Peat into the canister.  You will notice a drastic change in quality.

This should help.  If the addition of the back filter helps clear the water, you know the canister isn't doing its job.

You might consider running both permanently. :)

Renee