fish diseases and cloudy water

Question
QUESTION:  i have African cichlides , were all bought small sized. I have 50 gal, tank with old 305 fluval filter. Tank set up for about 6 months now, and seems to be getting better, but there always seems to be one fish in a couple of weeks that gets ich or other parasites, I have added salt to water about 11/2 teaspoon per gal. and a cichlid buffer to keep pH around 8.0. I use mardelMaracide concentrate when I see fish getting infect, and they respond immediately all the time. Just would like to know what else i should try. Also water always seems to get a little cloudy , and i have used both-clear and crystal clear, bot help right away but slowly clouds up again? i also use and under gravel filter with a power-head to supply bubbles to the water. And one small air pump with aerator.

ANSWER: David,
You could be drawing pollutants in thru the air pumps.
Also, how many water changes are you doing>?
Temp around 78?
PH and salt content sound right.
It may be excess food, or like I mentioned too many water changes can cause the cloudyness.
Also make sure there is not a leak in the fluval aound the seals etc it can inject minute bubbles into the water column.
If you have additional questions, just ask

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

QUESTION: water temp is 78, I increase sometimes to try and eliminate the Ich, no exccesive food, i have had other tanks for last 20 years, but you mention air bubbles. this is the first tank I use a powerhead to add lots of air bubbles, all are very small and a lot? is this my problem? also I did make a mistake in info I gave ph is 8.0 but salt added is about 1 1/2 teaspoons for each 5 gallons of water? should I increase salt  or cichlid buffer to tank? sorry I have lots of questions.

Answer
David,
you can up the salt content to equal your original level, ie 1tbls per gal.
temp is good,
ph is good
it could be the air bubbles attaching to the slime coat on the fish, has happened before.
Frankly its not ick as the whole popluation would be effected.
Unless you really need the bubbles, get rid of them, they are only cosmetic as they do not add air to the water, they do facilitate some air exchange at the surface.
put the tank at 82 for a week or so and see how it goes.
This will increase the metabolism and speed up any parasite infestation so that you can address any issues.
Not to worry as I don;t think there is a major issue here.
let me know how it turns out.