Chiclids and their water !

Question
Karen - I came across this and love it ! I wondered if you could help on something. In March I set up a 22 gallon tank, and a week on the advice of the local community pet store, just put in 10 small fish to establish the tank. They were fine, and after 5 weeks I did the first 20% water change and added two chiclids.

After another two weeks, I took out the feeder fish and added another four chiclids; all well and good and then May 1st I did another 20% water change. (On both occasions using Tetra water treatment, Aquarium Salt and Cycle). Again the local fish store told me that chiclids like their water a tad on the akaline side and recommended putting in some rocks, which would add that element.

Since that time the water seems constantly cloudy and the filter etc is getting very gungy; the fish seem totally happy though and are growing. I've noticed that there was food in the gravel, so I guess I should cut down on the feeding.

Last night I did another water change and took the rock out, and changed the filter again. The water's looking cleaner; but can you suggest anything that we're doing wrong ! :-)

Thanks

Chris

Answer
Hello Chris! Thank you for your most kind comment!!! ;-)

You are doing everything right in my opinion, but you may need just a few pointers-- First off all, if there is food in the gravel, then you are overfeeding and overfeeding causes excess nutrients in the water which feed certain bacteria that cloud the water as you are seeing. It's very tricky to know how much to feed your fish but you MUST be careful, a good rule is, feed half as much as you suspect all your fish need, if they eat all that up you can give a tiny bit more but stop there after that. Fish don't need as much food as most people think, but they do benefit from smaller meals throughout the day. Fish in the wild would naturally take a bite her and there through the day as they swim in the rivers, lakes, or even oceans that they live in.  If you have a pretty tight schedule, the most covenient feeding routine is twice a day, once in the morning and once at night.
I highly bet that once you watch your feedings more closely, your water cloudiness problem will resolve itself. You may also need to do more frequent water changes not only for the health of the fish but more frequent water changes will clear your cloudiness as you remove the excess nutrients feeding the bacteria along with the water you take out. If I were you I would do a 50% water change at least for a couple of days everyday, but I am a water change fanatic and if that is a bit too much, you can shorten it down to 20% at LEAST every day to help clear things up, as always be sure to use water conditioner with your replacement water and try to equalize the temperature to that of the aquarium's.

Be careful about changing the filter cartridge too often, sometimes this will severely deplete the beneficial bacteria that often live in very large numbers on your filter pad, changing it too often can cause cloudiness, but be sure to rinse it to wash the organic matter off in a clean pitcher or bucket you use to siphon the old water into, with aquarium water inside and slosh the cartridge and rub all the gunk off the best you can.

I don't think the rock would have been necessary in your aquarium. Unless you have any species of african cichlid, actually most cichlids have a general preferance to pH and do fine with a pH of 7 and above, a pH of 8 is too high though for cichlids such as oscars and they can begin to show signs of stress. I have a pH of 7.6 ppm and I keep many fish that prefer a lower pH, they have no signs of stress and many are several years old now. I wouldn't worry too much about your pH, it's good to check it from time to time especially if your fish seem stressed, but there really isn't any need to be a pH fanatic unless of course you are keeping extremely delicate and sensitive species whom require a lowered or highered pH in order to survive.

To solve your problem with your aquarium's cloudiness, cut way back on feedings to a tiny amount no more than twice a day until you get your water clear. And try doing like a 30-50% water change to see how that helps with clarity. If it still remains cloudy you must begin an every day or at least every other day schedule of 20-30% water changes, or if you don't mind, 50% would be ideal but you must be sure about the temperature being the same as the aquarium's and always add enough water conditioner.

Well I really wish you the very best with your aquarium!
I hope this helps! Good luck!

If you have anymore questions feel free to email me as you like!

Happy fishkeeping!
Karen~