How do I make the water clear??

Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
31
Reaction score
2
Country
United Kingdom
Hello all, totally new to this but hopefully someone can help me.

I have a 1000L IBC tank that I have maybe 20/40 carp in, I put them in there last year as a bit of an experiment with my son. There is no electric to the tank so I have rigged up a solar panel to a pump with 2 air stones that are on 24/7.

I have recently bought a bio filter and a 80l/h pump, I’ve drained around half the water so it’s about 500L now and left the pump on for a good few hours. However there is absolutely no difference in the water!

The water coming out of the filter is crystal clear, but the water in the tank is dirty and bitty.

The fish have barely grown in a year either.
 
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
31
Reaction score
2
Country
United Kingdom
The fish are literally an inch long and about 5mm tall, they are tiny! They were transparent when we put them in but haven’t really grown!

I did try some tights around a small crate and put the pump inside that but it didn’t make any difference.

The filter is a fishmate 5000.
 
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
31
Reaction score
2
Country
United Kingdom
The filter is a fishmate 5000 and the pump is a 12v 80l/h submersible as it runs of a battery connected to the solar panel!
 

Jhn

Joined
Jul 3, 2017
Messages
2,213
Reaction score
2,254
Location
Maryland
Showcase(s):
1
Hardiness Zone
7b
Country
United States
It will take more than a few hours to clear the pond. You need a stronger pump capable of turning the water volume over 1.5-2 times per hour.

Need more info on you set up like bettasngoldfish said.
Did you do any mods to the tank or does it just have that little opening on the top?

Assuming you have no plants.... what was your maintenance regimen on the tank? Did you do water changes of any sort? How often did you feed the fish?
 
Joined
Aug 2, 2013
Messages
3,211
Reaction score
2,192
Location
North East Ohio-Zone 5
Country
United States
Is this the filter you have?
fishmate-5000-GBIO-pond-filter-850-600x600.jpg
 
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
31
Reaction score
2
Country
United Kingdom
I’ve added some images for you to view, bare in mind this is working progress till I get it right.

The pump is 60l per minute not hour, just checked so should definitely be big enough.

I have an automatic feeder that feeds the fish a little crumb 3 times a day, but I stopped feeding them throughout the winter!

I have some aerator plants that I bought from a garden centre, just dropped them in.

Hopefully this gives you a better idea,
 

Attachments

  • FC5CCB2E-4F64-4C8F-86DC-2CAD5234038B.jpeg
    FC5CCB2E-4F64-4C8F-86DC-2CAD5234038B.jpeg
    132.6 KB · Views: 393
  • 433A2922-5D35-41F5-B1BE-C206164CF0AC.jpeg
    433A2922-5D35-41F5-B1BE-C206164CF0AC.jpeg
    230.8 KB · Views: 408

Mmathis

TurtleMommy
Joined
Apr 28, 2011
Messages
13,893
Reaction score
8,086
Location
NW Louisiana -- zone 8b
Hardiness Zone
8b
Country
United States
Hello and welcome!

That water does look pretty nasty! But guessing the fish are doing OK? How long has your bio filtration been up and running? And what kind of carp are they? I’m not familiar with anything except goldfish/koi so don’t know what they should look like or how quickly they grow. That does sound like a lot of fish, though.

You mentioned that the fish are about an inch long by 5mm tall. Darn, now I’ve got to get out my metric conversions app, LOL! :eek: Wow, those are some skinny fish!
 
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
31
Reaction score
2
Country
United Kingdom
Hey

Yeah it is nasty, I can only run the pump during the day when it’s sunny or it runs the battery flat, so I get about 6 to 8 hours run time!!

They are tiny fish still the size of baby fish although at a year old they should be at least the size of your hand if not bigger, so something isn’t right.

I have been reading that the bio filter needs to run 24/7 which isn’t possible due to there being no permanent power supply!
 

Mmathis

TurtleMommy
Joined
Apr 28, 2011
Messages
13,893
Reaction score
8,086
Location
NW Louisiana -- zone 8b
Hardiness Zone
8b
Country
United States
Hmmm, wonder if those are something besides carp! Interesting. Just curious, but why can’t you run power to the tank? I know that extension cords aren’t always recommended for things like pond equipment, but I have some heavy-duty rated ext. cords that I feel pretty comfortable with.
 
Joined
Jun 7, 2014
Messages
117
Reaction score
84
Location
Beebe, Arkansas
I have a filter like that on my 100 gal stock I keep in my shop as a quarantine tank for new fish and at the present time I'm raising some sunfish in it. The filter itself is not good at all in my opinion. Boi activity is minimal at best. Mine came with a large brush in the left chamber area. It didn't do squat to filter anything. So here's what you do. Go to the fabric section at Walmart or any craft store and get a bag of Fiber Fill. It could also be called batting. It's a material used to stuff pillows. When you get that take the brush out of your filter and put in the garbage can. It'll work just as well in the garbage can as it will in your filter. Now take a clump of Fiber Fill and place in the space the brush used to be. Take rock a piece of lead like a 6oz fishing sinker and put it on top the Fiber Fill toward the back to hold it down. That's it. The Fiber Fill will filter out even the tiniest of particles, even green water algae. You need to check it everyday and change the fiber fill when it gets so full of debris that the water spills over the side into the second chamber instead of passing thru the filter.
With your filter now doing its job, the other variable is whether the pump is big enough and running long enough. It really needs to run 24/7 to even have a chance of doing what you want it to.
I would also change a good portion of the water everyday until you start seeing improvement. From what I can see it looks like your filtration system is way too small. I hope I'm wrong. Hope this helps you out.
 
Joined
Dec 16, 2017
Messages
13,380
Reaction score
10,482
Location
Ct
Showcase(s):
1
Hardiness Zone
6b
Country
United States
I have a filter like that on my 100 gal stock I keep in my shop as a quarantine tank for new fish and at the present time I'm raising some sunfish in it. The filter itself is not good at all in my opinion. Boi activity is minimal at best. Mine came with a large brush in the left chamber area. It didn't do squat to filter anything. So here's what you do. Go to the fabric section at Walmart or any craft store and get a bag of Fiber Fill. It could also be called batting. It's a material used to stuff pillows. When you get that take the brush out of your filter and put in the garbage can. It'll work just as well in the garbage can as it will in your filter. Now take a clump of Fiber Fill and place in the space the brush used to be. Take rock a piece of lead like a 6oz fishing sinker and put it on top the Fiber Fill toward the back to hold it down. That's it. The Fiber Fill will filter out even the tiniest of particles, even green water algae. You need to check it everyday and change the fiber fill when it gets so full of debris that the water spills over the side into the second chamber instead of passing thru the filter.
With your filter now doing its job, the other variable is whether the pump is big enough and running long enough. It really needs to run 24/7 to even have a chance of doing what you want it to.
I would also change a good portion of the water everyday until you start seeing improvement. From what I can see it looks like your filtration system is way too small. I hope I'm wrong. Hope this helps you out.

I fully agree with the filter replacement. The other issue is 20 to 40 CARP? you need to find new homes for about 15 to 35 of them they probably haven't grown because they are fighting to live. Though clear water is only a human requirement for keeping fish. Though an algae loaded water column is an obvious sign of a unbalanced eco system. START OFF SMALL GET THE BASICS DOWN then step up to a larger system with more fish but 24/7 is a MUST...... even I dyi bucket with charcoal and filter floss with an air stone bubbling in corner of your pond is a possibility to have enough power to run off your solar battery air driven takes way less power but it's still a bit under where you should be.
 
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
31
Reaction score
2
Country
United Kingdom
Thanks for the reply’s everyone, I’m going to try the fibre fill ordered some but I’ll have to wait till Thursday delivery!

The tank is far away from any electrical source, I’m on a farm and the nearest power supply would be over 50metres away, hence the solar panel!

If I was to do a partial water change, could I use tap water?? Or would this kill the fish??
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
30,780
Messages
508,558
Members
13,042
Latest member
lucaryan

Latest Threads

Top