[GSAS-Member] Frustrated with tank that won't clear up

[Laurel Larsen <laurelthequeen@gmail.com>]

I posted this on cichlid-forum.com, so I'm just going to do a copy 
+paste to get your guy's input.  I'm at a loss.

I set up my Tanganyika shell dweller tank about 3.5 months ago and  
it's been such a troublemaker. The multies are all very happy and have  
produced lots of fry so far, the julies haven't paired (I need to get  
more), but haven't killed each other either. My Java Ferns have  
produced babies, and all has been well in that regard.

When I first set up the tank(fully cycled with media and fish from my  
larger tank), I put a small bn pleco in it to control algae. The pleco  
didn't really do anything, including eat much algae. He survived for  
around 5 weeks, then croaked. The other fish in the tank seemed to  
have left him alone, but who knows. I assumed it had to do with the  
very hard, high pH water, but the people in the Tanganyika forum  
didn't think that to be the case(14-16º kh and gh, pH 8.3) A few weeks  
later, the tank was overrun with algae and I decided to try another  
pleco. This time I bought the biggest one in the store, a fully grown  
WC guy that I named Brutus. I figured a fully grown fish would be a  
little hardier. He worked hard and removed all the algae from the  
thank, survived about 5 weeks and then disappeared. After the algae  
started building up again, I figured that he was dead, then bits of  
his armor plating began appearing on the sand. The tank started  
clouding, and I assumed it was a bacterial bloom to deal with the  
extra bio load of the decaying pleco. I'm very happy with how my rocks  
are, so I didn't want to tear the tank down, stress the fish and try  
to rearrange the rocks to get the pleco out. I don't mind his bones  
hanging out in my rock pile. I kept very close tabs on the water  
parameters(amm, nitrite nitrate), and occasionally got some ammonia,  
but it never went above .25ppm. I did water changes to keep nitrates  
down, and the plants helped significantly. Ever time I do a water  
change, it clears up a little(I remove about 1/2 the cloudiness), but  
within a few days, clouds back up.

I'd like to note that I have 2 plecos in my 75 gallon mbuna tank  
living happily in similar water hardness, and pH 8.0. They've been  
around for a few months and hold their own against the mbuna. I bought  
them the same time I bought pleco #1, the lazy guy.

The fish seem perfectly happy, are breeding, and have healthy  
appetites. I assumed that the cloudiness would "blow over" but it's  
been about a month and the cloudiness doesn't seem to be clearing up.  
I have a lot of filter floss in there, and prior to this hoopla, the  
tank was SUPER clear. I don't know what to do at this point.

Here it is 3 days after a 50% water change
http://s58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/Laurelthequeen/Fish%20Tank/sick/?action=view&current=DSCF5430.jpg
http://s58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/Laurelthequeen/Fish%20Tank/sick/?action=view&current=DSCF5431.jpg

Here's what it looked like (with the except of some shells rearranged)  
up until Brutus died
http://s58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/Laurelthequeen/Fish%20Tank/29%20Gallon%20Cube/?action=view&current=DSCF4581.jpg

Is there anything I can do? What am I doing wrong? I'm willing to try  
pretty much anything at this point, so if you have suggestions, even  
if they seem far fetched, I'm open to them.  Thanks for your input  
guys, I appreciate it.

Laurel
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