How do i clear up "cloudy" water?

[geoff_tropheus]

IF you are gravel vaccuming which is removing food/wastes/bacteria and the bacteria on decorations and the glass that gets exposed to air during the waterchange that bacteria is lost or killed.

IF your filtration is well seeded for the fish and waste load then you could waterchange 100% daily and not have a problem.

I dont know how long the filtration with the amount of fish currently in the tank has been setup and going. If its been more than a month than all the filters should be well seeded and good to go as long as the feeding rate and the amount fish has not changed.

Otherwise, lack of fine filtration or the water quality coming from his tap is not so good.

How is the water on your other aquariums? If that is good, than its not water source.

How well, did you rinse the pool filter sand before putting it in the tank? sometimes those fines never settle unless it is filtered out.

Just trying to give some ideas here before one goes to a chemical method.

[geoff_tropheus]

Hey Rex, I think it is a good idea to give it a break. I dont know how long you've had the tank up and running with the current fish and current amount of filtration, but I think you got a great plan.

If it dont work, try a fine filtration media like PolyFilter Pad, or Chemupure, Purigen, or spend the moula and get a diatom filter and run that for a couple hours a day.

[Zulaab]

How to clean your filters.
Since you have many filters here is how you should do it.
Since I am not 100% familiar with how each and every canister works I am going to work on the principal bottom to top with the water ENTERING into the canister is at the bottom and exits this top. This is true with the Eheim filters..

Rena XP3 -- Clean the sponges very well in the sink every month. The Bioballs, leave them alone and once every 2-3 months take bowl of aquarium water and just rinse them out.. dont try and "clean' them.

Eheim -- I would make some changes. I would buy 1 coarse sponge for the 2217, and two fine filter pads, they are available at many fine LFS's. Put the coarse sponge at the bottom, bio filtration in the middle and then the fine at the top. Again you going to clean once a month the sponges and fine filters.. the bio material, once every 2-3 months you are going just clean in the bio material same way as above.

Whisper filters ?? I dont know how they work ?? Cartridge filters ? Replace as needed.. ie when full of stuff replace I suppose..

[FrontosaurusRex]

i'll give it a shot.

i've had this tank up and running for 8 months or so with no significant change in the amount of fish i've added. (2 or 3 every couple of months) i'm done adding fish. my collection is pretty much complete. I dont remember rinsing the sand when i added it, but i have 2 other tanks that have the exact same sand and i didnt rinse them either, both tanks look way better than this one.

i'll try the plan you guys helped me create and i'll get back with the results in a few weeks. thanks everybody for your invaluable advice.

[wesleydnunder]

IF you are gravel vaccuming which is removing food/wastes/bacteria and the bacteria on decorations and the glass that gets exposed to air during the waterchange that bacteria is lost or killed.

IF your filtration is well seeded for the fish and waste load then you could waterchange 100% daily and not have a problem.

I dont know how long the filtration with the amount of fish currently in the tank has been setup and going. If its been more than a month than all the filters should be well seeded and good to go as long as the feeding rate and the amount fish has not changed.

Otherwise, lack of fine filtration or the water quality coming from his tap is not so good.

How is the water on your other aquariums? If that is good, than its not water source.

How well, did you rinse the pool filter sand before putting it in the tank? sometimes those fines never settle unless it is filtered out.

Just trying to give some ideas here before one goes to a chemical method.

Sorry Geoff, but I have to disagree. There is no evidence that vaccuuming gravel will remove enough bacteria to cause a biofiltration issue. Before all these myriad of different filters most of us used UGF and vaccuumed gravel with the water changes. Often the UGF was the only filtration on the tank and if it had been losing a significant amount of bacteria each time the tanks would have been in a state of constant cycle...they weren't.

Bacteria have to dry completely to die. In the short amount of time it takes to drain and refill a 25% or 50% water change, the surfaces don't dry completely, not on the molar level.

FRex, I believe your problem could be a combination of algal bloom, often mistaken for bacterial bloom(all algae are not green), and suspended fines from unrinsed sand. Finer filter media AND fresh water will remedy it. I'd keep doing the water changes and either add the pads as Jesper suggested or add some floss to one or more of the filters. Most of y'all are too young to remember them, but one of the best fine filters ever made was the little clear plastic box, floss-filled, that sat in the corner of the tank and was run by air.

As suggested, don't stress, eventually with maintenance and time it will clear up.

Mark

[fshfrk]

FL said w/d. nick said pro clear. Geoff said rinse your sand.1409 said massive w/c.mark said a good mechanical & bio filter. I agree. Did you test perimeters.

[sacrimontis]

heres an answer for you.
STOP trying to do water changes, and let the tank cycle. if you have a mature tank, and now its cloudy. your killing your bacter and the tank has to go thru the cycle again.

i grabbed a bucketload of sand off the side of the road , picked out the stones and tossed it into a tank.
the water was cloudy for 1 whole day, by the next day it was just hazy and by day three it was crystal clear.
the only filtration i had on it, and the only available bacter was on a small air sponge (6 dollar model) and the tank remains clear, even if i reach my hand in it and stir it around, it takes 1/2 a day to settle and clear up. no rinsing ever.
sand is a very good media for bacteria ( thats why its used in fluidised bed filters) and its also the media mother nature uses to keep our streams and rivers clean.


i would say your over cleaning your tanks. and killing all your bacter.
WATCH YOUR FISH
STOP CLEANING EVERYTHING
BE PATIENT
TEST YOUR PARAMETERS IF YOUD LIKE
and id say your tank will clear up in time.

[sacrimontis]

and never clean everything at the same time.
clean 1 filter , wait a week then clean another.
yes its a pain in the butt, but keep in mind, if you clean everything at the same time, and your tank is still carrying a load of fish ,your basically
"Starting a New Tank" and you have to cycle the tank all over again ,
check your NH3 and NO2 levels and id bet money they are high


AND ITS "PARAMETERS".

[FrontosaurusRex]

I'm gonna chill out on the water changes for a few days. The bacteria bloom is whats making the most sense. i do over clean my tanks, its my OCD kicking in. I literally had to convince myself NOT to do a water change today. i had to go mow the yard cuz i was itching to drain the dang tank.

[cichlid1409]

FL said w/d. nick said pro clear. Geoff said rinse your sand.1409 said massive w/c.mark said a good mechanical & bio filter. I agree. Did you test perimeters.

[PhishPhreek]

IMHO – there are 2 things that can cause cloudy water in your tank.

1 – mud, rust, crap and other particulate mater suspended in the water.
If you don’t stir it up, this stuff will settle to the bottom.
If you have a decent filter system it will filter this stuff out.
If you have smaller particles, you need a finer mesh filter (diatom)
If you do water changes, that will remove the stuff, unless more is coming in with your new water (i.e. Mud, rust). Changing old mud for new mud is not going to help.

2 – bacteria. The water company kills all kinds of bacteria when they treat your drinking water, but they do not remove the food that bacteria eat. If you have a tank full of food and no competition then the first bacteria that falls in the tank is going to eat & multiply. Most filters will not remove such small critters. Some small micron paper filters and diatom filters will catch these guys. Eventually other critters will become established and compete for the food and even consume these bacteria. When a balance of food and food eaters is reached the number of these guys will be reduced and the water will clear up. Doing water changes removes some of the existing bacteria but provides more food so they grow right back. You can try to speed up the cycle by seeding the tank with bacteria from an existing cycled tank or bottles of ready-made bugs but it’s not going to clear up until everything is balanced.

Test for Nitrates, do your water changes when they rise or buy a very fine filter.


But that’s just my take on the situation; I don’t do big tanks, just green water, infusorians, and daphnia and baby bettas.

[sacrimontis]

i have to agree with what phish says but something about this comment
I don’t do big tanks, just green water, infusorians, and daphnia and baby bettas" speaks for itself.

another comment he made was
You can try to speed up the cycle by seeding the tank with bacteria from an existing cycled
which is what i said.
so like i said " i think you just need to slow down n let it cycle.
he does have a point, it will either settle , you can remove it ( fine particles) or just let it work itself out.
but your not helping it by water changes.

this is just my opinion because you say its cloudy. when i had that problem it was on a 5 gallon and i was cleaning it, draining water , clean some more drain more water.
finally i quit.....because i could not figure out why my tank would not get clear , and no matter how many days in a row i cleaned the filter pads all i was doing was slowing down the cycle and killing the bacteria i needed.

if you take this advice and dont do water changes TEST your water every other day and make sure its safe. Or you will lose your whole tank
( if this isnt your problem)
i hope you get it worked out