My Tank Just Got Really Cloudy

[Jason]

I dropped an algae wafer into my 5-gallon tank to feed the corys I have at the bottom. Then the tank became very cloudy. Is this a by-product of the wafter dissolving?

I did a 20% water change and replaced the filter cartridge, but the tank is as cloudy as ever. Does my tank just need time to filter out all the dissolving stuff from the wafer?

The fish don't seem to mind that much, but they don't really speak that often.

Oh, and I added a few drops of something called 'Crystal Clear' but that doesn't seem to be doing anything either.

What's the dealie-yo?

 

[The-Raven]

Did this occur before or after changing the filter?

If it's after - it's because by removing the cartridge, you removed all of the ammonia-eating bacteria. The cloudiness is the bacteria replicating to try and make up for the massive crush in population.

Crystal Clear won't do anything - and as far as I've heard, never does. Give it a day or two, and you'll wake up one morning with the clearest tank ever.


In any case - it's not the algae wafer. I feed those daily and nothign ever happens.

 

[Squirrelbuddies]

How long has your tank been running. If it's a new setup, it could be a bacterial bloom...

I found an algae wafer in my 5 gallon that had been sitting there for a day and it did not cloud the water. (I scooped it out when I found it.)

Have you tested your water (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)?

 

[Jason]

Did this occur before or after changing the filter?

It was a little cloudy before I changed the filter, then got really cloudy afterwards. I've had the tank up and running for a little over a month now and this is the first time I've changed cartridges.

 

[Bloo]

Then the tank became very cloudy. Is this a by-product of the wafter dissolving?

What sort of time span are we talking about here. "then" = as soon as you dropped in the water ? or 10 minutes afterwards ? or was the wafer eaten and the water still remained cloudy overnight ?