Problem With Sand?

[rob_hawke]

not sure whether this is a problem with sand or not, but been suffering lately with slightly cloudy water... so did a few water changes and this made no difference.
on closer inspection, looking into the tank i can see lots and lots of tiny particles constantly floating around the tank, causing the non clear appearance of the water. ive put some fine wool over the inlet and outlet of the marina s15 slim filter to try and stop this, but still there are lots and lots of the particles floating around the tank.

really annoying as i know the water should be clear. so just wondering if this is a problem with the sand, maybe the filter not being good enough or anything else?

also makes me feel bad when i see my dads tank with gravel is perfectly crystal clear!
its argos playsand by the way that was cleaned thoroughly before being put in around 3/4 weeks ago.

any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Tizer]

tiz what i use, my tank isnt without a few particles floating around but its not "that bad".

 

[rob_hawke]

do you know of anything i could go to help the situation at all? its even to the point where id clean all the plant leaves, then within a few hours they are back covered again with all the random particles.

im even thinking of maybe changing to gravel instead.

 

[CezzaXV]

Have you tried doing a water change?

When I put my sand in, I obvoiusly didn't wash it out nearly enough as I could hardly see into the tank, but my Marina S15 cleared it in two or three days.

 

[rob_hawke]

yep have done plenty of water changes... hoping it will clear asap as been like this for around a week now!

 

[Mybbygotsauz]

this may sound weird
but it sounds more like a bacteria bloom to me
sand should have settled by now even with the water changes
so if its a bacteria bloom then good luck lol
they are ridiculously annoying

 

[ctsv510]

It could also be an algae bloom in the water. Put some tank water in a white bucket or container, and if it has a slightly green tint it could be algae. In my experience floating particles are not generally the cause of cloudiness unless you have A LOT of them, in which case your mechanical filtration isn't working well enough for you tank.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Do a huge water change, up to 90%, so that your fish can just swim upright. Then cut down on your feeding.

 

[Tizer]

is your filter blasting it all over the place? tried redirecting the flow? using a spray bar?

 

[rob_hawke]

the filter i have clips onto to the top of the tank and hangs outside (marina slim s15) so the water comes out of it onto the surface.. currently on the medium setting so not that powerful coming out really.

did a very large water change today as well as per the above. if it is a bacteria bloom, how often should i be doing water changes in order so i can get my water clear again?

 

[Tizer]

you dont have to do a water change to be rid of a bloom, it will just settle in time

 

[CrazyAirborne]

yeah i doubt its your sand, probably an algae bloom.

 

[skinbad]

the filter i have clips onto to the top of the tank and hangs outside (marina slim s15) so the water comes out of it onto the surface..

If the water is reaching the sand, it could well blow it around, and always will, sand wont settle that hard. If it is from this, there were some guides in the HArdware / DIY section i believe, about how to use an old plastic bottle to deflect the water across the surface, instead of the waterfall effect.

 

[Athena]

From your description, I'm inclined to think it is caused from the flow of water from the filter output. Had the same problem in my small fry tank recently. The filter in there has a spray bar and after my normal routine maintenance I must have positioned it slightly further above the water level than I normally do and heard the water much noisier than usual but thought, oh well, it will be good for extra surface movement etc. But when I came back into the room a short while later, the tank was cloudy, not cloudy white but lots of minute particles, messy-looking - when I looked closer I could see the tiny particles were sand whooshing around the tank.

I immediately lowered the filter so that the spray bar was only a fraction above water surface and much calmer and within a few minutes the tank was clear again, once the sand had settled back down.

What is the size of your tank? Sometimes if you have a powerful filter on a tank that is not very tall, the force of the water from the output nozzle can be too strong and stir up the surface of the sand.

Regards, Athena

 

[rob_hawke]

heres some pics... im hoping its just a bacterial bloom and will go asap!

and heres the filter: