Aquarium Cloudiness?

[lljdma06]

I started EI about 3 weeks ago in an attempt to get rid of BGA and other types that have plagued my 15g. Well, the good news is that the BGA is finally gone, but I've noticed that the tank is getting quite cloudy. I know about green water, but this would be difficult to determine in my tank since I have driftwood that leaks tannins.

I know that there are two chemicals that you can't dose the same day because it will lead to cloudiness (Iron and phosphate), and I don't dose these the same day, but perhaps I am dosing them too close together?

I try and follow the dosing schedule as close to Zig's article as possible, but I'm having a hard time getting my Nitrogen to be 10ppm. I've checked the test and it's not the test, I'm just not getting 10ppm. Well, here's what I'm doing. Tell me if I'm doing something too crazy. My tank is full of stem plants.

Tank: 15g
pH: 7.00
kH: 10
CO2: 30ppm
WPG: 3.7
Plants: Myriophylum, Cabomba, Rotala, Elogeria, Glosso, Crypts
Lights: 5 on, 2 off, 5 on

Day 1: 50% water change, Dose 8mL of Nitrogen, 6mL of Potassium (I don't have a Potassium test), 4mL of Phospate, 4mL of Exel (I change the CO2 unit and I don't want the level to drop off too much)
Day 2: 3.25mL of Trace and 2.5mL or Iron.
Day 3: Test and then Dose Nitrogen and Potassium, but I alway have to dose Phospate too, it always shows up like I have none, and again, it's not the test.
Day 4: 3.25mL of Trace and Iron if the test results show a deficiency
Day 5: Test then Dose Nitrogen and Potassium, usually I'll have to dose Phospates as well.
Day 6: Dose Trace and usually I'm iron deficient, again.
Day 7: Same as day 1 with the water change.

I think the fault lies in my excess dosing of Iron and Phospate, but your opinions would be grateful. I have never been able to achieve any of the desired levels despite my religious dosing. The algae is gone, by the way, but the cloudiness is really beginning to bug me.

Thanks for the help. I dose liquid fertilizers (Seachem products). I should probably dose solid, but I'm taking apart this tank in May when I move back to Miami, FL. The plant growth is really very good and there's not a spot of algae, even on the glosso.

I apologize for the length, but I figured you'd want my dosing regimen to see if I was doing anything wrong, which I probably am.

 

[AndyTaylor]

Milky white cloudy or green cloudy?

 

[lljdma06]

Milky white cloudy or green cloudy?

Definitely not green cloudy, but as I said, my tank has tannins. I would have to go with a more milky cloudy rather than green. I haven't dosed yet today. If you look at my previous post it's day 6.

 

[zig]

Not really sure, i would ease back on the iron or not dose it at all and see what happens, iron testkits are pretty useless tbh, if you are dosing Seachem flourish for trace that will (should) contain enough iron on its own, i would also try and keep at the nitrate problem, you may have to invest in KNO3 from Greg Watson and start dosing that.

I notice you also dose Excel, this can cause cloudy water problems as well, if you only dose it once a week i doubt if its that though.I dose excel everyday on a 15 gallon, the tank is only set up about 6 weeks but in the beginning i had constant cloudy water problems which i put down to excel, but now my water is crystal clear so it was some type of bacterial bloom that was clouding the water, i didnt do anything different it just eventually cleared by itself, but this can happen in a new setup and its probably totally different to your own situation.

Try the iron and see what happens but im not really sure.

 

[Rodders]

I've got the same mate, mines milky cloudy for the last 4 months. It just wont go. It sucks......

 

[pseud]

I was using the EI method, but I found that my nitrates hardly get used up. I like to keep it between 10 and 20, and it over the week it really doens't go down until water change day, by which it drops by however much water I replace. I only does KNO3 and KH2PO4 on water change day now. I dose Iron every 2-3 days.

I feel that overdosing my nitrates was part of the cause of my GW outbreak.

 

[lljdma06]

I was using the EI method, but I found that my nitrates hardly get used up. I like to keep it between 10 and 20, and it over the week it really doens't go down until water change day, by which it drops by however much water I replace. I only does KNO3 and KH2PO4 on water change day now. I dose Iron every 2-3 days.

I feel that overdosing my nitrates was part of the cause of my GW outbreak.

Thanks for the imput plant masters, I'll lighten up on the iron then and only dose that once a week for now and see if that clears up.

Pseud you sure are lucky. My plants soak up Nitrogen like there's no tomorrrow, and I've got a pretty decent fish bioload (4 honey gouramis, 6 harlequins, and 7 pygmy corydoras). But I've got some serious growers in there.

I let things alone and didn't dose today. I'm pretty sure it'll clear up after the water change.

 

[steve711]

It's propably iron that's making it cloudy, is there a kind of film on the water, kind of oily that sort of clumps together when you disturb it, if so it's likely to be iron.

Another tip, lay off this idea of adding Nitrate and phosphate, unless of course you want to grow algae.

You're trying to grow aquatic plants here not garden plants.

 

[lljdma06]

It's propably iron that's making it cloudy, is there a kind of film on the water, kind of oily that sort of clumps together when you disturb it, if so it's likely to be iron.

Another tip, lay off this idea of adding Nitrate and phosphate, unless of course you want to grow algae.

You're trying to grow aquatic plants here not garden plants.

I know you are trying to be extremely helpful and this is appreciated. But it was the addition of Nitrates and other macro nutrients that got rid of my algae problem in the first place. I had terrible BGA and using the EI method described by Zig in this forum and raising my CO2 got rid of it. While I fully admit, that an error in the dosing on my part is responsible for the cloudy water, it is not the method's fault. I just haven't found the right balance for my tank yet. But I lightened up on some of the ferts (iron and liquid CO2) and the tank is already starting to clear up.

For your information, despite dosing Nitrates, I still test at less than 5ppm, so whatever I'm dosing, it's being used, and since I don't see any algae, I guess it must be the plants. Unless fish have acquired a method of using Nitrogen!

Thank you for your response, however. It is always interesting to hear different opinions. What does your tank look like?

 

[iggy01]

I would agree, iron could well be the problem.

Do you have a high GH? If so, dosing Flourish Iron can sometimes cause the calcium/magnesium carbonates in the water to precipitate, resulting in cloudy water.

 

[lljdma06]

I would agree, iron could well be the problem.

Do you have a high GH? If so, dosing Flourish Iron can sometimes cause the calcium/magnesium carbonates in the water to precipitate, resulting in cloudy water.

I see! That is an interesting point. I never thought of that. Hmmm, need to test my GH. Thanks a bunch!