Clearing The Cloud

[Beemeeup]

I have a 175 litre Tropical Fish Tank with thenumber and size of fish well within the limits for this tank.

The water is most times cloudy - a grey misty colour. I have changed the water twice a week - 20% each change.
I clean the gravel as I go

Ive put two carbon in the Filter and tried polishing Pads but there is no significant change.

I can only assume that it is either overfeeding - I'm not sure if it is algae bloom - No algae on glass.

The Tank is heavily planted.


The question is - How much water can I change and how often without affecting the fish (Platies, Corys, Ottos, Dwarf Rainbow.)

I have seen how clean the tanks are in the LFS - Crystal clear (But no plants in them)

 

[ihasanzongi]

i would say 20-35% changes weekly if your tank has been cycled

 

[Marshall..]

If your tank is new then this is quite common,but since you have it stocked with fish it must have already cycled.
Did you wash your substrate?
The only other thing I can think of is overfeeding.So clean your filter in aquarium water and do a good water change.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

could well be algae, are you using any Co2 or fertilisation for the plants, getting the balance wrong can often result in algae outbreaks such as couldy water.

 

[Beemeeup]

I have started to use a liquid fertiliser. I am going to introduce tomorrow, after a one week break, a diy co2 kit.

Would too much feeding cause a cloudiness? There are no visible particles in the water. The Substrate has been there since August and was thoroughly washed.

I have had crystal clear water sometimes in the past but do not know why.

I still would like someone to tell me how many water changes could I do and how much percentage without affecting the fish??

 

[Miss Wiggle]

I have started to use a liquid fertiliser. I am going to introduce tomorrow, after a one week break, a diy co2 kit.

Would too much feeding cause a cloudiness? There are no visible particles in the water. The Substrate has been there since August and was thoroughly washed.

I have had crystal clear water sometimes in the past but do not know why.

I still would like someone to tell me how many water changes could I do and how much percentage without affecting the fish??

only way i think overfeeding could cause it is if it was massivley too much at one single feed or for a few days or something like that, then there would be more waste than usual and the filter might not cope so you'd then get a bacteria bloom which can cause cloudiness.

i do 25-30% every week.

 

[Beemeeup]

I have started to use a liquid fertiliser. I am going to introduce tomorrow, after a one week break, a diy co2 kit.

Would too much feeding cause a cloudiness? There are no visible particles in the water. The Substrate has been there since August and was thoroughly washed.

I have had crystal clear water sometimes in the past but do not know why.

I still would like someone to tell me how many water changes could I do and how much percentage without affecting the fish??

only way i think overfeeding could cause it is if it was massivley too much at one single feed or for a few days or something like that, then there would be more waste than usual and the filter might not cope so you'd then get a bacteria bloom which can cause cloudiness.

i do 25-30% every week.

I think you have the answer as the water is now crystal clear - three days ago i removed two carbon and replaced with polish pads and gave them a good feed - as a result the filter could not cope but now it has more bacteria i assume that is why it is clear.

thanks again for help.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

sounds about right, glad you got it sorted

carbons rubbish anyway!