Cloudy Water In Planted Tank

[fish_keeper2]

my 29 gal planted has been very cloudy lately. i tried water changes to no avail. then i tried a water clarifyer which just made it worse. then i added carbon the the filter which did nothing.

in the filter i have only sponges(and now carbon). in the tank i have malasyian driftwood with some rocks and gravel. plants include amazon swords, jungle val, rotala, red ludwigia, java fern, and frill plants. fish currently are 1 angel, 5 neons, 7 glo lite, 5 corries, 3 ottos, 2 bolivian rams. for ferts i use flourish from seachem and i just added flourish tabs from seachem(11 tablets). i also have DIY co2. for dechlorinator i use aquasafe from tetra and stress coat from aquarium pharmasuticles.

any one have ideas on how to make the water clear. its kinda a milky color and can bearly see the fish when they are in the back of the tank when looking from a distance.

 

[oldwhitewood]

Check your nitrite, ammonia and ph levels. Cloudy water can sometimes indicate a collapse in the biological bacteria colony in the filter, how are your fish? Are they swimming near the surface gasping?

Heavy plant growth is another cause of cloudy water but this is a much more subtle effect and I don't think this is the cause of what you have right now.

 

[fish_keeper2]

the fish seem fine. all acting normal eating well and no diseases. the plants are doing ok. my lighting is pretty low right now so there isnt much plant growth.

i dont have a FW test kit ATM. any suggestion on what i should do. ill do a partial in a bit and see if it helps at all.

 

[fish_keeper2]

the water change didnt help. its still just as bad......any suggestions. plz help.

 

[Ste_J]

What is your PO4 reading?

I get cloudy water just after a water change although this does happen after my initial dose of ferts - iron etc but my PO4 is 5ppm from the tap

I believe that a high PO4 reading and high iron content can cause cloudy water

Just an idea

 

[fish_keeper2]

thanks. when ever i did a partial it wouldnt get better and even after a few days it wasnt better. i gave up on making this tank a planted one though.