Cloudy Water

ChilliPepper · Oct 30, 2008

Water has been cloudy for a couple of weeks, looks like tiny particles floating about but doesn't seem to be getting any better. Did my usual 40% water change on Tuesday and water cleared a little but still cloudy. Moved internal sponge filter away from bubble wall to see whether that was causing fine bubbles which could explain the particles, but still the same. Rinsed sponge filter in tank water on Tuesday too, but haven't touched external canister filter. Tank has been running about 3 or 4 weeks now.

Have checked water, on Tuesday after water change and today, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0 and Nitrate was 0.6 or something, the lowest reading on my liquid test kit.

Fish don't seem bothered, I just want my clear water back!

Any ideas?

ILuvTropicalFish · Oct 30, 2008

I had a tank once that I could not get cleared up. I did water changes every day and it would clear for awhile and then come right back. There was no good reason. I got a product from Petsmart called Crystal Clear that cleared that tank up.

Since then my discus tank went cloudy. Once again I could not seem to get the tank to clear up. I did water changes, tried the water clear product and this time it did not work. I found on a website that it was probably a bacterial bloom and it was possible to wait it out and it would go away. The "bacterial bloom" is not detrimental to the fish it just looks bad in the water. The water still did not clear. I finally did a water change and took each decoration and carefully checked it out inside and out. I found a dead fish that I thought had long since disappeared.

The moral to this story is to check your filtration, check your water parameters, count your inhabitants and be sure all are accounted for very carefully, and be patient and do water changes. Your water will eventually clear up. I hope this helps.

ChilliPepper · Oct 31, 2008

Thanks for your reply.

I might try that Crystal Clear thing. Has anyone else had any experiences with it?

I haven't lost any fish, though I have got some algae growing on my sand which is also annoying.

Should I try some filter floss?

Anyone else got any suggestions?

Rick A · Oct 31, 2008

Filter 'floss' is a good bet. I use it in my external cannisters all the time and it appears to be one of the biggest helps for catching all the small particles.

Personally, I would prefer to relly on the filters to keep the water clear and not to start adding more chemicals to the water. Fish don't like chemicals... :sick:

Have you checked the water flow from your cannister? If it drops noticeably then it could be that the filter is blocked and therefore it won't be catching any particles. This happens to mine from time-to-time and is the first thing I check if the water starts to be cloudy.

Hope this helps. :good:

Bojangles · Oct 31, 2008

grumpygourami said:
Thanks for your reply.

I might try that Crystal Clear thing. Has anyone else had any experiences with it?

I haven't lost any fish, though I have got some algae growing on my sand which is also annoying.

Should I try some filter floss?

Anyone else got any suggestions?

Never used it myself but Wilkinsons sell it

ChilliPepper · Oct 31, 2008

Rick A said:
Have you checked the water flow from your cannister?

Might be a stupid question but how do I do that? If you mean the flow of water from my spray bar then I'd say it's the same as normal. Not cleaned my external out since I've been running the tank which is for almost a month.

Can I just get some ordinary filter floss from ebay and put it in one of my trays?

Also with the canister filters do you turn off at mains THEN turn taps off THEN undo canister or in a different order? Bit scared to do it wrong and have water gushing about!

Miss Wiggle · Oct 31, 2008

does it look sort of milky in appearance or like there's just particles of dirt suspended in the water?

ChilliPepper · Nov 1, 2008

The water has a bit of a green tinge to it, but it looks like there are little particles floating about as well.

Don't know if this is algae? Should I give the filter floss a try? Or is a UV steriliser the best course of action?

I have not had the tank lights on for a day and will see if it clears after a couple of days in the dark but so far no change.

What about Green Away, would that be worth a try?

Miss Wiggle · Nov 1, 2008

try the filter floss that will pick up the fine particles, if it's greeny then it's just an algae bloom,

i don't recommend stuff like green away as you're just fixing the symptom not the problem, it may get rid of it but it'll keep coming back, you're much better hopping over to the planted tank forum and asking them to try and identify the cause of the algae with you to fix that. :good:

ChilliPepper · Nov 1, 2008

Thanks - can I just get some ordinary filter floss from ebay and put it in one of my trays?

Also with the canister filters do you turn off at mains THEN turn taps off THEN undo canister or in a different order? Bit scared to do it wrong and have water gushing about!

drobbyb · Nov 1, 2008

To get rid of green water simply do not turn on the tank's light for 3 days and make sure there's no direct sunlight. After 3 days do an 80% water change and all should be well.