Increasingly Cloudy Tank

[Dan04COBRA]

29G Tank.

7 months old. Bio-Spira was used originally to cycle the tank. Fully cycled with 48 hours. The tank appeared to be clear, but about a month ago the water became CRYSTAL CLEAR and it became rather evident just how clear a tank SHOULD/CAN be.

So currently, my ammonia reads 0. I have 2 ammonia test bottles and I tried them both and the reading is always 0. Nitrites is 0 and Nitrates are 10ppm.

So here I am, completely baffled as why my tank is cloudy all over again. It's not horrible, but it's easily noticeable and no where near as clear as it was about a month ago. I perform a 10-15% water change once per week. Current habitants are a Pleco & 2 wannabe Eels waiting to be transferred to a 55g.

Can anyone tell me why my tank is cloudy again?

 

[QuotheRaven]

Could be overfeeding..what colour is the cloudy water, Green, Brown or kind of milky?

 

[Dan04COBRA]

No overfeeding.

If anything, I underfeed the fish currently in the tank.

It is a white/milky haze.

No new decorations/rocks/substrate etc. Everything that is in the tank is 7 months old.

 

[chipster55]

29G Tank.

7 months old. Bio-Spira was used originally to cycle the tank. Fully cycled with 48 hours. The tank appeared to be clear, but about a month ago the water became CRYSTAL CLEAR and it became rather evident just how clear a tank SHOULD/CAN be.

So currently, my ammonia reads 0. I have 2 ammonia test bottles and I tried them both and the reading is always 0. Nitrites is 0 and Nitrates are 10ppm.

So here I am, completely baffled as why my tank is cloudy all over again. It's not horrible, but it's easily noticeable and no where near as clear as it was about a month ago. I perform a 10-15% water change once per week. Current habitants are a Pleco & 2 wannabe Eels waiting to be transferred to a 55g.

Can anyone tell me why my tank is cloudy again?

Do you use activated charcoal. I use it and water is crystal clear. I'm not experienced as others but you might try a 25-30% water change. Good Luck

 

[CBBP]

Any chanced you use a DIY yeast co2 injector? the smalliest ammount of yeast can make a tank as cloudy as paste.

 

[QuotheRaven]

Have the fish grown over the 7 months? if so I'd say it's a bacterial bloom by too much fish waste not being broken down....

 

[Dan04COBRA]

I have no idea what a DIY yeast co2 injector is. Never used it.

Chipster, yes I use activated charcoal. I suppose I really have no reason for it as I have never used any chemicals in my tank.

Question: I use stress-coat to treat my water every time I do a water change. Could I be adding too much per 5 gallons & that could be the culprit behind the cloudy water with no ammonia/nitrite readings?

Have the fish grown over the 7 months? if so I'd say it's a bacterial bloom by too much fish waste not being broken down....

I highly doubt it's a bacterial bloom, I'm getting no readings on 2 seperate Ammonia tests, both are less than 2 months old.

Also, the Pleco has grown & the Eels have slightly increased in size.

 

[QuotheRaven]

Hmm....is the filtration running perfectly??...just wondering

 

[chipster55]

I have no idea what a DIY yeast co2 injector is. Never used it.

Chipster, yes I use activated charcoal. I suppose I really have no reason for it as I have never used any chemicals in my tank.

Question: I use stress-coat to treat my water every time I do a water change. Could I be adding too much per 5 gallons & that could be the culprit behind the cloudy water with no ammonia/nitrite readings?

Have the fish grown over the 7 months? if so I'd say it's a bacterial bloom by too much fish waste not being broken down....

I highly doubt it's a bacterial bloom, I'm getting no readings on 2 seperate Ammonia tests, both are less than 2 months old.

Also, the Pleco has grown & the Eels have slightly increased in size.

I know how frustrating a cloudy aquarium is with no obvious answer...I too am wondering if adding to much stress-coat can hurt anything in aquarium..Hopefully someone can answer that..

 

[Dan04COBRA]

Hmm....is the filtration running perfectly??...just wondering

The filtration appears to be running perfectly. I assume this because there is no ammonia/nitrite readings.

I am at a loss for what could be the cause... I am being lead to believe that I have been too friendly with stress-coat during water changes. Is there any truth to that possibly being the cause of a white cloudy water?

 

[Lynden]

Maybe a UV sterilizer will help.

-Lynden

 

[Tolak]

http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/rev-cond.htm

Read what stress coat does & doesn't do. If you have chloramines in your water, it is causing a temporary ammonia spike. While your bio filtration may or may not be able to handle this, white cloudiness is usually bacterial, and could be your nitrifying bacteria looking for a surface to call home after multiplying to take care of the extra ammonia.

 

[Dan04COBRA]

I would consider a UV Sterilizer, but I'll just be letting that handle a lot of the issues I most likely create within the tank.

I'd like to be able to maintain a very stable tank before I use any products that can make the job easier just yet.

Tolak, that website had some interesting information. So essentially you are saying that the stress coat might be causing a quick and sudden spike, my tank cycles it rather quickly (before I've tested it again) and the cloudiness is infact a result of nitrifying bacteria that all started with my water treatmant product?

I do have another brand of water treatment, it isn't a stress coat product. Perhaps I should do 2 water changes this coming week and use the other dechlorifying product and see what happens.

The more I think about it, the more I think the cloudiness has increased with each water change, but never had any readable ammonia/nitrate tests right before I changed it..Hmmm..

 

[Bullrock74]

What do you feed your fish? Some foods can cause cloudiness in tanks.

 

[Dan04COBRA]

The fish are on a bit of a 'binge' right now while I try to solve the issue, so it's certainly not food.

I'm open to any suggestions though!!