My Milky White Cloudy Tank

[ravekiss]

No matter what I tried my tank doesnt ever stay crystal clear. I upgraded from 10g to 20g. For about a week the 20g only had about 9-10 small fish, yet it would get cloudy. I tried everything. I'm getting very depressed everytime I look at the tank. I vacuum the gravel ever so often. Do regular water changes. Feed only what the fish could eat in about 2 mins. I tried runng 2 filters for weeks (Aqua Clear 50 & Whisper 20). Tried jungle water clear, tried Accu-Clear. My tank is so cloudy that if you look through one side (length wise), you cant see thru the other at all. I am so depressed.

 

[CatLover]

Do you have sand as a substrate?
Even if you do, it should have settled by now, unless you have fish that like to stir it up constantly. Shouldn't be that cloudy though with little fish

I would do water changes once or twice a week, and put some heavy duty filtration on the tank. Since it's 20G, you will want at least a 200GPH filter. You can get one big filter, or two 100GPH filters.

Don't be afraid of filtering too much. It's not having enough filtration that you need to worry about.

 

[wrs]

did you ever cycle your tank?? If not, that could and proebely is the reason. A bacteria bloom.

 

[ravekiss]

I have gravel for substrate. I have 2 filters running, I know for sure the Aqua Clear is 200GPH, the other filter is a Whisper 20, not sure about that one. I do water changes 2 times a week.

 

[ravekiss]

But doesnt a bacterial bloom go away by itself after a few days? I've had this problem for months. The tank is cycled..yes. All parameters are perfect, except the PH is 7.5.

 

[OoHeatheroO]

You have a LOT of fish in there. That might add to it.

 

[Discomafia]

Tried using carbon in your filters?

 

[ravekiss]

Both filters have carbon, I even change it regularly to see of it would help.

 

[wrs]

You have a LOT of fish in there. That might add to it.

I also have to agree with that. Or you could get live plants. I for got that one.

from personal experiance. My brother had an over crowded 20 gallon tank. We romed some fish to his 5 gallon and put in some live plants. That tank cleared up within two days.

 

[Fishy411]

do u have bogwood? that usually makes yur tank cloudy

 

[ravekiss]

No bogwood...a sunken ship, a skull & an octupus ornament.

 

[rdd1952]

Both filters have carbon, I even change it regularly to see of it would help.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but if you're changing filters regularly, that may be part of your problem. You are throwing away your good bacteria that has accumulated in/on the filter, possibly extending the bacteria bloom. My understanding is that most people leave their filters in until they are totally worn out, just rinsing them in dechlorinate water from time to time to get the dirt off them.

 

[ravekiss]

I dont change the filter media, just empty the old carbon and replace with new activated carbon.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi ravekiss


rdd1952 made a good point. If you are changing your filter media too often you could be interfering with the growth of beneficial bacteria. Just leave it alone unless it is beginning to clog up and impede the flow of water.

If that isn't the problem, the cloudy water is probably being caused by overcrowding. With too many fish, the phosphates can get out of hand and cause the water to be persistently cloudy.

You might try adding Phos-X to your filter:

http/superfishstore.com/waterworld/nfosc...products_id=540

It will cut down on phosphates and nitrates, and help the appearance of your water, but you will still have the real problem or overstocking.

 

[The-Wolf]

have you tested the phosphate levels?
high phosphates can lead to cloudy water,
whilst not really affecting any other parameters.
If you don't have a phosphate test take a sample to your lfs
and get it tested there.