My Tank Went Cloudy - Is It Bacteria?

[(GTV)Chris]

Hi Folks,

I have a 90 litre tank containing Oranda's and Dannio's.
I have changed the Fluval(2) filter sponges. I did 1 at a time a week apart.
Te water went really cloudy overnight?
Is this due to a bacterial bloom? It has been cloudy for about 4 days. I did a 20% water change and measured the water stats which are all ok.
Can anyone offer advice?
I have noticed the filter getting blocked every other day recently and I have to wash the sponges out (In some of the aquarium water taken out in a bucket).
I have 1 plant in there and the rest are artificial.

Thanks

Chris

 

[mwood2]

I wouldn't change the filter sponges since they hold beneficial bacteria. I have the same filter as you pared with a Aqua Clear 20 for my 10 gallon tank (thats alot of filtration). I never seem to have a clog in my Fluval and I have a fully planed tank. I also only clean my fluval once a week.

 

[(GTV)Chris]

I wouldn't change the filter sponges since they hold beneficial bacteria. I have the same filter as you pared with a Aqua Clear 20 for my 10 gallon tank (thats alot of filtration). I never seem to have a clog in my Fluval and I have a fully planed tank. I also only clean my fluval once a week.

I wonder what is clogging it?
I do have a degree of algae but not excessive. Should I add some replacement bacteria??


Cheers

Chris

 

[ryan200L]

basically, what happens with me is when i take out my pumps to clean, when u put them back on in the tank, they blow a little #### out for a while which does make the water cloudy for a couple of hours!

 

[mwood2]

no real way to add replacement bacteria other then letting it naturally grow or take from an established tank. If that your only filter in your tank or so you have another?

 

[(GTV)Chris]

no real way to add replacement bacteria other then letting it naturally grow or take from an established tank. If that your only filter in your tank or so you have another?

Hi,

I just have one filter.
It is looking a bit clearer now, but still cloudy.
I had a lot of green water at one stage so I put in a UV sterilizer which sorted that out.
I feed them once a day, so i don't think they are producing excessive waste.

Regards

Chris

 

[Jazzzz]

the new sponge you put in had not had enough time to fully colonise so when you replaced the second it had maybe 30% of the beneficial bacteria it had 2 weeks ago causing cloudy bacterial boom water. don't treet the algea

Oranders are serious poo machienes hence why it is clogging up easily

no need to ever replace sponges just rinse in old tank water

 

[(GTV)Chris]

the new sponge you put in had not had enough time to fully colonise so when you replaced the second it had maybe 30% of the beneficial bacteria it had 2 weeks ago causing cloudy bacterial boom water. don't treet the algea

Oranders are serious poo machienes hence why it is clogging up easily

no need to ever replace sponges just rinse in old tank water

Ok, hanks guys.
It is getting better day by day. My last sponges were a year old and really looked in a clogged state, even after i rinse them in the tank water in a bucket..
I'll leave them to establish. just hope the water stats don't go wild, Ill keep my eye on them.
In case they do.... And if i do the water changes.. will this slow down the rate of healthy bacteria forming??

Cheers

Chris

 

[mwood2]

It shouldn't slow it down but you should do one anytime ammonia/nitrite goes above.25, this is the danger zone. Also whats your tanks stock? If you ever decide to change out pads I would add new pads to filter with the old so they can seed the new ones. I still would suggest another filter to go with the Fluval since filters like HoB have lots of room for filter media and are hard to clog.

 

[OldMan47]

Next time you decide to change filters on the Fluval, try cleaning the sponges well and just change one. Wait a full month and change the other. That way you will never be reduced to such a low bacterial population as you are experiencing right now. There are no additives that will actually work to bring the bacteria levels back up but time will do the trick.