06/02/2026
Fish are fine, water parameters are fine, but it has remained cloudy since adding the last 3 guppies and dosing with Tetra Safestart on May 15, so over two weeks now, and showed no signs of clearing at all. So I used Google's AI. I was impressed with the responses.
At first it gave the standard, "It will clear in a few days." but when I told it it was already about 18 days, it asked another question or two and it then told me I had an "unsettled bacteria loop" in which the bacteria were cycling through the UGF so fast and up the lift tubes again they were not establishing the biofilm on the gravel and were remaining suspended in the water column. They are obviously doing the job of reducing ammonia, but not becoming fixed in the substrate.
It suggested doing a 50% water change, adding more polishing pads to the HOB filter if I could, and turning off the UGF for two days to let the bacteria settle. Also skip a day feeding, and then feed 1X per day very carefully. I said I was worried about turning off the UGF, and asked how about pulling the airstones and just leaving big bubbles from the air tubing. It suggested that was an excellent idea and asked if my air pump was adjustable, to which I said yes.
It said leave the HOB on max flow, pull the airstones from the UGF, reduce the airflow to minimum and leave that running for 5 days that way. It said there was no problem turning the UGF off for two days, but this approach would reduce the flow through the gravel by maybe 80% and allow the bacteria to grab onto the gravel while still providing aerated water. On day 5 it said increase the air pump to high output for two more days but still no airstones. On day 7 it suggested putting the airstones back in and reducing the air pump to low again so as not to disturb the new biofilm too much. After that I could leave the air pump on low or raise the flow, it won't make much difference to the biological filtering. I'll probably get about 60 gph out of both lift tubes on low and up to 120 on High, but 6X the tank volume per hour is plenty, especially since my HOB is rated for 55 gph, as well. I'd be turning the tank over 10+ times per hour about half from the HOB polishing pads, and half from the UGF, which is great filtration.
That was June 2, today, on June 3 the tank is way, way clearer than yesterday. I'm going to track this, and add it to the AI thread. I think people are way more critical of AI than is warranted. Yes it makes mistakes--in this conversation it said my two UGF lift tubes should provide 1-2 gph using airstones. I said, "You mean 1-2 gallons per minute, right?" It said, yes, good correction, and apologized. If this works out in a week. I'll post it over in the AI thread. I think some people are making the perfect the enemy of the good with AI.
Oh, forgot water parameters, I did them all after yesterday's 50% water change.
Temp 77.7*F
pH 7.8-8.0 I can't really distinguish the color very well.
Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are all zero
KH = 4 GH = 10
Fish are looking very good.
Fish are fine, water parameters are fine, but it has remained cloudy since adding the last 3 guppies and dosing with Tetra Safestart on May 15, so over two weeks now, and showed no signs of clearing at all. So I used Google's AI. I was impressed with the responses.
At first it gave the standard, "It will clear in a few days." but when I told it it was already about 18 days, it asked another question or two and it then told me I had an "unsettled bacteria loop" in which the bacteria were cycling through the UGF so fast and up the lift tubes again they were not establishing the biofilm on the gravel and were remaining suspended in the water column. They are obviously doing the job of reducing ammonia, but not becoming fixed in the substrate.
It suggested doing a 50% water change, adding more polishing pads to the HOB filter if I could, and turning off the UGF for two days to let the bacteria settle. Also skip a day feeding, and then feed 1X per day very carefully. I said I was worried about turning off the UGF, and asked how about pulling the airstones and just leaving big bubbles from the air tubing. It suggested that was an excellent idea and asked if my air pump was adjustable, to which I said yes.
It said leave the HOB on max flow, pull the airstones from the UGF, reduce the airflow to minimum and leave that running for 5 days that way. It said there was no problem turning the UGF off for two days, but this approach would reduce the flow through the gravel by maybe 80% and allow the bacteria to grab onto the gravel while still providing aerated water. On day 5 it said increase the air pump to high output for two more days but still no airstones. On day 7 it suggested putting the airstones back in and reducing the air pump to low again so as not to disturb the new biofilm too much. After that I could leave the air pump on low or raise the flow, it won't make much difference to the biological filtering. I'll probably get about 60 gph out of both lift tubes on low and up to 120 on High, but 6X the tank volume per hour is plenty, especially since my HOB is rated for 55 gph, as well. I'd be turning the tank over 10+ times per hour about half from the HOB polishing pads, and half from the UGF, which is great filtration.
That was June 2, today, on June 3 the tank is way, way clearer than yesterday. I'm going to track this, and add it to the AI thread. I think people are way more critical of AI than is warranted. Yes it makes mistakes--in this conversation it said my two UGF lift tubes should provide 1-2 gph using airstones. I said, "You mean 1-2 gallons per minute, right?" It said, yes, good correction, and apologized. If this works out in a week. I'll post it over in the AI thread. I think some people are making the perfect the enemy of the good with AI.
Oh, forgot water parameters, I did them all after yesterday's 50% water change.
Temp 77.7*F
pH 7.8-8.0 I can't really distinguish the color very well.
Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are all zero
KH = 4 GH = 10
Fish are looking very good.
Last edited:
