Water Change = Cloudy Water ?

[johnnyjohnson]

hello,
i am in the process of doing a fish in cycle. I also needed to level the aquarium and since i am doing water changes everyday i figured it was a good time. Here is my issue, i usually do about 50 % water changes daily but in order to level the aquarium i emptied 75% of the water to lighten it up. it took me almost a hour to level theaquarium,after filling the tank back up and turning on all the filters and lights i noticed that there was a water line where the water was lowered to. from that line down was a white film like the water had been sitting at that level for days or something. The water was also cloudy and has been crystal clear since day 3 of my set up. Any ideas on what would cause this and what can be done. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate all a zero of course due to 75% water change.

in case it matters i am running two emperor 400 filters each has two carbon filters and a ammonia filtering pad, also a tetratech 300 with prefilter and carbon, all together i am turning over the water about 10 times a hour so i do not think filtration is a issue. Tank is 120 us gallons, no live plants. thanks in advance

 

[pippoodle]

unless you change the carbon every 3 days it's useless after that

 

[johnnyjohnson]

really ?? every three days? i did not know that, that could get expensive. The cartidges that come with the filter i believe have carbon in them, i need to change those as well? they are like 10 USD for two of them, that would be like 60 bucks a week.

 

[pippoodle]

dont use carbon then replace it with a different sponge or filter floss it's really only any good for removing meds and tannins in the tank - if you dont like having the tannins

 

[rabbut]

What is the Ammonia removing cartridge based on? Zeolite? Sponge? Other?

Cloudy water in a cycling tank is usually a bacterial bloom. I'd normally recommend a water change with such a bloom going on, but if you've do a water change already today, you may opt to leave it. Either way, I'd strongly advise you to increase surface agitation if you can The white lining where the water level sat could be one of an number of things. Bacterial films and any oily residues that were on the surface of the water before the water change are two of the most common causes of such lining

All the best
Rabbut

 

[johnnyjohnson]

the ammonia removing filter came as a big pad and you cut it to fit in the extra media holder that came with the filter, unfortunatley i do not know excatly what it is but zeolite sounds familiar. i have 3 powerheads in the tank but dont run them all the time, i will leave them on for the day and get some etra water moving and see if that helps.

still a little confused on the carbon issue. why do they put carbon in the filter cartridges that come with the filter if they are of no real use? is there any good reads on carbon use in the aquarium?

 

[rabbut]

Carbon is a good money spinner for the manufacturer. They tell you they need regular replacement and are required for the successful running of a tank so that you go back and buy cartridges regularly What they don't tell you is that for carbon to work, it need replacing far more often than they suggest, around once every 12 hours. They adsorb until they reach an equilibrium, then they stop. After this, it will only adsorb more if more of whatever its stopped removing is added to the tank. This continues until it is completely saturated. Basically, it works initially for 12 hours to reach equilibrium, then it may go for a few days after, collecting organics from the water, but the initial removal that the carbon does is done over the first few hours

Can you find out what is the in Ammonia removing cartridge if possible? Many manufacturers will use Zeolite, but it may interfere with the tank's cycling

All the best
Rabbut

 

[johnnyjohnson]

that figures, i will find out when i get home what the pad is made out of and post it. does it hurt to leave the carbon filled cartridgess in longer even though they dont do anything? they still serve the purpose of catching large debris because of the floss on the outside of it and i cannot afford to replace them every couple of days.

 

[johnnyjohnson]

does anyone have any links to a good article on filtration and/or carbon use? I have spent alot of money to insure that i have enough water being moved per hour in my tank but want to make surei am doing it efficiently. whats the point of moving the water in the tank 10 times per hour if the correct media isnt being used to do any good for the fish. any suggestions.

 

[rabbut]

A basic guide to filter media can be found here

Science Alert A write up on how Carbon works can be found here. It is a post in the scientific forum though, so you may find it heavy reading if you don't have a good science background

A tip of floss, while I'm here. Bulk buy filter matting of Ebay. You can get like a 15ftX3ft sheet of floss for a few quid, and it will last yonks

HTH
Rabbut

 

[johnnyjohnson]

thank you rabbut,
i will read them shortly.

i dont know what a quid or a yonk are, but sounds like a great deal, lol ! I will check EBAY for sure .

thanks for all your help.

 

[rabbut]

Quid = british slang for a pound

Yonk = slang again for a long time in that context

All the best
Rabbut

 

[johnnyjohnson]

thanks for the lesson Rabbut !

i will start using those terms here, my buddies will think i have gone yonkers ( slang for crazy )
ha

 

[rabbut]

We call that bonkers over here

 

[johnnyjohnson]

aw heck , i think your right it is bonkers here too, think yonkers is a town in New York. they really would think i was crazy !!