Cloudy But No Ammonia?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
cool, thanks, guys, that gives me some things to try. I have left the lights off and no feeding for 2 or 3 days before. I have some plants that I'm trying to sell but can't get rid of that I might try in there, but they'll probably be disrupted and not get enough light. I'll try the UV if that and more oxygenation don't work. I may get a sponge filter to stick on the AC110 powerhead, too.


I'm actually building a sump for it, too. I'll need one anyway when I upgrade.
 
It's always cloudy and has ammonia spikes which makes it even cloudier
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How often do these ammonia spikes happen?

So, a 210 gallon tank.

Filtration;
2x Filstar XP3 (350 GPH) - Actual flow will be around 140 GPH x 2 = 280 GPH
(An Xp4 rated at 450 GPH actually flows around 195-200 GPH)
2x Penguin 350 (350 GPH - Rated For 75 Gal Tanks.) - Actual Flow may be a bit less = 600 GPH for 150 Gallon Tank. Pretty sad, 600 GPH but only up to 150 Gal tanks when using two of these filters....

Your filtration may be just enough for that tank. I would personally sell the Xp3s and the Penguins and get your self two Fx5s or build a sump. Less power consumption and MUCH better filtration.
 
Jgray152;2504530; said:
How often do these ammonia spikes happen?

So, a 210 gallon tank.

Filtration;
2x Filstar XP3 (350 GPH) - Actual flow will be around 140 GPH x 2 = 280 GPH
(An Xp4 rated at 450 GPH actually flows around 195-200 GPH)
2x Penguin 350 (350 GPH - Rated For 75 Gal Tanks.) - Actual Flow may be a bit less = 600 GPH for 150 Gallon Tank. Pretty sad, 600 GPH but only up to 150 Gal tanks when using two of these filters....

Your filtration may be just enough for that tank. I would personally sell the Xp3 and the Penguins and get your self two Fx5s or build a sump.
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the spikes were happening probably once every two weeks, but the ammonia hasn't been over .5 ppm or the nitrite over .25 ppm in at least a month. It is still cloudy, though and has been getting moreso the last few days even though they ammonia and nitrite are still at or very near 0.

I am going to need the filters, so I'm going to keep them. I got a 1200 gpm pump at 1' head (like 900 with the head I'll be at) that I'm going to use in a 55 I'm turning into a sump. I'm going to use the scrubbies from the XP3's in there, along with other stuff, of course. That shouldn't take long for the new media in the XP3's or the sump to seed. Right now, I have one basket in each XP3 full of bio-max (at least 1/2 of each basket should be seeded by now) and one with scrubbies. If that doesn't suffice, then something's seriously messed up.

The cloudiness increasing is probably due to me changing out the media, but it still isn't going to clear up completely once it seeds, I doubt. I'll just keep doing large frequent water changes (in moderation) until the sump is finished and all the media is seeded.
 
I tore down my planted 40, put the plants in the 210 and added the seeded/cycled XP3 w/ bio-max to the tank, so I hope that helps. I am going to start getting the rest of the parts I need to make a sump for the 210 ASAP.
 
I remember when I saw your tank it was cloudy. From what I saw it didn't look like an algae bloom, so I don't think keeping your lights off is going to help at all.

I agree with you that you are likely dealing with BB problems. I was having major problems with my tank being cloudy recently too. I had two entire things of Seachem Matrix in my XP3 and my 2 Emperor 400s just had pads for mechanical. I decided to try and spread the biological filtration out between the three filters to see if that would help. I took half of the Matrix from the XP3 and distributed it between the 2 Emperors. That solved my problem. My tank is more clear than is has been for a long time.

I am not very impressed with XP3s. They have done fine on my smaller tanks, but I'm not very impressed with the performance in my 125.

Good luck man. I know how frustrating this can be.
 
Angler;2508895; said:
I remember when I saw your tank it was cloudy. From what I saw it didn't look like an algae bloom, so I don't think keeping your lights off is going to help at all.

I agree with you that you are likely dealing with BB problems. I was having major problems with my tank being cloudy recently too. I had two entire things of Seachem Matrix in my XP3 and my 2 Emperor 400s just had pads for mechanical. I decided to try and spread the biological filtration out between the three filters to see if that would help. I took half of the Matrix from the XP3 and distributed it between the 2 Emperors. That solved my problem. My tank is more clear than is has been for a long time.

I am not very impressed with XP3s. They have done fine on my smaller tanks, but I'm not very impressed with the performance in my 125.

Good luck man. I know how frustrating this can be.
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Hopefully what I did will help. I now have 3 XP3's with the bottom basket filled w/ 2 coarse and 2 fine mechanical pads, 2nd basket w/ BioMax and 3rd basket w/ scrubbies. I may just add some bio to the P350 and E400 since even the top layer of filter foam hardly ever gets very dirty. Where did you add the bio to the Emperors? I would think I should put them on the bottom and the filter foam on the top, right? Although, the bottom filter foam pads should act as some bio, too, but not nearly as well as regular bio. I have 2 boxes of BioMax, so I will put one in each filter tonight. I'm not going to bother w/ any more XP3's. From now on, it's either going to be FX5, 2260/2262 or sump.
 
Tom500;2509636; said:
Hve you changed your filter media recently that could be the problem!
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yes, but the problem arose before that. I have been slowly putting better bio-media into my canisters to try and help.
 
The Rena series I would never use on tanks over 75 gallons. Not even the Xp4. The flow rate is just WAY to low.

I don't listen to anyone with Xp filters that say the output is incredible because Rena designs the output nozzel to achieve great flow velocity but little flow volume.

The Fx5 does really flow at the documented flow rate in the manual . 600 GPH. If you run two Fx5s, you will be running about 100-115 watts of power.

Keep in mind that the Fx5 can be modified for better bio filtration as well. So you can have 1200 GPH actual flow with 20-22L of bio media instead of 10-11 liters with the filters unmoddified. Sound Good? Does to me :) You won't need any HOBs or other filters so you can toss the rest of the filter crew you have.

You already have a bunch of bio media you can transfer into the Fx5s but you may want to buy some more. You can get Bio Bale (pond bio filter media) for real cheap.
 
i have had cloudy water for the last 2 weeks and now it has gone,
there are a multiple of factors that could be the problem
-water temperature lower it to 24-25 celcius if fish permit dont need it warm really
-if the water is too soft bacteria will thrive giving the cloudy effect, harden the water if too soft
-not enough oxygen
-add some nutrafin cycle or similar which boosts beneficial bacteria
if the fishes health isnt being put at risk sit it out and dont keep playing with the filtration system also helps, the fish **** is actually good for the system and might trap the cloudy water particles.
what fish do you have in the tank and what decor??
hope this helps
 
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