Cloudy But No Ammonia?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Jgray152;2510003; said:
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.
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Live and learn. I don't have the money to just get rid of the filters I have and I have smaller tanks I will use them on later. I know now that XP3's aren't very good, but at the time I got them, they were cheap and readily available. If I would have known better, I would have ordered an FX5 from Infinite Aquatics instead of the XP3's.

How do you modify the FX5? I will probably get one eventually. I'll be glad to get rid of the HOB's, too. I'm going to figure out what supplies I need to make my sump tonight.


Thanks for the tips. I'll keep everything updated.


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kris---------thanks for the input.

I have five polys ranging from 8 to 13", a 13" fl/spotted gar, 3 5-8" dats, 11" jardini. I think I took everything else out.... Decor is only 3 pieces of driftwood and 3m colorquartz. i do have a few live plants in there from another tank I broke down until I can get rid of them. Something has to be done, though because I didn't mess with filtration besides adding another P350 since this whole thing started until I started changing out the bio very recently.
 
Within an aquarium, bacteria are compartmentalized in essentially two areas....the filter (and other solid surfaces) and suspended within the water. These are not necessarilly the same species. Cloudy water is almost always indicative of a bacterial bloom, caused by the increase of some contaminant (bacterial food source) in the water. If the bacteria in the biofilter and the bacteria in the water are competing for this same food source, then a dimunition in the bacterial populations within the biofilter could cause a bloom in the water. So, a perturbation of the biofilter could cause this cloudiness. Alternatively, there may simply be an increase in some contaminant (fish waste, etc.) which has overwhelmed the ability of the bacteria to assimilate it. It has been my experience, that this cloudiness always responds positively to water changes, which diminish the concentration of this contaminant. My recommendation is that you simply increase the frequency and volume of your wcs until this clears up.

BTW...Rena XP3s are EXCELLENT filters. I have used them for years.
 
pwmin;2509629; said:
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.
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Here is how I have my media set up in my Emperors: You know how the filter cartridges that come with the filters come apart in half? Well I am using half of the cartridge on each side of the Emperors as just a divider. I have poly fiber from Walmart cut to size and placed on the front side of the "divider" where the water hits first. Then I just poured in Matrix on the other side of the divider.
 
Tyler...no, i didn't know they split apart. I think I'll just leave mine alone, though. IDK.

brianp;2510295; said:
Within an aquarium, bacteria are compartmentalized in essentially two areas....the filter (and other solid surfaces) and suspended within the water. These are not necessarilly the same species. Cloudy water is almost always indicative of a bacterial bloom, caused by the increase of some contaminant (bacterial food source) in the water. If the bacteria in the biofilter and the bacteria in the water are competing for this same food source, then a dimunition in the bacterial populations within the biofilter could cause a bloom in the water. So, a perturbation of the biofilter could cause this cloudiness. Alternatively, there may simply be an increase in some contaminant (fish waste, etc.) which has overwhelmed the ability of the bacteria to assimilate it. It has been my experience, that this cloudiness always responds positively to water changes, which diminish the concentration of this contaminant. My recommendation is that you simply increase the frequency and volume of your wcs until this clears up.

BTW...Rena XP3s are EXCELLENT filters. I have used them for years.
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The cloudiness still fluctuates, so I doubt it's just going to go away with water changes, but I have been doing more lately and it's obviously much more clear since I did a 70% change yesterday and I will continue to do so. I don't see how there was an increase in fish waste, either because I had the same fish in there before I moved the tank (although they are all still growing) and I've actually removed tankmates (added a couple but took more out than i put in), including the worst one, an Oscar. It still could be an increase from some other contaminant, but I'm not sure what it would be. that is probably the case, though. However, I knew I was going to have to increase filtration eventually.

Yeah, I guess I wouldn't say they're bad filters, they just don't flow that much when you put media in them.
 
thanks, J!

well, i have been doing 50% every other day. Finally, after a day of not doing a water change, the water started clearing up a little instead of getting cloudier. I hope this trend continues.

I have just about finished building my sump. I should have it completed today or very soon and will just be waiting on some filter socks.
 
It is pretty clear this morning. I haven't ran the lights for 2 days nor have I fed them and I've been doing 50% every 2-3 days. I am going to just run the lights today and see if it gets cloudier. If not, I will feed them again and see if that makes it cloudy. It doesn't much matter, I hope, as my sump should be in this week.
 
my 75G is cloudy too, but it's only almost 48 hrs. old. i put ten gallons out of my existing tank with perfect conditions into it and the rest was just sink water. What could be the cause of the cloudiness? is the ph or water hardness off? i don't have a usable moniter besides my nh3 moniter which shows no sign of harmful ammonia. buying test kit tomorrow.
 
well, water is still clear and i haven't done a water change in a few days.



LittleBigAl3;2569139; said:
my 75G is cloudy too, but it's only almost 48 hrs. old. i put ten gallons out of my existing tank with perfect conditions into it and the rest was just sink water. What could be the cause of the cloudiness? is the ph or water hardness off? i don't have a usable moniter besides my nh3 moniter which shows no sign of harmful ammonia. buying test kit tomorrow.
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get the kit and test your water first. that will help us a lot.
 
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