CLOUDY WATER

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RickyOutlaw

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 29, 2009
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Chicago
What causes cloudy water and how can you fix it ...

Ok i had a 30 Gallon that recently got cloudy and never seems to get better , i did water change scrub everything and yet the water is till cloudy , can someone tell me why and how to correct this issue.
 
Let's first examine some of the underlying causes of water cloudiness. Can you answer the following for me? I think it would help.

1. How long has the tank been set up?

2. How do you clean the tank?

3. What are your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate readings? (Actual numbers are necessary here.)

3. What type of filtration do you have? Please detail all biological, mechanical filtration.

4. What size tank, and what fish are in it?

5. Lastly, does the tank receive any light (this is either a light on top of the tank, or even direct sunlight)?

I think this will get us closer to figuring out what's going on.
 
my tank never got cloudy after a setup but i use this chemical thing they sell at any fish store to clear up cloudy water.
 
There is no reason to use chemicals. If the water is cloudy, there's an underlying problem. Let's fix the underlying problem.
 
Okay i have a 55 Gallon with 1 Flowerhorn , Blood Parrot and a Young Escondido crossed with a KKP , Also have small africans maybe 2 of them. Pair of small plecos and one catfish ( Small ).

Now the tank is near a window so im sure some light gets on , My young son does leave the tank light on quite a bit.

Now i have recently cleaned it and still cloudy water. I cleaned the gravel and even took out all the bigger rocks to clean them also. On The 55 I believe there is some external filter and i had a brand new never used Fluval 4 that was supposed to be used for my turtles but instead hid it in the tank as well.


1. How long has the tank been set up?

A: Maybe a year now

2. How do you clean the tank?

A: Well i start with cleaning the glass first , followed by cleaning the gravel. I dont change the filters till about 48 hours after changing the water.

3. What are your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate readings? (Actual numbers are necessary here.)

A: I have testing strips so i will check in the morning.

3. What type of filtration do you have? Please detail all biological, mechanical filtration.

A: Some external filter , unsure what brand Whister , Aquatech ? Yet i also have a fluval 4

4. What size tank, and what fish are in it?

A: 55 , Not too many ...

5. Lastly, does the tank receive any light (this is either a light on top of the tank, or even direct sunlight)?

A: Yup this tank is in the dining room / Kitchen lots of windows , yet not in direct sunlight. My son however does leave the tank lights on at times.
 
So, there's a couple of things that it could be.

I'm guessing you have a sort of fine filter floss in at least the Fluval. This is usually referred to as a "XX" (whatever the measurement is) micron pad. You can buy big sheets of it at Drs. Foster and Smith. I use it in all of my tanks and my pond filter, because you can cut it to fit. What it does is trap small particulate matter in the filter, rather than letting it move through, as a larger-grade media would do. If you're not running it, I'd do so!

Tests are going to reveal a lot, so we'll wait for the a.m.!

You do have quite a few fish in there, which is why I'd be testing fairly regularly, as well as running the finer-grade media.

If it was the light, I'd think you'd be seeing a more greeny-cloudy (I made up a word!) water, rather than just cloudy. Just cloudy makes me think it's either fine particulate, or part of the biological cycle that occurs naturally. Be sure not to over-clean, and be sure to ALWAYS use old tank water (from the water change) to "swish out" biological media.
 
I will post those results in the morning , Im hoping it aint because of my over
cleaning. What did you mean by saying

"ALWAYS use old tank water (from the water change) to "swish out" biological media"

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It is weird because from the front you could tell its kinda clean yet it looks cloudy , then if you look at tank from the side you cannot see through the other side. I cleaned the gravel quite well , maybe i over cleaned ??? Im so tired right now but tomorrow 100 % i will post up the results. Thanks for helping me
 
I mean that using tap water to clean the filter media can kill the bacteria living on that media. So, if you use the old tank water, you know it's not only dechlorinated, but also exactly what the media is used to, so there's very little chance that you're going to kill it off. Using chlorinated water (like actually CLEANING biological media in the sink or something) kills off the bacteria, thereby destroying the biological filter.

I think we can get this figured out!
 
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