I am having issues with my tank, the water is very cloudy. The tank has been setup for about 5 months now, and this was never a problem...I have been doing partial water changes every other day to try and rid the cloudiness but it keeps coming back.... am using an emperor 400 filter with eheim substrate pro in the media baskets, and stock filter cartridges also....anyone have any suggestions???? all my tests are good, PH is 7.0, no ammonia or nitrites, and nitrates only around 20PPM
cloudy water
- Thread starter Kevccoy
- Start date
Have you made any changes recently? New stock or anything? Are you vacuuming the gravel with your water changes? Did you change your filter media? Does your tank get a lot of sunlight? Is it just cloudy water, or is there also stuff growing on everything in your tank?
What color is the cloudiness? White? My thought would be bacteria bloom for one reason or another. New filter media or an increased bioload could have put your tank into a mini cycle, extra sunlight could be allowing more nutrients for algae to grow, etc etc.
I'm no expert though, I've gotten my 20gal running crispy clear now, but my 65 is still a bit cloudy. I've only been at this for 3 or so months now...
What color is the cloudiness? White? My thought would be bacteria bloom for one reason or another. New filter media or an increased bioload could have put your tank into a mini cycle, extra sunlight could be allowing more nutrients for algae to grow, etc etc.
I'm no expert though, I've gotten my 20gal running crispy clear now, but my 65 is still a bit cloudy. I've only been at this for 3 or so months now...
More info please. Color of cloudiness? Have you tested for phosphates? Do you have any algae in tank? Lighting and hours of lighting? Sunlight? Do you have live plants?
sometimes if you put certain fish in your tank from a pet store, your tank might get a little cloudy, but it should clear up with hours... At least mine did.
Welcome to the site, im not too far away from you!
Welcome to the site, im not too far away from you!
Do you use carbon/does it need to be replaced? Is your mechanical filtration clogged? Have you overfed your fish? Try leaving it completely alone for 3 or 4 days...don't feed anything, don't do any water changes, just let it run for a few days.
I did this when my 20 kept getting/staying cloudy white towards the beginning of my experience and it cleared right up. We just went away for a weekend and came back to a clear tank.
(granted, as soon as I started feeding again, the cloud came back. The filter I had just wasn't keeping up)
I did this when my 20 kept getting/staying cloudy white towards the beginning of my experience and it cleared right up. We just went away for a weekend and came back to a clear tank.
(granted, as soon as I started feeding again, the cloud came back. The filter I had just wasn't keeping up)
Chromobotia;4510697; said:
Could be. Come to think of it, he hasn't told us his tank size. I think the emperor has a pretty hefty turnover for anything 65g & under yeah? But he may very well be running a 100g with just an emperor400.
Well, the best and most sure fire way to avoid cloudy water is to use a cannister filter with polyfill packed into one of the layers. It acts as a polishing floss and keeps a lot of small particulates out of the water.
If it's bacterial it will usually have a smell. If it's a bacterial issue, a UV sterilizer is the best solution to both bacterial problems and green water (not that you have it just good for that too).
Make sure your carbon packets are fresh and change them regularly. They don't last long. If you don't want to make any other changes to your setup, there are water clarifiers that cause particles to clump so that your current mechanical filtration will pick it up.
If it's bacterial it will usually have a smell. If it's a bacterial issue, a UV sterilizer is the best solution to both bacterial problems and green water (not that you have it just good for that too).
Make sure your carbon packets are fresh and change them regularly. They don't last long. If you don't want to make any other changes to your setup, there are water clarifiers that cause particles to clump so that your current mechanical filtration will pick it up.