Help me achieve crystal clear water!

[dzjr1188]

One thing depending on what kind of water he is using for his WC and what his current phosphate lvl is, doing WC may not do anything . I have helped alot of people who had "green water" that was free floating algae that feeds on phosphates. they were using tap water that the phosphate lvl was almost as high as there tanks lvl. If your tank is going threw a algae bloom in the water itself best bet is a UV on a tank that size.

 

[wheatgerm]

If im wrong please correct me but if he has an ultra white light that fresh water algae wont grow in won't that make it so he wont have any algae blooming in the water to make it look dirty... I was running 6500k bulbs on my tank want was always fighting a nasty looking brown algae that would cover all my rocks and glass, I switched to 10000k bulbs and my tank looks clean and no bad algae growth. Even if I go a little longer on my WC the tank still looks pretty clean

 

[dzjr1188]

Your half right, it doesnt grow as quick or as much in 10k or higher, but it does grow. If you remove its food source (aka phosphate) it dies. or you kill the free floating algae with a uv and then phosphate dont mean anything since it doesnt hurt fish just acts as food for algae. to completely stop all freshwater algae growth as far as lights i would aim closer to 18k+. But running a uv works best for free floating algae.

 

[Jc1119]

You can`t remove tiny particles unless your filter material has fine enough pores to catch it, period.

Lighting plays a major role in algae, both brown and green. Bulbs used and amounts of time they are on.

If your water is clear after a WC and slowly reverts to less than clear, do more WC.

If you have an algae problem a UV can certainly help, but I would look at my lighting before getting a UV.

Food can be a big cause of cloudy water, as said.

Purigen has helped clear a large number of peoples tanks, but that only treats the symptom of what you are doing to cause the problem.

A tank that is in balance and well maintained dosen`t need products like Purigen to keep the water clear.

Good luck

That's not completely true. My tanks are all very balanced and well maintained, but contain tons of wood. Purigen is the final step in my equation to reduce tannins and other dissolved protiens. No, you don't need it, but it can help tremendously in certain situations. Its cheaper than changing micro filtration pads constantly, doesn't clog and can be recharged and used virtually forever.

I agree, the root cause should be found and rectified, but s

 

[Jc1119]

Dbl

 

[zoohouse]

Its the food. TetraCichlid sticks will "yellow" your water. I never noticed it till I started feeding it to my growout tanks and after only a week my water would have an orange color. Hikari doesn't tint the water as bad. Also you need to cut out the hotdog treats, have you ever read the stuff in them?

 

[Jc1119]

Dbl post

 

[dzjr1188]

Its the food. TetraCichlid sticks will "yellow" your water. I never noticed it till I started feeding it to my growout tanks and after only a week my water would have an orange color. Hikari doesn't tint the water as bad. Also you need to cut out the hotdog treats, have you ever read the stuff in them?

tetra uses alot of fillers in there food that cause excess phosphates. usually wheat. so yes you are deffinatly on the right track to why it got that way but simply switching foods may not be enough depending on how bad certain lvls are.

 

[pbass510]

maybe just aged water? when water stays in there to long. Like a LFS has some yellow murky water due to them having the same water for so many years

 

[magic]

Most likely a case of overfeeding and being a bit overstocked. Getting rid of the tinfoils will help, but I'd start by feeding less. ALOT less. Maybe once a day about half what you normally feed. See how the water quality is after that.

If you still have a tint to the water, you may want to check out Purigen. I've used it for as long as I can remember. Works like carbon without the negative aspects and can be recharged indefinitely.

I feel like I don't feed them too much, normally once a day. But I think I will cut it back until I get this solved. I have read great things about Purigen. If I try it do I just buy a bag and put in in one of the FX5s baskets? Does it need to cover the whole basket?

Looks like you need more water changes, and better management of the substrate.

What are your nitrate levels before and after water change ?


I would start by doing at leas twice the amount of water changes a week that your currently doing and then remove the substrate.

Didn't test the nitrate levels before and after last time. Will do it next WC probably in a couple days.That's what I was thinking more water changes and removing a little gravel at a time until I have bare bottom then decide what to do from there.

What are your phosphates at?

Don't have a phosphate test, might have to pick up one soon but won't be for a few days.

You may want to look into some thing closer to 10000k bulbs they are ultra white and make the tank look alot cleaner. And most fresh water algae wont grow in that intense lighting... also do atleast 30% water changes 1 time a week

Honestly I have no idea what my lighting is. It is a 4' two bulb shop light from ACE. With a tinfoil reflector. Are there 10000k bulbs that are standard 4' size?