Just moved and now have well water. Tank water has been opaque, not actually cloudy if that makes sense. Just did a 50% water change this afternoon, and still not clear. Tested parameters a bit ago: ammonia 0 ppm, nitrates 160 ppm, nitrites 0 ppm, ph 8.2. No plants, I feed 2x a day. Its a 55 gallon with a medium fh, a medium jag, a small jd, a medium common pleco. No algae issues either. So I'm not sure what the causes are, except the possible effects of the high ph well water.
well water issues...
- Thread starter nero6370
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I am on a well and mine tends to do that as well. For me it's due to iron. I rigged up an under the counter filter to my water change hose and it helps a lot. I do like not having to dechlorinate the water every week though!
hello; how long has the tank be set up with the well water?
Also feeding twice a day can be to much. Nor saying that is necessarily a cause of opaque water but my experience has led me to once a day feedings with a couple of fasting days( no feeding at all) a week for fish except fry.
Also feeding twice a day can be to much. Nor saying that is necessarily a cause of opaque water but my experience has led me to once a day feedings with a couple of fasting days( no feeding at all) a week for fish except fry.
Might be from the nitrates. Test your well water straight from the tap. I had an issue where well water was coming out at high nitrates from the tap so no amount of water changes would help. I had to buy a RO unit to solves the problem.
Also you have way too big and many fish for the long term in a 55 which might be contributing to your high nitrates depending on their current size.
Also you have way too big and many fish for the long term in a 55 which might be contributing to your high nitrates depending on their current size.
this made me giggle a little...
Also you can add a carbon filter , this will clear the water up but the nitrates are crazy high so they are probably coming out of the tap high already
You can also try a comparison test by taking a sample of tank water in a clean glass container and seeing if it is still opaque. Do the same with a sample from the tap water to compare the two.
I appreciate the quick responses! Def going to test the water right from the tap; see what I get. The lfs is on a R/O system, so that may be the ultimate fix if carbon doesn't help. I forgot to mention the filtration; I have a penguin 350 and a AC 70 running together. So I'm thinking my filters are adequate, but I'll try cutting the feeding to 1x a day and see if that helps. Also, as far as the color of the opaqueness; there really isn't a color. More akin to a light hazy fog when driving; visibility is still there, just not 100%, if that makes sense.
