Merky water

[scooterB]

Hello all,
I have a 55 Gal fish tank with the usual damsels, moray eel, crab, scooter, and a few snails (which I need more of) and my water is Merky/Cloudy. I have a new penguin filter that does great. Does anyone have any suggestions, will a protein skimmer help. thanks

[OrionGirl]

How old is the tank, what are the water parameters, how often do you do water changes, any live rock?

White cloudy water is usually the result of an imbalance in nutrients--not related to teh nitrogen cycle. A change in feeding, the introduction of some new fish, etc, can all result in these imbalances. It takes the bacteria/microfauna a while to reach a balance. Of course, green water from free floating algae--and overfeeding can be a cause.

[mogurnda]

Sounds like a bacterial bloom, which one often gets in new tanks.
It sounds like the tank may be a bit overloaded, which would certainly contribute. How many fish are in there?