Dirty water, what do I do???

[ratman420]

I have a magnum 350 filter, the other day I took it apart to clean it and when i turned it back on brownish "crap" came out and dirtied my water. It cleared up a little bit over night but my water is still a little brown, what should i do?

[OrionGirl]

Did you clean the filter, or just the media? Filters need to be cleaned, including tubes, every now and then. Sounds like some of the bio-film blew out and is floating around. Increased mechanical filtration, or a bit of time, and it should clear up.

[ratman420]

i changed the carbon rocks and the blue sponge thing that goes around the container, i tried to clean out the tubes but there still some junk inside em. whats the best way to clean the tubes? Water is pretty foggy, theres nothing i can do except wait it out?

[OrionGirl]

I pull the tubes completely off the tank and run a bottle cleaner through them. This gets most of them, except ones that are really long. For those, I soak them in oxyclean for 30 minutes, and then put as much water through them as I can.

A water change will help reduce the amount of floating particles, or run another filter, like a diatom, for a couple hours. The diatom filters are great mechanical filtration.

[adblair]

I agree with OG. I got some filter crud in my tank a couple of weeks ago at water change time so I waited a day and it still wasn't clear. I did a 50-60% change and just waited a couple of days and it cleared up on its own. They do make something that is supposed to attach to the "stuff" in your water and weigh it down so it will sink and can be vacuumed out, but I am hesitant to put anything chemical into my tank.

[ratman420]

I started to do a water change, i have a 130 gallon and no hose to suck it out so i gave up due to it being a pain in the ***. I figured thats what Id have to do so Ill take another crack at it later. If i buy a tube from Meijers or something I can just syphen (sp?) it out right?

[OrionGirl]

Yep--have you been cleaning the substrate?

[Michael Roth]

one way to get some of the little stuff is to fill a foot cut from pantyhose with angelfluff. tie it off, and throw it in the filter just before the outlet...it helps polish the water.

[Gulp]

Originally posted by ratman420
I started to do a water change, i have a 130 gallon and no hose to suck it out so i gave up due to it being a pain in the ***. I figured thats what Id have to do so Ill take another crack at it later. If i buy a tube from Meijers or something I can just syphen (sp?) it out right?

Get a Python..... http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=19125;category_id=1545 You won't regret it. Water changes become quick and simple.

[ratman420]

whats angelfluff? Is it like carbon rocks?

My tank goes from clear to dirty within a matter of days, it will clear up and then get cloudy again...why? how can i stop this?

[Michael Roth]

Angel fluff is the white cotton in the petstore filter media area. As to cloudy water, in my experience, the best thing to do is ignore it...it will go away. Of course still check your water parameters to make sure they are still safe. Things will balance again....honest.

[lawnman]

50-60% water change is that to much at a time:confused:

[lawnman]

5-10% aweek I think is better. It doesn't change your water stat by much. if I'm wrong please tell me.

[Michael Roth]

I do 15% a week. Roughly.

[boyohboy]

Originally posted by ratman420
whats angelfluff? .....

...is the white cotton in the petstore filter media area


No need to buy it from pet store. In Walmart or whatever, go to the crafting/cloth section, get a big big of the stuffing fiber/batting. It's the same thing... "100% polyester fibre/batting/pad/fancy-name" . It's $7-8 for a med size *loose* bag in pet store here, and I just got a 1-pound bag for $5 from Walmart, good for a year or 2.

[750t]

I have and always will do at least 50 to 60% water changes weekly. I do not understand a 10 or 20% water change. 10% of 55 gal is 5.5 gal. What did you accomplish? On this size tank trying to do a water change and gravel vac, how much debri would you remove? Unless you have major ph problems, Dont be afraid of water changes. They are a good thing. Thats also why most of my tanks run two filters, so I can alternate filter cleanings.

[ratman420]

OOOOH YEAH! I do have a blue ( i guess cotton) "sponge" thing around my filter, I actually just bought a new one hoping it would slove my problem...tank still is not as clear as it should be.

Could I be feeding my fish too much? My tank is populated with a few small oscars and some other oscar friendly fish, I know the oscars really poo up your tank.

[ratman420]

I forgot to mention that I do have 2 filters...I just cleaned out the 2nd one tonight, so I guess Ill wait and see what happens.

[fdiaz78]

Originally posted by 750t
I have and always will do at least 50 to 60% water changes weekly. I do not understand a 10 or 20% water change. 10% of 55 gal is 5.5 gal. What did you accomplish? On this size tank trying to do a water change and gravel vac, how much debri would you remove? Unless you have major ph problems, Dont be afraid of water changes. They are a good thing. Thats also why most of my tanks run two filters, so I can alternate filter cleanings.

I think this causes too much stress on the fish IMHO. With proper filtration and sensible feedings, 20-30% water changes every week or two should suffice. I don't mean to be mean, but again just my opinion.

[adblair]

I think water change percentages are a matter individual tank differences. I wasn't actually suggesting that he change 50-60% weekly. I just said I changed 50-60% to get rid of the crud that came out of my filter. I think how much water you change depends on personal preferences and water parameters. Some people like to do more, some less. I, however, prefer to be inconsistent and just change random amounts weekly....:D