Cloudy water

C

cmslick3

AC Members
Dec 27, 2005
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Hi everyone,
I've got a 20 gallon tank with some partially cloudy water. It's been setup for roughly 3 weeks now and just received it's residents (3 cichlids, Pleco, and 2 Koi for the winter) . The water in my house is well water and it's very hard with a PH of about 8.4 (according to strips), and as with any well water it has lots of suspended crud in it. The ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels are safe, and the cloudy look has been there since first drop of water was added so it's not a feeding issue.

Does anyone have any suggestions for removing this suspended garbage, or am I just going to have to live with it. I am using an in-tank Fluval3 filter without the aeration attached since i've got several plants in there as well.

Thanks for your suggestions.
 
Can you add something like fliter floss to the filter. I have found it is very good at catching larger particles and helpinfg to clear the water. Also water changes can be a real help as well. Subtrate can easily get suspended in the water column with a new tank.

I know the koi are only there for wintering purposes but I hope the pleco isn't a common one in a tank that small.
 
how did you cycle the tank? i never herd of one cycling that quik. adding that many fish at one time might be to much of a bio load.
 
I sarcaficed a bunch of feeded guppies for cycling. out of 12 only 2 survived, and they quickly learned what they were really meant for. I also used the Cycle addative.

I know it's not the substrate because it's just gravel. The Pleco is probably going to live in there as long as the Koi do, he's still fairly small. How is the filter floss different from the foam stuff that is already in the filter? I have also seen mention of peat for reducing the PH a little, would that help also?
 
Lower the pH won't help the cloudiness at all. Filter floss is like polyester batting and filters really well. Plus it is cheap and you can throw it out as out gets clogged. But are there particles floating or is it just a white cloudiness. A general cloudiness without floating particles can easily be a bacterial bloom and you added fish that create far more waste than guppies, so they coudl easily upset the alance. And the cycle product does nothing long term for your bacteria.
 
well thats just great...glad to see that cycle does absoslutely nothing... There are actually particles floating around in the water, much like when we pour water in a pan.

Besides time what can I do to help the bacteria cope? should I put the aerator on the filter to put more oxygen in the tank for them?

I don't really want to lose my fish, so looks like a need to find some poly-fil and throw it in the filter... Any reason why the craft type poly fil shouldn't be used?
 
The craft store stuff is fine as long as it hasn't been treated with anyi-mildew or mold agents. Just plain old polyester batting.

Yeah, cycle is bacteria but not the stuff you need long term. As for the fish, well if they start to gasp at teh surface or breath hard then more O2 may be needed. Also lots of water changes will do wonders. If ammonia or nitrite show up at all on the test readings do a water change. Otherwise for the next week or so I would be doing partial changes at least every other day, say 30% or so.
 
what is my best bet to get good long term bacteria up to speed? I did bring it a piece of driftwood from the outside koi pond, but I am sure thats not going to help much...
 
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