Cloudy Water

[jeffstricklin]

I have a 29-gallon tank that has been established for about 8 months now. It has a gold gourami, a common pleco, a rainbow shark and 6 clown loaches--all of whom seem very happy and healthy together.

However, for about the past 2 months, the water has been extremely cloudy (almost foggy). I have continually tested ammonia, nitrite and pH levels, all of which remain constant and in the desired ranges. I perform weekly partial water changes/gravel vaccuuming and routinely rinse my foam filter and activated carbon inserts (I have an AquaClear 300). I've talked to my LFS and they recommended using Kent Pro-Clear to help clear things up--no luck.

But none of this can get my water crystal clear! Ever! Like I say, the water chemistry seems fine, and the fish show no signs of strees. It seems to be just a cosmetic issue. But, nonetheless I really want to get clear water again. Does anybody have any suggestions???

I'd really appreciate it!

[morleyz]

First thing I always do with something like that is take a sample of your tank water and put it in a clear drinking glass. Let it sit for a day or 2 and see if anything settled out of the water. I would guess that since it's been going on so long it's probably not bacteria...and more likely some sort of suspended particulate. Might want to do the same test with your tap water. I was just recently reading a post somewhere about a person who had a large amount of particulate in their tap water.

[wetmanNY]

morleyz has a grip on the first alernative,

The second is the microscopic plankton (not bacteria). You're disturbing the balance with gravel vacuuming. There might be more flake food (passing through the fish or not) than the system can assimilate. This isn't a planted system, I reckon.

Ever consider planting? Even some floating Water Sprite.

Do the fish get a starve day once a week? Can you substitute a living food, like blackworms, once a week?

Can you get a gallon of clear water from a planted tank, with its founder population of protozoans?

[jeffstricklin]

I have a 29gal tank with an AquaClear 300 filter. I regularly use the foam pad and activated carbon inserts. My water is always cloudy! The tank has been setup for about 9 months+ now, and the last 3 months (or more) have seen a thick haze in the water.

I've done everything I can think of--daily water changes, weekly gravel cleanings. All kinds of different additives and conditioners. I've even left the tank completely alone for a week (except for ONE feeding day) in hopes that I was just doing too much--and nothing ever solves my problem--still cloudy, murky, and all around frustrating!

I posted here a few weeks back and somebody recommended I take a sample of fresh tapwater and compare it to a sample of my aquarium water. The tapwater was crystal clear, and the aquarium water was (obviously) cloudy. After a week of sitting there, the samples remained unchanged--still clear and cloudy, respectively.

The only thing that I haven't done differently, changed is that I still use the same bucket to refill the tank with freshwater after the waterchange (which is also the same bucket that I use to collect the siphoned water). And, the AquaClear is the original filter--could it be the problem?

I'm at my wits end! Somebody, please help!

[125gJoe]

http://gordon.sourcecod.com/images/flagicons/american_flag.gif
jeff,
I think you are 'into the hobby'... You may need extra filtration - such as a canister filter to go along with the HOB you have. It will work wonders!!
For me, in central Florida, I have "problem" water... When I set-up the 80 gallon tank I had a slight cloudiness to the water and --nothing-- would get rid of it, until I bought a Diatom Filter (Vortex XL)... there's another brand out there too..

Try extra filtration...

And : Wecome to Aquari Central! There's lot's of advice here! :)

[wetmanNY]

Hi Jeff! I was wondering how you were doing when we didn't hear from you.

I think you misunderstood my suggestion. I was hoping you could siphon off a gallon or so of clear water from an established planted tank and add it to your system. Planted systems usually have a balanced population of microscopic zooplankton. They eat bacteria and algae and keep natural systems crystal clear.

Is your KH very high, and have you added phosphate pH adjusters? Sometimes the two can keep extremely fine particles from settling out. Can you test the "KH" a.k.a. "carbonate hardness" and give us the result in numbers?

We'll get your water crystal clear, never fear!

[RENEGADE]

you should do a search on cloudy water we just had a post about it. i had a "cloud" in my tank and it turned out to be a algae bloom. i just kept my light off(i have a dark room so there was no light at all) for three days and it was gone.

[RENEGADE]

seach on this site for "cloudy water" BTW sick to one post of the same subject i noticed the double post of cloudy water

[OrionGirl]

I combined this with your previous thread to reduce duplications in advice.

A few things tips: Have you determined if this is green cloudiness or white? Green is algae, and requires a different treatment than a white color--indicating bacteria that is free floating. Either is indicative of too many nutrients in the system, so I would cut back to feeding every other day. Your fish will not suffer from it, and it might clear up your cloudiness. Adding water from a healthy clear tank as wetmanny advises will help as well--frequently, the micro-fauna community in a tank gets wiped out, which allows other critters like bacteria to thrive.

[jeffstricklin]

Thanks for all the suggestions thus far! I really appreciate it.

I will run a test of the KH tonight and post the results. I was using Kordell's NovAqua (sp?) but then I heard that it added phosphates to the water and I stopped using it and am now using Kent's chlorine/ammonia remover instead.

Also, I am sure the cloudyness is "white" in color, definetly not green.

The fish are already fed once everyother day (or sometimes I forget and they go up to 4 days without food--oops) so I don't think that's the cause.

I don't know anybody with an established planted tank, so I can't siphon some of their water... but I wouldn't mind adding some live plants to mine, especially if it will help with water clarity. Any suggestions on a good starter plant (of course, I'm sure that's worth a whole new thread in itself....)

[OrionGirl]

A good starter plant will depend on your light conditions. Some good low light plants are anubias barteri and cryptocornes.

If your LFS has a established planted tank, ask them if you can have some water from their tank. If you're on good terms with them, should not be a big deal. Of course--this isn't advised for shopping at a big box stores, just a M&P place.

[jeffstricklin]

I currently use Aquarium Pharmaceuticals proper pH to control my pH levels. According to their website, proper pH is a phosphate buffer that when used in hard water could cause "hazy" water... maybe this is my "smoking gun."

[OrionGirl]

Yep--I think that would be called the Murphy's Law of Un-intended results. Very few additives will have just the desired effect on your system.

[jeffstricklin]

So then the next question would be, how do I go about softening my hard water? Do the softener pillows work?

I know my pH is high if I dont condition it, and although I haven't done any hardness tests lately, I'm going to assume I have some pretty hard water, too. So the big picture question would be, how do I go about lowering pH to around 7.0 and soften the water at the same time, all while maintaining my clear water... :p

I don't ask for much, do I!?

[OrionGirl]

Easiest might be to look into using a mixture of reverse osmosis water and your tap. RO is available at most stores (check the label, I get mine from Walmart in one gallon jugs). RO is pure water, neutral pH, so mixing it in with hard water dilutes the hardness, and lowers the pH.

The addition of CO2 (if you have plants) cna help, as will adding driftwood or using peat--but these last two will also cause a tea stain. The water isn't cloudy, but it has a slight yellow coloration.

However, I think before I messed with any of that, I'd start doing daily small water changes to remove the cloudiness. Use just your tapwater, treated for chlorine/chloramines, and nothing else. The fish you have listed should be pretty hardy and adapt to the higher pH just fine. Much easier than any of the above. Unless you want to breed (which the list of fish you have precludes), a stable pH is always better than a specific one that brings with it a PITN for you, and possible jumps for the fish.

[wetmanNY]

Originally posted by wetmanNY


Is your KH very high, and have you added phosphate pH adjusters? Sometimes the two can keep extremely fine particles from settling out. Can you test the "KH" a.k.a. "carbonate hardness" and give us the result in numbers?


Get a number for your "KH" before you add anything or make any high-tech purchases...

[jeffstricklin]

Here are the results of a recent water test:

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
pH: 7.5
GH: ~143 ppm
KH: ~233 ppm


Also, I tested a sample of my tapwater:

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
pH: 8.2
GH: ~179 ppm
KH: ~143 ppm

[wetmanNY]

There it is: your phosphate pH buffer is reacting with the high alkalinity and causing the cloudiness. A warning to this effect is probably printed on the packaging. Adding PO4 is raising your total dissolved solids.

[jeffstricklin]

Sounds like a reasonable explanation to me... I'll stop using Proper pH, but what SHOULD I use to adjust my pH levels? Isn't my tapwaters natural level of 8.2 a little high for the fish I have (a gourami, clown loaches and a rainbow shark?).

Just want to, again, thank everyone for the help they've given me! Its been a great learning experience!