Dangerdoll
Global Moderator
the issue is probably a bacterial issue. Your bacteria is trying to establish itself. Your Nitrites should be zero, not sure why you are still showing numbers....
Cloudy tank
- Thread starter mcdanielnc89
- Start date
Dangerdoll
Global Moderator
you shouldn't try to get rid of the bacteria, it's beneficial for the tank..... basically, what you need to do is work on getting those nitrites down to zero and the bacteria will establish itself. What is your stock, the dimensions of the tank, and water maintenance schedule like? That might help in finding out why the nitrites are so high.
Do you have any dead fish somewhere? Over feeding? Check your return and make sure there is no bottom part that came off, like mine did, and is blowing the return directly downwards into the sand and causing it to be cloudy to....
No dead fish. Nitrates are normal for what kind of water i have. I use water conditioner. My nitrates and such ahve always been this way. never any higher, never any lower. its not the nitrates. My fiter is working fine, its all in tact. i do weekly 25-30%. but lhave been diong two times a week since i've had the coloudy water.
Did you do any filter maintenance prior to this cloudiness? My thought is this, if you changed cartridges or heavily cleaned the filter, you may have disrupted the bacteria bed within the filter and you are recolonizing. Until that happens, you'll have a milk tank.
Dangerdoll
Global Moderator
The problem isn't the nitrates, it's the nitrites. If there is eve a level over 0 for Nitrites, yes, there is a problem. What is in the tank and how big is the tank?
I posted the same thing on your blog as the guys above have posted. I went to your blog to see what you have been doing to the tank, but there wasn't much explanation there. Anyway, as stated above, your ammonia and nitrite reading should be zero (0) at this point since the tank has been up for such a long time. Nitrate is hardly, if ever, at zero (0), especially if your tap water already has nitrate in it.
Since the nitrite level isn't at zero, and you are experiencing some ammonia issues, the only thing I can think of is that you are disturbing the bacteria colony too often. What are you using for bacteria to grow on? The beneficial bacteria can grow on glass, plants, fixtures, and filter media (e.g., Bio-balls, Bio-max).
First and foremost, I would recommend that you do some reading on the nitrogen cycle in a tank, and that you figure out what beneficial bacteria are, how they grow, and what cycling a tank means. After that, you might have a better grasp on how to address your problem.
Since the nitrite level isn't at zero, and you are experiencing some ammonia issues, the only thing I can think of is that you are disturbing the bacteria colony too often. What are you using for bacteria to grow on? The beneficial bacteria can grow on glass, plants, fixtures, and filter media (e.g., Bio-balls, Bio-max).
First and foremost, I would recommend that you do some reading on the nitrogen cycle in a tank, and that you figure out what beneficial bacteria are, how they grow, and what cycling a tank means. After that, you might have a better grasp on how to address your problem.
I have had a similar problem when I pulled the stem plants out of my tank. My water got REALLY cloudy. I did a 50% water change and complete blackout for 5 days. The tank was covered completely with no lights. I did another 50 % on day 3 and by day 5, everything was clear. When I run my MH lights, things start getting cloudy, so I just use the CF's now until I get more stem plants established.
