HEY! My tank is too clean! ....Huh?

[Anthony8858]

I've been posting about a "cloudy water" condition in my 36 gallon the past few days.


Anyway.......One of the "aquarium experts" from the local aquarium shop gave me the courtesy to stop by my house and take a look at my tank.

As soon as he walked in the room, the first thing he said was that my tank was too clean, and that I should leave it alone. No water changes for a month, along with regular feedings.
He took water readings, and said everthing was OK.

Can someone explain a tank that's too clean, that caused cloudy water?

 

[aquariumfishguy]

Well in a newly developed aquarium, if your always cleaning the filters, or doing water changes all the time along with adding lots of chemicals your tank can get cloudy fast. What this "expert" should have said is that you are doing water changes, or cleanings to much and that maybe you should lay back on it for a while and let nature take its own course. Simply telling you it's "too clean" doesn't help and frankly, I'd be skepticle about asking this "expert" for advice in the future.

 

[OrionGirl]

No such thing as too clean. You can disturb the bacterial colonies too much (ie, rinsing them in hot chlorinated water, or constantly replacing the biological media). This, however, has nothing to do with wate4r changes. Water changes are crucial to removing waste other than nitrogen. Professional discus breeders, for example, do 100% water changes daily--and their fish are obviosuly thriving.

But, why don't you tell us what your care regimen is, and we'll see if it's excessive.

 

[dethjam316]

i would think a tank would be "too clean" if you were to say...completely rinse out sponges and replace filter floss (or whatever you use) daily. decimation of bacterial colonies would qualify, i would think.

 

[Anthony8858]

Here's a link to my prior post.

When he said "too clean", I believe he meant that the beneficial bacteria has yet to make its presence known.

The funny thing about all this.....I used this same water for my daughter's NEW 10G tank about 3 weeks ago, and it looks beautiful.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21072

 

[OrionGirl]

I doubt it is the water itself, but rather a difference between the tanks. Anything in there that couold be dissolving? Sounds silly, but I know someone who thought a stalagmite would be a cool decoration--until it turned the tank into a milkshake.

Either way, I would not quit doing water changes. Maybe take a cup or two from the healthy tank? It's possible your tank lacks beneficial microfauna that normally feed on the bacteria, keeping it under control. If your daughters tank has a helathy population, you could infuse it into your tank easily.

 

[Dangerdoll]

right, my sister had this happen to her (not the one with the SW) and after about a month she finally gave me a call and asked me why her tank wouldn't clear up even though she was changing the filters once the clouds start (I think she was changing them at every couple of days give or take). I told her to step back and stop worrying about it and explained the whole kit and kaboodle about the beneficial bacteria needed and that she needed to let the tank run it's cycling course. I explained the importance of allowing her tank to process (cycle) without her intervening constantly (as far as changing the filter once she sees it cloudy) while conntinuing to do the normal maintenance as far as water changes and checking levels. She had a few fish left in her tank and lost some of course due to following the "let the tank sit a day and you're good to go" idea (a very very common misconceeption I've found). Upon this advice, with the few fish she had retained, she wrote down a schedule to follow for the cycle and not long thereafter, things were finally on track.
I'm assuming by "too clean", the AE meant all of your levels were in range and he/she was at a loss as to what the problem was. My guess, along with everyone else here is if you were replacing the media too frequently because of the cloudiness, you were simply not allowing the bacteria to take it's rightful place in your set up.

 

[Anthony8858]

I have to agree with many of you.

I'M GUILTY of obsessing over my cloudy water.:sad

I blame my 9 year old that comments every time she passes my tank

There's nothing I can do at this point, other than wait.

 

[travelinman1969]

I have been told by people that my water and tank are too clean too. But my nitrates have been at over 60 ppm for over 3 months, been coming down slowly, but it's been a battle. Right now at 60, 2 months ago at 160 ppm. I have some plants in it but a big bio-load, and everyone keeps asking me how I keep my tank so clean. I don't like to embarass myself and tell too many people about the nitrate issue. Obviosly I have a good bio-filter. Nitrite 0 and ammonia 0. But the tank is awesome looking. Should I worry about cloudiness when the nitrates go below 20?

 

[RTR]

Being too clean is to me akin to being too rich. I'm game to try for it, but don't believe it is possible or likely.

Inappropriate cleaning, as others have already pointed out, is a different matter entirely. You can processes the filters and the tank in such a manner as to slow or block development of the many types of bacteria and infusoria that are normal inhabitants of our tanks. Until all those microbes balance, the tank will not be stable. Nitrification may be fine, but all the heterotrophs have to balance as well.

And for travelinman, no, your tank is long established and you are making needed changes gradually, not suddenly. You can expect your tank's micro-inhabitants to adjust their populations easily to the target levels, so long as you don't do a full tear-down and reset in attempt to get there faster.