Tank getting cloudy after water changes

[SandySquarepants]

I'm not sure if this is just normal disturbance from the filter being turned off (I do large water changes and don't want the pump sucking air) or if the filter is showing signs of needing to be changed. It has taken longer and longer to clear the last few water changes (but it does clear) from less then 30 min to a few hours. I have "cleaned" the filter by swishing it around in old tank water but is all this cloudiness a sign that the filter needs changing?

 

[tanker]

IMO, it is caused by the filter media. If it is taking so long, your filter may not be big enough (low turn over).. What size tank and filter?

 

[Rbishop]

More info please about your whole set up and age of it...

 

[biondoa]

How long has your tank been set up? A very new tank won't have a lot of detritus in the gravel, so it won't kick up so much dust when you vacuum. As the tank ages and the fish add their waste you will find more mess under the gravel and in the filter. My tanks usually take about 24 hours to return to crystal clear if I disturb the gravel in a big way. If, on the other hand you do not fuss with the substrate, there may be something else going on. As said above, we need a bit more info.

 

[SandySquarepants]

The tank is 5.5 gallon about 5 months old running on a "top fin 10" power filter with the current cartridge about 2 months old. I changed the first one a little too early because I thought it was getting "dirty" (not the case, I know that now).

When I do water changes, I turn off the power filter and use a gravel vac to take up debris (I do this every week- my tank is overcrowded, more on that later) when I refill the tank and turn on the filter again, it belches out some solid debris from the filter which gets sucks back up almost immediately and then it becomes hazy like an algae bloom. Is it the continued disturbance of the gravel, or the filter just spitting out slime from the power coming back on?

 

[Rbishop]

Sounds like bio-film busting free from the tubing that sucks in the water, that you can use a bottle brush to clean.