This don't add up! H20 color.

[Weasel6]

I'm stumped. In my 75gal. with stocking levels listed below. When looking at tank with light on the water had a "haze" to it. Look at from the side, same thing. It wasn't "milky" or look as though it were cycling but just hazy.
I changed filters, changed water and added Accu-clear. All more than once, all to no avail. Chem. numbers were all in line except nitrates at 40 but thats ok.
Well yesterday I removed 7 fish to lighten the load. I took out 1 Pleco., 2 Giant Danios and 4 barbs and traded them in for equipment. Guess what? Today the water is clearer. Scooped some up in a cup and poured it out slowly to see what color it was and it was crystal clear. Looked at it from the side at looks clearer, not totally clear but a noticable diiference none the less.
I've been cutting back on the amt. of time the light is on the past couple of days. Tried that before for a week with no change thinking it might have been an algae bloom. Haven't noticed an increase in glass algae lately. Get the occ. spot or two but thats it.
Why did it clear up so much in 12 hours? Did taking out 7 fish make that much of a difference? I felt like it was a tad overstocked thats why I pulled 7. Could it be from a lamp getting weak? I noticed that 1 lamp is a tad "pinkish" and getting the black band at the end of it. Changed 2 filters a few days ago. Did it finally catch up?
Its clearer and I'm glad but I just want to know why. So if it happens again I'll know.
Help me Professors of Fishology.

 

[wetmanNY]

Weasel when you say "Chem. numbers are all in line" and "cut back on the hours" we can't agree disagree or even guess.

But whatever you're doing, if the water is clearer, you're doing better. More plants, eh!

A timer is a very wise purchase. Set it at 9 hours at first. Replace fluorescents after six or eight months: don't wait for them to flicker and pop. You'll even see the difference.

You have the makings of three or four interesting tanks.

 

[a_free_bird73]

It is not your eyes and it probably is not the light either..

the biggest causes of cloudy water in a mature tanks are
- over stocking
- overfeeding
- having a small biological filteration surface area (not chemical and physical, so changing the media will not help much)

I would suspect that by removing fish, you reduced the stress on your biological filtration and put it back in balance. If your are certain that your water quality parameters were fine except for the hazyness, then you could achieve the same result by adding an extra filter or a filter with a larger media surface...

 

[Weasel6]

It would change that quick? Just by removing those 7 fish and it turns around in 12 hours? I'll see what my routine water change will do today.