Have had the 10 gallon tank nearly 2 months now. Stocked it slowly over 3 weeks. Plants are growing like crazy, have had to trim twice now.

Change 10 litres of water every 3-4 days. New water I add "Cycle". We are on tank water (not mains), but still add conditioner. Our house water goes through a 10 micron and 0.1 micron filter.

It has 5 mountain minnows, 3 golden bards. All seem happy active and healthy.

The water remains "milky". When I refreshed the water last night with in minutes the water turned very milky but has cleared a little this morning.

It has a wet/dry filter.

How to get nice clear water ? What am I doing wrong ?

To begin with, don't add cycle.

I had a problem with my tanks turning cloudy after water changes and clearing up after a couple days. Never did figure out why and it stopped after a few months. Didn't seem to bother the fish much, so I wouldn't worry much.

I wouldn't bother with the Cycle either. I find my tank goes milky after water changes - but only during the summer months. No problem at other times. It is a bacterial bloom and perfectly harmless. You aren't doing anything wrong and it does not harm the fish or plants.

I would not bother doing that many water changes but that's because I don't like doing them . 10% weekly or 20% fortnightly ought to be plenty.

Do either of your 10 or 0.1 Micron filters have carbon in them? (0.1 Micron filters pretty much cold sterilise the water so you won't be introducing many bacteria, if any to the aquarium).

If there is carbon in the filters, it's might be the cause of the problem. I use RO water which is similar to rainwater (assuming your tankwater comes from rain). I've had to remove the output carbon filter as it was causing my water to go milky after waterchanges. The water quality is just as good.

If your tank water comes from a well then you might be getting a precipitate reaction in the aquarium when the new water is added.

Your problem may be bacteria bloom however. To find out for sure, try using unfiltered water direct from the tank (if it is safe). You shouldn't need to add conditioners either... This will prove if it is the carbon causing the problem.

If your water is from a well, catch some rainwater (shouldn't be much problem at the moment) and use that for waterchanges. If it's still cloudy it will be bacteria.

If it's bacteria you may be overfeeding a bit.

The filters for the house water are the paper type, no carbon. I can try some straight out of the tank. We collect rain water into the tank.

On my intro post some one said leave the filter on all the time. We currently switch it off overnight.

My son has been a bit over keen with the feeding to start with, but is far better now.

Bad move with the filter

Leave it on ALL the time, or run the risk of the "goodies" dying,

then being pumped back as "badies,"

and wiping out the tank when the filter is restarted.

Hasn't effcted you yet??

Wait for it.

It will bite you.

Alan

The filter MUST be kept running!

Definately part of the problem if not all of it. Filter bacteria will start to die after about 30 minutes of the filter being stopped. After 4 hours they are all dead (depending on filter type). They then decompose into toxic ammonia and nitrites. Filters must always be left on.

If a filter ever stops for any length of time it's best to remove it and flush with tap water (or your normal water source) to remove the toxic substances. If it is the only filter then the tank will cycle again...

Have left it running overnight. Tank looked a lot clearer this morning. Will leave it on from now on.

We get regular power outages during winter, this could become a pain :-?

I use big trickle filters on all my tanks. The type of media I use is Effisubsrat, Siporax, Biohome (Manta Marine) and Bio Max. It takes up to 3 months for this type of filter to fully form but only hours for it to die. It starts being really efficive after about a month.

For this reason I use UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supplies) on all my tanks with a minimum of 12 hours standby time. It makes sure none of my filters die.

Filter has been running for several days non-stop.

It's a lot clearer, not crystal but getting there.

Got some Corydorus Aeneus man have they cleaned up the bottom of the tank. They also stir the debri up a bit to be pulled through the filter.

8)

For the record.

Water crystal clear now. Thanks

Good to hear!