VinsonMassif Posted October 25, 2007 Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 I have had my 225L tank set up for a few weeks now. I have 30-40mm Dalton's aquatic mix under 30-40mm fine sand as the media. The plants are healthy. The fish don't appear to stir up the sand at all. However my water isn't clear, it has a slightly milky look. I would like it to be crystal. What would you suggest I do? I am running an AquaOne CF-1200 canister filter which I have been regularly rinsing out the sponges to make sure they weren't clogged up. I also have a pouch of Seachem Purigen and activated carbon to reduce disolved organics from the water. It is a constant cloudiness, not like a bacterial bloom. I havn't had this problem in any of my other tanks. So I figured it is a side effect of the aquatic mix. Should I run an additional filter on the tank for a while? If so what type? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.qian Posted October 25, 2007 Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 How often do you clean the CF1200? Could be a side effect of the aquatic mix. Also what do you feed? feeding too much can cause cloudiness, especially dried food (from my experience). what filter media are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted October 25, 2007 Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 How clean was the fine sand before the tank was filled? Try a few good water changes and be careful when so filling so you dont disturb the sand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted October 25, 2007 Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 I would try a few water changes as well. Also with a new tank they often go cloudy for a few weeks until things settle down. I wouldn't do anything drastic yet, the tank is still very new. Just do regular water changes and see if it gets better. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony law Posted October 25, 2007 Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 may be not a nuff bacteria in the tank to clear the water . if it was me i whould leve the filter a lone.to built up a nuff bacteria in it. also add some filter wool to your filter as this is finer.i run two exturnals on my five foot tank one filter gets clean ever six months.so they do a 12 month cycle. i do 25%water change a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinsonMassif Posted October 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 Thanks. I clean the filter every week, rinsing the sponges, emptying the canister and refilling with aquarium water. It has 3 trays in the filter, #1 tray 2/3 bioballs, 1/3 ceramic noodles + coarse sponge, #2 tray all CN filled to top + medium sponge, #3 tray 3layers filter floss + carbon. I feed froz bloodworms, froz daphnia, shrimp pellets, fresh vege in a cycle rotation. I don't over feed (if anything I under feed), and don't leave vege more than 12 hrs. I rinsed and cleaned the sand entirely in 20L bucket before putting it in my tank. The sand was totally debris/sediment/silt free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted October 25, 2007 Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 Thanks. I clean the filter every week, rinsing the sponges, emptying the canister and refilling with aquarium water. It has 3 trays in the filter, #1 tray 2/3 bioballs, 1/3 ceramic noodles + coarse sponge, #2 tray all CN filled to top + medium sponge, #3 tray 3layers filter floss + carbon I dont touch my filters for months on end, as you can disturb the bacteria if you clean to much and to often Also after iv cleaned them my tank goes cloudy for a short period When i mean clean, i just mean a light rinse of the fine medias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinsonMassif Posted October 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 Ok, I will leave it alone and hope for the best. ATM I am doing 3 partial water changes per week, 40-50L each time. My test readings are all ok (0,0,10) and pH 6.4. I ran my filter on my existing tank to kick start it, for 3 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony law Posted October 25, 2007 Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 also most people wash there filters out with the hose which kill most of the bacteria in there filters.it all rigth to if you got two filters on your tank but if you got one i whould suggest that you clean you fillter with your tank water as this will not kill the bacteria in your filter sponges as much.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navarre Posted October 25, 2007 Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 Sounds like classic new tank syndrome. This is where there are not enuff bacteria to control wastes etc in water so you get a micro algae bloom in the water....I think :lol: only clean your filters when flow starts to reduce or otherwise every couple of months do 1 water change of about 10-15% a week depending on stock levels You may have a bit of stuff coming of teh daltons but in my experience that soon reduces and is usually a scum on top of water that if left will settle quickly HTH Navarre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinsonMassif Posted October 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 Sounds like classic new tank syndrome. This is where there are not enuff bacteria to control wastes etc in water so you get a micro algae bloom in the water....I think :lol: only clean your filters when flow starts to reduce or otherwise every couple of months do 1 water change of about 10-15% a week depending on stock levels You may have a bit of stuff coming of teh daltons but in my experience that soon reduces and is usually a scum on top of water that if left will settle quickly HTH Navarre Uummmmmm....what? If I had a micro-algae bloom would that not colour the water greenish/brownish? If my bacterial filter is on the light side, wouldn't waste build up too quickly if I was only doing 10% PWC per week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted October 25, 2007 Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 haha some communication problems in this thread I had problems with this when I used the aquatic mix too. What I did (that worked) in the end was use a thin layer (say 10-20mm), then a good 50-60mm of gravel (washed). Didn't have problems after that. Just leaving it will work too because those smaller waterborne particles that are in the water will eventually get syphoned out over time. If you have a spare filter fill it with cotton wool. The type you get in pillows when wet its very dense and if your problem is sand/aquatic mix this will become full of crud quickly (give it a day or two then check). If this doesn't fill with crud it'll be a bacterial problem. But it sounds like you know what that looks like, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on that one. The purigen you have should polish the water, just need to get the big stuff out first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinsonMassif Posted October 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 Cool thanks for all the replies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoody Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 I had similar problem when I set up my tank with a aqua one cf1000. Pretty sure the problem was I did'nt wash the ceramic noodle's good enough? Allthough my water STILL is'nt as clear as I'd like it, but I think that's due to my sand substrate and JBL aqua basis still settling down?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 Ianab and SpidersWeb are bang on, your problem is the Daltons aquatic mix, it is so fine it hangs in the water for weeks. Patience and water changes are the answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinsonMassif Posted October 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 I bought an eheim internal filter and cut the sponge, filling the centre of the canister with cotton wool. After four hours the water is already noticably less cloudy. Good suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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