vickih Posted March 12, 2006 Report Share Posted March 12, 2006 My 80 lt hexongonal tank which is normally crystal clear has been rather cloudy for the last few days. I have done water changes, cleaned the filter etc but it's still cloudy. Any ideas would be great..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted March 12, 2006 Report Share Posted March 12, 2006 White cloudy or green cloudy? Is it by a window? Could be direct sunlight causing algae bloom. If white cloudy I'd do a few huge water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookie Posted March 12, 2006 Report Share Posted March 12, 2006 Have you added anything new to the tank? Over feeding causes cloudyness too. Are you using carbon in your filters? and if so, when was the last time it was replaced? IMO you'd be better off ditching the carbon all together as after a few weeks it starts leeching the ammonia etc back into the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted March 12, 2006 Report Share Posted March 12, 2006 bacteria blooms cause cloudyness. did you clean your filters in tap water? if you recently added new fish or overfed the bacteria will be trying to get up to speed. keep up with ya water changes and it should get back to normal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted March 12, 2006 Report Share Posted March 12, 2006 Temporary bacterial bloom. It should clear itself over the next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickih Posted March 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2006 Its now a couple of weeks later.........I had enought of not being able to see my fishys. Last Fri I tranfered by big goldfish to other tanks and emptyed my tank..all but a lil bit of water in the bottom..the gravel had a big clean with my gravel cleaner thingy...plastic plants got sterilised in boiling water.......fluval 3 got cleaned. Was crystal clear for a couple of days....now is slowly started to cloud again. What hell am I doing wrong. It had been getting maybe a lil to much morning sun, which may have caused the prob in the first place...but I'm making sure it doesn't now. What Next??????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Angl Posted March 27, 2006 Report Share Posted March 27, 2006 Leave the tank to cycle for a couple of weeks, let the bacteria get established to take care of the amonnia / nitrite / nitrate. If you're fish look happy(when you can see them), then you're not doing anything wrong, don't clean out the filter for a while but do small constant water changes and see how it goes. Only when the filter is running slowly, clean it out. Also clean the piping to / from the filter before cleaning the filter itself and check the water flow, you'd be amazed how much of a difference just doing that can make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted March 27, 2006 Report Share Posted March 27, 2006 By doing such a massive water change, cleaning the gravel and cleaning out the filter all at once you have totally destroyed what cycle you had and it will have to start again. It is also possible you have too many, or too big a fish in the tank and the filter is not coping with the extra load as they grow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted March 27, 2006 Report Share Posted March 27, 2006 When you say you clean the filter, are you cleaning it under tap water or water that you have removed from the tank? Because cleaning the filter under tap water removes all the good bacteria in there and it has to start again. Thats why people stress that you are to clean out your filter in water removed from the tank. :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted March 27, 2006 Report Share Posted March 27, 2006 Hi VickiH, I recently had the same problem with my tank that had been running for about 4 years without any problems, I thought it was algae or bacterial related due to gving the tank a good clean and changing the bulbs. After 3 weeks of dosing with algaefix and doing many large water changes I traced the problem to the Ceramic Noodles that I had added to the filter at the same time as I cleaned the tank. They were a cheap brand, about $5 per blue coloured box and came in there own mesh bag, if you have added these to your filter recently they may be the problem. My water was so cloudy, due to the noodles breaking down, that I couldn't even see the back of the tank and since I have removed the noodles my water is crystal clear. I hope you resolve your problem soon. Cheers, Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dee_jay_01 Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 When you say you clean the filter, are you cleaning it under tap water or water that you have removed from the tank? Because cleaning the filter under tap water removes all the good bacteria in there and it has to start again. Thats why people stress that you are to clean out your filter in water removed from the tank. :bounce: I have always cleaned my filters and foam out under tap water and my water qualities are perfect all the time (unless I forget to clean the filters fortnightly/Monthly). My partner on the other hand, cleans hers out using water from the tank, and I have noticed her tank has been slowly getting acidic, and high Nitrites even after daily 10% water changes to try and fix the problem (we have now rectified this problem), We do not have any Carbon in our tanks except for the quarantine tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanksman Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Hi VickiH, I traced the problem to the Ceramic Noodles that I had added to the filter at the same time as I cleaned the tank. .... My water was so cloudy, due to the noodles breaking down, Don't suppose you could show us a pic of the noodles after they have been in your tank? Did you get them from your LFS or Trademe or ??? Did you complain to the seller? $5 is $5 That is bad luck Matt. Glad you sorted it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanksman Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 I have always cleaned my filters and foam out under tap water and my water qualities are perfect all the time (unless I forget to clean the filters fortnightly/Monthly). Deejay - do you have an undergravel filter in your tank? If not do you have more than one filter where only one is cleaned at a time? The only other way you will be getting away with this unconventional practice is using water that doesn't contain chlorine and is around about the same temp as your tank. If none of these apply, I would suggest you touch some wood as often as you can 8) And if your partners tank is getting nitrites too often it is time to get a better filter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 MOst of the time when people are cleaning their filters they are cleaning the sponges, these are normally (or often atleast) mechanical filters not biological (though of course they do a bit of biological filtering to) so harming the bacteria in them isn't really as big an issue, it sort of makes sense to have them completely clean therefore doing the maximum mechanical filtation instead of only half cleaning them in a bucket of dirty tank water. Also all that gunk that doesn't get cleaned off will keep breaking down making nitrates, mechanical filters should be used to remove as much gunk before it breaks down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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