# tiny dust like particles???Help



## Stephmkt (Feb 18, 2010)

for about a month now if not longer there has been tiny particles that look like dust kinda floating around in my 20gallon planted aquarium i have no idea what it is and sometimes at the top of the water it looks like smoke because they just start to flow together i was doing water changes at least twice a week thinking that would help but it didnt so then i stoped doing water changes for the past two weeks but that didnt help either there still there so today i just did a 75% water change but so far there still floating around and there are thousand of them i just really dont know what else to do if anyone knows or has had the same problem please let me know how to fix it or at least if is bad or good or doesnt matter just any help would help! Its not cloudy it just has particles all threw the water

I tryed to use start right to maybe clear it up but that didnt help
Aquarium salt didnt help either
I also used tetra aquasafe but that was in there when i first set the tank up

the first picture if you look towards the top you can see what i mean about it looking like smoke

The second picture you can see just the particles that im talking about


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## huaidan (Mar 6, 2010)

I predict a "run-on" with the grammar police 

With out any background info, hard to say. Did this appear when the aquarium was new, or some time later? What kind of gravel/substrate are you using? If you were doing co2 injection and you have hard water, I would say carbonate precipitation. First thing I would do is test my water hardness. Very likely it's some kind of chemical precipitation, caused by some off-the-shelf aquarium products that cause some solid to settle out if mixed in the wrong combination in the wrong kind of water

Right now I'm having a bit of a similar problem, but it's caused by a bloom of brown algae dying off. It could be macroscopic protozoa. If you have a microscope or strong magnifier, take a look at it. Also take a look at it in a separate container where it's not being blown around by the water flow. Does it appear to move on its own?

Start "swapping" components in your aquarium, once you eliminate your tap water as a source. Consider the possible sources:

1. Biological
2. tap water
3. gravel
4. Aquarium chemicals/fertilizers
5. surrounding environment
6. evil rooommate

Then change out the components where you can and see if it fixes the problem. If not, change it back to its original component. For example, instead of tap water, try RO or distilled bottled water, or another water source.


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## Stephmkt (Feb 18, 2010)

huaidan said:


> I predict a "run-on" with the grammar police
> 
> With out any background info, hard to say. Did this appear when the aquarium was new, or some time later? What kind of gravel/substrate are you using? If you were doing co2 injection and you have hard water, I would say carbonate precipitation. First thing I would do is test my water hardness. Very likely it's some kind of chemical precipitation, caused by some off-the-shelf aquarium products that cause some solid to settle out if mixed in the wrong combination in the wrong kind of water
> 
> ...


first of started to appear about 1-2weeks after setting it up. I use eco-complete for substrate but i also use it in my 30gallon as well and its fine. And i dont use co2. I have tested my water and its def. hard but the ph is fine and my LFS told me that as long as the ph is fine then dont treat it, but do u think i should to see if thats causing the problem if so what do you recommend but again i use the same water for my 30gallon. It does move when theres no water flow slowly.

Thanks for all the help!!!


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## huaidan (Mar 6, 2010)

Well, for the sake of keeping it simple, if it doesn't seem to be causing any other harm, see if you can get a very fine mechanical filter? This, however, would be more of a quick fix than a real cure.

I can't really say for sure, honestly. I'm having a somewhat similar problem, but it's caused by the brown algae dying off and it's starting to fade. I've had many aquariums before, ranging from oscars to coral, and I know new tank setups just go through some weird phases. More than anything what pays off is just to be patient, let things stabilize, and don't go tweaking things wildly that you can't quickly reverse.
That said, it's a new tank, give it time and see. If other symptoms point to a definite problem, it will also be more evidence pointing to that problem.


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