# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Cloudy Water



## il0vepez (May 18, 2004)

I have a mild water problem that is increasing with time. My water is becoming hazier and hazier every day. I would say the haze is 'colorless' (chemist to be). However, it may be yellow/green (difficult to tell with fluorite as subsrate). My water chemistry appears to remain unchanged and close to ideal. Also, my plants are not bothered by it (yet), nor are my fish. I have fed my fish a little more the past couple days than normal, but nothing excessive. Also, I've changed my filtration slightly. I have changed from a simple cotton BEFORE a polyfilter to a polyfilter INSIDE a cotton filter (to avoid mechanical clogging). I have a DIY CO2 fertilization; however, I also have a cotton filter in between the aquarium and my culture. I have access to some serious microscopy; however, I have no idea how to prepare a sample.


----------



## il0vepez (May 18, 2004)

I have a mild water problem that is increasing with time. My water is becoming hazier and hazier every day. I would say the haze is 'colorless' (chemist to be). However, it may be yellow/green (difficult to tell with fluorite as subsrate). My water chemistry appears to remain unchanged and close to ideal. Also, my plants are not bothered by it (yet), nor are my fish. I have fed my fish a little more the past couple days than normal, but nothing excessive. Also, I've changed my filtration slightly. I have changed from a simple cotton BEFORE a polyfilter to a polyfilter INSIDE a cotton filter (to avoid mechanical clogging). I have a DIY CO2 fertilization; however, I also have a cotton filter in between the aquarium and my culture. I have access to some serious microscopy; however, I have no idea how to prepare a sample.


----------



## il0vepez (May 18, 2004)

I spoke too soon. My ammonia levels are off the charts (1.5 mg/L). I am doing a 20% water change; however, I don't see how this is going to solve the problem. Any suggestions?


----------



## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Are you sure of your NH3 readings? How old is your tank? In a heavily planted tank, one doesn't typically have problems with this because the plants will assimilate it. That's why most of us don't worry about cycling with heavy plants.

How big a fish load do you have? Are you sure what you have isn't yeast that has gotten into the tank? When I had diy co2, I would have yeast that escaped with the gas and it was a constant cleaning of the gas line to remove the 'snot' at the tip.


----------



## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

The cloudiness may be the start of a green water outbreak. It usually looks colorless until it gets fairly advanced. Green water can be triggered by an ammonia spike.

You probably should look for a reason for the ammonia spike. Missing any fish? Was the extra feeding a little too extra? Did you throw out your nitrifiers when you changed the filtration?


Roger Miller


----------



## il0vepez (May 18, 2004)

I'm not 100% what you mean Roger, but I believe I did throw out my nitrifiers. I bleached the filters before I changed my filtration because it was chopped full of what I believed to be algae spores. However, this was days before I noticed a problem (does this matter?) My fish are doing well, none missing that I know of. My tank is 'heavily' planted, and I have about 35 inches of fish in 30 gallons, mostly barbs. I'm fairly certain that my yeast have not escaped. My DIY is slightly different than most I've read about. I rely on CO2 produced by yeast BEFORE attached to my aqaurium; that is, there are no active yeast at the top of my culture when I fertilize my system (because of the problems you describe Bert). I decided to change my water with a white bucket (instead of the usual orange), and I did notice a slight color, possibly green water, although it looked yellow to be honest. I've increased to two 20% water changes a day. Would it be helpful to increase this number? What would be the shortest period of time acceptable in between water changes?


----------



## il0vepez (May 18, 2004)

I forgot:

Should I feed my fish? I haven't fed them today because I do not wish to stress them too much. However, I don't want to starve the little guys (and girls)!


----------



## il0vepez (May 18, 2004)

Ok, so my water levels were quite acceptable before the second water change of the day. However, the cloudiness persists. Should I pursue some new type of filtration? Or should I continue with frequent water changes?


----------



## Ben C (Apr 16, 2006)

i smell this problem about to start in my tank too... am anxiously awaiting the answers from everyone!!


----------



## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

ilOvepez,

I've never had much success using water changes alone to clear cloudy water. I use a flocculent (P-Clear, but there are other brands) to get the cells clumped together then filter them with either a Quickfilter on a power head or my Marineland Magnum 350 with its media chamber packed with filter floss. I also cut lighting back to about 4 hours/day during the treatments.

By now it seems like your ammonium should be gone. If that is down then I can't think of a reason why you would continue the water changes.

I just finished clearing a green water problem out of my 55 gallon tank. I don't really know how it started. The tank seems prone to green water for some reason and seemingly small changes can trigger a bloom. On top of that it started at a time when I had way too many things on my schedule and I didn't get to it right away. By Sunday I had pea soup.

I used P-Clear and the Magnum. The process works slowly at first then snaps to. The tank was still very green Wednesday morning but only a little hazy by Wednesday night. It was still a little hazy Thursday morning when I got up. I turned off the Magnum and the tank's usual filter, added the P-Clear,let it sit for an hour and a half and then turned the Magnum back on. A half hour later the water was crystal clear.


Roger Miller


----------



## imported_BSS (Apr 14, 2004)

I started my new 46 gallon tank early this year. I had a nasty problem with cloudy water for (if memory serves) 5+ weeks. I was trying to use "light" filtration (a single powerhead with a sponge over the intake driving my internal DIY CO2 reactor). Fifty percent water changes would make the tank look better, but a day or two later, I couldn't see through the tank any longer.

I finally gave up waiting for the tank to "mature". So, I borrowed a friend's Magnum 350, got another friend to give my some DE (diatomaceous earth?) from his pool supplies, and after a couple cycles of DE cleaning, the water cleared up. After that, running with the 350 in tandem with my powerhead, the water stayed clear. That's why I now have the Rena XP3.

Bottomline, I never did figure out what was causing my cloudy water. I was afraid of the flocculents per other posts (perhaps unfounded!). So, extra filtration seemed to be the ticket in my case. Your mileage may vary...


----------



## il0vepez (May 18, 2004)

First off, let me thank everyone who has contributed to this thread for taking time out of their lives to help me. My ammonia is down, and all water levels look great. I am not familiar with any of the suggestions everyone has made, so I will look into this more. I agree BSS, a chemical flocculent does sound a little scary. However, I see Roger's posts all over this forum, and I see no reason to doubt his advice. Roger: I am a bit confused about the goal of the filtration you've described. I am not familiar with filter floss or Quickfilters.

Again, thank you.


----------



## il0vepez (May 18, 2004)

Dear All:

Thanks to the kind contributions from more experienced hobbyist (professionals?), I have cleared my water. I used a chemical flocculent from SeaChem and stuffed my filter with polyester fiber. The fiber clogs easily, but is quite cheap. After several moderate doses, the water was crystal clear.


----------



## imported_BSS (Apr 14, 2004)

Glad to hear you got it cleared up. Also good to know that the flocculent worked. I'll definitely try that approach next time!


----------

