Habitat - Indoor :: FOGGY WATER

[3walcks]

O.K. guys I have a question here. The water in my tank is cloudy and will not clear up. I know from doing fish aquariums alot that new tanks do tend to cloud and will go away but i just cant get this to go away. I have 2 filters in this 10 gallon tank one is a repto filter and the other is a tetra for 30 to 60 gallon and my tank is about halfway filled up. to me it should be clear. I put rocks from outside in it but i cleaned and wipeds them off before i put them in so i am not sure what to do ? I figured i probly shouldn't use any of the stuff you can but to clear the water,( i bought this stuff that is suppose to help destroy waste better ) biological bacteria I think it is for turtles though. any i deas on what else to do? I even feed him in a seperate container too.

[marisa]

How long has it been cloudy? What kind of media are you using? What do you mean when you say you "cleaned and wiped the rocks?" How did you clean them?

[steve]

and what do you mean by "biological bacteria"? there are products that help new filters start the beneficial bacteria building process but it is not a stand alone product. it should not be used with filters intended to be used on a 10 gallon tank.

[3walcks]

when I brought the rocks in , I scrubed them with a scrub brush and a little dab of bleach to get the dirt and stuff off of them. and the stuff i put in is called TURTLE CLEAN the people at the pet store said it might help clear the water. it has been cloudy for a while now. I even did a big water change and it just goes right babck to being cloudy. wondering if i should take the whole tank apart and try agian? I have a repto filter on the one side ( a little canister type filter ) then on the other side I got the big regular fish aquarium filter Tetra aqua tech for a 30 to 60 gallon tank.

[steve]

OK, I think you should've spent $2 to get a bag of river rocks.

With a 10 gallon tank, I would just do regular water changes. I'm not familiar with any of the products you mentioned, but I would just use a water conditioner in addition to the water changes.

[marisa]

What kind of media is in each of the filters? I'd stop the Turtle Clean and try doing partial water changes (about 25% every three days or so) and see if that helps.

I'd get a bigger tank...

I just have to ask--did you rinse the rocks well after using bleach?

[3walcks]

I do have river rocks on the bottom. I used the rocks from outside to build a water fall . I did rinse good after cleaning like i said i am used to doing aquariums for fish so i know what to use and what not to clean with. I have had this problem before with new fish aquariums , most new setups do cloud up a little bit then go away after it gets going but i was just not sure of now because there is a turtle in it and they are suppose to be really messy.I just bought 4 feeder guppies to put in there with him. he chasin them like crazy.

[3walcks]

oh and about the bigger tank, i do plan on getting a bigger one as he grows. I have a 30 gallon hexagon but i am trying to decide if i want to use that or just do another fish tank. I origanally got it to do a fiah tank but might to do for kermie the only thing is it is taller than wider.

[marisa]

Longer (and wider) if possible is better for turts. More horizontal swimming room.

[pretty.rock.machine]

Do you have a calcium block or cuttlebone in there? I think that the calcium build up can cause it to be cloudy.

[3walcks]

yes i do have bits of cuttle bone i put in for him wonder if thats it! are you suppose to leave the cuttle bone in at all times or just a bit ! he loves his cuttle bone !

[marisa]

I've found that some cuttlebone will tend to leave a film on the water for a while (and I do rinse any dust off before putting it in the water). The calcium block I'm not sure about. It's not one of those Dr. Turtle things is it?

[3walcks]

no I dont have a calcium block i just bought a cuttlebone and i break up 1 to 3 little pieces and throw it in there for him.