Habitat - Indoor :: Murky Water

[Peva]

Hey guys, long time no...type

Anyway, let's get right to the problem.

I just did a total water exchange. I complimented it with a brand new filter pack and activated carbon for my canister filter.

I filled the tank with hose water, like I always do. It was really cold, so I just let it heat up for just over 24 hours, and added the necessary chemicals to remove the ammonia that is in my city's tap water. Everything was done just like I always do.

But the water is murky. I can't post any pictures, but the water was crystal clear for a while just like normal, and after a little bit, it turned noticeably murky.

Brixie herself doesn't seem to mind or notice, but she's really hardy when it comes to my neglect for the water. I bought some feeder fish today, and they all died after being in the water for something like three minutes.

I bought a moss ball to try and help with the water, but nothing is helping yet.

There are some rocks and other decorations that I put in the tank that had just been sitting in the basement (finished basement) for almost two years, but I still cleaned them with water first. Anything else that might cause murky water? I'm not too concerned about it, but it doesn't look clean like it normally does.

(55 gallon tank, I live in Colorado. Tap water is treated with Choloramine, and for those of you that don't know what chloramine is, it's chlorine with ammonia added, and it doesn't dissipate over time like chlorine does. It's bad for more than just tanks, and causes permanent skin damage when used for showering, and causes digestive tract damage when consumed. I wrote a research essay on it a year and a half ago.)

(Brixie is just about five and a half inches long now. Tank is just barely too small, so I'm not considering upgrading any time soon.)

(The filter has given me trouble before and I've considered replacing it, but as it stands, water still goes in and out of it at a steady rate.)

(No other animals live in the tank with her besides the occasional feeder fish. The Moss Ball was added today on a recommendation by Petsmart.)

[Peva]

Just did some general reserch and found this on another forum.

The white milky tint to the water is usually cause by a decomposing bacteria bloom. It's sometimes called new tank syndrome. It isn't cause by cycling the tank, it's caused by an imbalance between the waste load and the decomposing bacteria. When you start out with a new tank and fresh water, there isn't any organic waste or decomposing bacteria in your water system as yet. With all your inhabitants they begin to dump alot of organic waste into the water system. That's when the decomposing bacteria move in. Because the decomposing bacteria can multiply to great numbers in a very short time(2-sextrillion in a 24 hr period...Timothy A. Hovanec, Ph.D.) the decomposing bacteria turn the water a milky white.This won't harm the inhabitants. When the bacteria consume the excess organic waste, they begin to die off and the water begin to clear up. This might take several days depending on the waste load. So the actual white tint in the water is the massive amount of decomposing bacteria. This can happen anytime you do a very large water change (85-100%) and throw the decomposing bacteria/ waste load out of balance.

The nitrifying bacteria grow very slowly, they can only double the amount of bacteria in a 24 hr period. So you won't get a nitrifying bacteria bloom. These nitrifying bacteria(aka beneficial bacteria) shouldn't cause the water to turn cloudy while your cycling your tank. Are you still getting ammonia? If so you're still cycling the tank. The 1st of the two nitrifying bacteria will convert the ammonia into nitrite, a lot of times you wont see the nitrite come in, or spike, because it sometimes happens pretty fast. But if your getting some nitrate, you're starting to colonize the 2nd nitrifying bacteria which converts the nitrite into nitrate. Are you getting nitrite or nitrate? You don't have to measure it now just a rough amount. That will tell you where in the cycle you are.

I'm a little concerned about the "prefilter" word used with the blue pads in your top basket. Normally, prefilter means a media used ahead of the filter or as the first media on the coarse side. I believe the micro filtration pads that come with the XP4's are bi-color(green or blue and white). The colored side is a little bit too fine for use with turtles. I've tested those pads and they clog much faster than the regular all white filter floss. Your XP4 comes with four black sponges, two of which are coarse(20ppi, pores per inch) and the two others are fine at 30 ppi. Is the finer black sponges, finer than the prefilter blue sponges you are using in the top basket? The finest media should be used in the top basket. It's always coarse to fine as the water flows, which is bottom to top in the Rena XP series. In my snapper tank XP3 filters, I use 4-filter floss pads in the top basket. They keep the water nice and clear and they won't clog for a long time using four pads.

Instead of doing a whole lot of water changes. Forget about the cloudy water for a bit and just do 50% water changes when either the ammonia or the nitrite get to 3-4ppm and or the nitrate gets to 40-50ppm. These water changes will leave enough food for the nitrifying bacteria (ammonia and nitrite) to complete the cycle. Keep us updated when you get a chance so we can help you through this process. Good luck!


If the above is true, I guess there is just too much decomposing bacteria in the water after the 100% exchange, and it's harmless and will clear up in a few days. This doesn't explain why it hasn't happened before during my total exchanges, or why all the feeder fish immediately died though.

[Peva]

Here's a picture. It is low-quality just taken by my phone.http://imgur.com/1bxFcaZ

[steve]

Likely it's just cycling. Are you using bio media? Did you use cold tap water to fill the tank?

[Peva]

I did use cold tap water. I'm using activated carbon.

[steve]

Carbon is not bio media, but goes under chemical media. Bio media is usually rings or stars, to let beneficial bacteria colonize on.

[Peva]

I guess I don't have bio media then

But this morning the water was crystal clear again.

[Peva]

But I do have some rocks that probably can be counted at bio media though, they have small crevices and such.

[steve]

Yes, even exhausted carbon will have some... but bio media is optimized for it, and you don't need to replace it ever.

[Peva]

Alright, I'll probably get some here soon then! Got any good online sources I could order from? And do they just sit in the tank?

[steve]

What kind of filter do you have? Bio media goes inside a basket inside a canister filter.

[Peva]

Uuh, I'm not sure on the exact cansiter, give me until tonight to get the model number and stuff. I'll let you know, but as it stands, there's no room in the canister for anything other than the carbon container.

[steve]

Alright, let us know and we'll figure something out.

[Peva]

Oh I was confused, the bio media just sits in with the activated carbon?

[steve]

It can. Some people choose to arrange it differently. That's the cool thing about canister filters, you have several baskets to customize your needs.