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Another cloudy water question....

PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 11:26 pm
by Rickiew04
The water in my tank is cloudy. I have a 55 gallon tank and I'm using the fluval 4plus. I know thats not a great filter but thats all I can really afford for now. I did add Biotize to jumpstart the filter. I tested the water yesterday and it showed 0 for Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates. So what could cause my water to be cloudy? I've had Wilson for around 3 weeks now.

PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 2:03 am
by steve
The Fluval 4 isn't going to offer much help. There's no room for bio media and it mainly just pushes water around. I'd look into a canister filter with real bio media.

PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 12:19 pm
by Rickiew04
Yea...I do have the carbon pads in there...but I don't think they do much. Do you know why I still have cloudy water since I don't have any ammonia according to the tests?

PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 12:56 pm
by DavidY
The cloudiness that you're seeing is the bacteria that have bloomed in the tank from feeding on the ammonia and nitrites. Ideally you want to have the bacteria settle on the surfaces in your filter (like the carbon, sponge, biomedia) and on the tank and decorations in it too. This will eventually happen as the ammonia and nitrites are reduced to zero, the amount of bacteria needed to maintain zero levels will diminish. The excess bacteria will begin to die off and get trapped in the filter, get consumed by other bacteria, and/or decompose. That in turn adds a little to the nitrogen cycle again but will slowly diminish until the tank is finally stabilized. Then your water should become clear again. I would advise giving it some time, don't overfeed, don't underfeed, don't do large water changes or totally clean out your filter. If anything maybe just do a 10% water change and take the sponge part of the filter out and rinse it real good in the dirty tank water you just removed from the tank to get the solid waste out (you want to preserve any bacteria that has settled in the sponge). Then make sure to replace the water with conditioned water (no chlorine).

PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 12:57 pm
by SpotsMama
It's probably a bacterial bloom, called "new tank syndrome". It's normal for a new tank and filter. It can last for a week to two weeks while the good (nitrifying) bacteria establish their colonies. Here's some info on it. Scroll down to the "note" in the middle of the page.

http://www.redearslider.com/water_quality_issues.html

PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:19 pm
by Rickiew04
OH....I always thought the cloudiness was from the toxins such as ammonia and nitrites in the tank. I didn't know it was from the bacteria that eliminates them. Thanks for your help!!