General Care Discussion :: Cloudy water

[MLepelletier]

Ok here is something I cant figure out.

My wife and I did a full water change for our tank, refilled with spring water, I have a 39 Gal tank with a 100 Gal filter and two turtles

The filter keeps all the junk out of the water very well.

The main problem I have is within 2-3 days the water is cloudy.

What would be causing this and what would be a solution?
Is there a good anti-clouding liquid water treatment?

[Giddy]

What kind of cloudy? Is it seeable chunks junky cloudy or white foggy cloudy?

[khobbs]

mine gets foggy cloudy like that too...

[MLepelletier]

There are no chuncks of stuff our filter is doing a good job

Its like a white mist all througout the water

[marisa]

What filter are you using? Possibly the tank is cycling? Has the fogginess improved?

[sublime1008]

When I first start my fluval canister after any water change, it spurts out that white cloudy stuff. So, first I place a net over the spout before I turn it on. Then, I use an empty water gallon container (cut in half) and let the first 1/2 gallon of water go into there (then i pour it out in the sink).

This has cut down on the initial crud the filter spits out tremendously.

[MLepelletier]

I've got a Cascade 1000.

I don't get any white stuff when I start up the filter after a water change, only after around 2-3 days it starts to get cloudy and stays that way or gets a little worse until there next water change.

[Bucket]

I had that problem for a while but a few weeks ago I started adding Fluval "Special Carbon Filter Pads" to my filter. This has made the water amazingly clear and it has kept it that way for about 2 weeks before needing to be changed.

[knite]

Cloudy water is very typical within the first weeks of any new tank. There is an overwhelming amount of beneficial bacteria vs. ammonia and nitrites (which is from uneaten foods, poop, urine etc.) I wouldn't really worry much if I were you, it is only a matter of time before the bacteria "colonizes" in your filter and your water becomes crystal clear. Just don't overfeed your turtles and that the food doesn't fall down in the gravel.

Also, providing aquatic plants will also significantly aid in clearing the water faster. Also a food source. And a place for your turtles to climb and balance on. It's so multi-functional!!

[Giddy]

It sounds like a baceria bloom. It usually clears itself up withina week, two at the most.

[bob_rod7]

mine was cloudy for about a week then it went away

[RESCHIU]

I usually try to track the time of when my turtle would "use bathroom", put him in another seperate container with water, and wait after he poop and put him back to his tank. I also use fishing net to take out the poop as soon as I seen one. I do notice when turtle eat veggies, their poop becomes more messy(since there are fibers in veggie), but veggies are very good for turtle though, so I don't mind feeding them few times every week, if they just eat turtle stick, their poop seems to stay in one place and never dissolved....

[fish21]

I HAVE 2 LARGE FISH TANKS. AND 1 RES. THE WATER WILL DO THAT EVERY TIME YOU DO A COMPLET WATER CHANGE. I RECOMEND ONLY DOING 1/2 WATER CHANGES MORE OFTEN. THE BACTERIA BLOOM IS USUALLY MORE GRADUAL.

[bill1082]

I find that if I don't have smaller rocks on the bottom of the tank, the water clouds up. With some gravel rocks in there, it might be able to help if you don't already have them in there.