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am I over-cleaning my tank?

2K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  fish_4_all 
#1 ·
ok, last week i had problems with my small tank being cloudy, now my big tank is cloudy. please help- i may be making the same mistake over and over without knowing it-
tank is 30 gallons
some live plants
4 danios and three barbs in it (all appear healthy)
all water tests are normal
- i had one plant keep dropping needles (like pine needles), so i was gravel vaccuming them up- a day later, the water began to cloud. something similiar happened in my 10 gallon as well- i noticed the water majorly clouded right after a water change / gravel vac.
both tanks have power filters with activated carbon in them- i recently upgraded the size of the one on my 30 gallon to a 300 GPH model. i got rid of the plant that was shedding.
I DO NOT OVERFEED
the lights are timer set for the correct amount of light.

so am i keeping my tank too clean?? is it possible that I am vacuming up the beneficial bacteria? i only did it cause I didn't want all the shedding plant leaves to decay and turn to amonnia. how often should i gravel vac?
right now I do 10% PWC weekly, and every other week, gravel vac debris. is that too much?
 
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#4 ·
but the cloudiness lasts for a week plus, and gradually gets worse over a period of 2-3 days, its not just a temporary thing. the last time it lasted 10 days. At that rate, by the time it clears up, its time to clean it again...and the cycle of cloudiness repeats. looks like a bacterial bloom- but everytime i clean it??
 
#5 ·
My thoughts would be that your tap water is adding alot of nutrients to the tank and this is causing the bacteria blooms. And it will possibly get worse and worse over time. Some water sources change over time and with the weather and Texas has had a lot of rain in areas so this could be causing it.

The needles falling off is a sign of too little light. It might help to add a few more high nutrient sponge plants if you can to help take up the extra nutrients. I actually just went through this with one tank and green water. I think I caused it by taking out too many plants and now that I have more heavy nbutrient sponge plants back in the tank it is slowly clearing up.

It might just balance itself over time as the tank adjusts if it is an issue with the tap water parameters changing.
 
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