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Coudy tanks

1K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  Byron 
#1 ·
Hi all, I just joined this forum, looking for some answers. I've noticed that occasionally when I clean my tanks the water gets cloudy, it's the white bacteria kind of cloudy, what am I doing wrong, am I cleaning it too good? THanks James
 
#2 ·
Welcome to the forum!!!!

how long have you had your tank?
what size?
filtration?
and what chemicals you use?
these will help aid your question

it could be a number of things, or just a simple fact that your tap water isn't crystal clear when you add it in and it takes a while to settle out.
 
#3 ·
Does the cloudiness usually go away a while after you've cleaned the tank? Mine gets cloudy from the waste when I move my plants and clean the tank. But usually after the filter has run for a little while, it goes back to clear. I doubt you are doing anything wrong, but maybe someone else has an answer.
 
#4 ·
Lets see, the two I have the most problems with are my 28 and 30 gallon, both have been setup over a year, i have over double the recommenced filtration from HOB whispers, around 70 gal I think. I change about gallons weekly, I use prime to remove the chlorine. It will take several days to clear up, sometimes water clear chemicals work.
 
#5 ·
You do not indicate whether you vaccum the substrate or gravel during your water changes. For my own tanks,, I split the tank into thirds, and vaccum one third of the bottom each week, and a different one third each time.
 
#9 ·
i wouldn't exactly say "bad idea",it won't hurt to do that perhaps once a month,
and only one section each time,sort of like deviding your tank into quarters ?
if you have live plants then if you vac too deep too often then i think that may
not help them,i'm not sure on that htough.
just try on the next water change to hover the vac over the top of the gravel,
so you still clear anything that's there,just don't disturb anything,
please let me know if this was any help.
:)
 
#10 ·
As already mentioned, all of us notice the water is not as clear following a water change as it was immediately before, but that in my experience is normal and is gone by the next morning. Sometimes the tap water is cloudy (when they flush the mains, or heavy rains wash sediment into the reservoir) and it takes 2-3 days to clear. Of course, you indicate this only happens in 2 tanks, so probably something else. You may have too much filtration. If the filters are pushing the water through the tank too fast, the normal sediments in the water (which are not noticeable except when there are enough of them to appear cloudy) have no chance to settle down into the substrate. And I have noticed that some of this stuff won't get picked up by the filter for some time. Unless you have reason for over-filtering a tank (like providing strong current for a type of fish), I would suggest getting filters made for the size of tank.

A comment on using those clearing chemicals--don't. There is really no need, as the lack of clarity is due to something and if it doesn't clear normally then you need to find out what it is that's causing it, not mask it with chemicals. Also, those chemicals probably irritate the fish. I once used them when I had set up a new tank with different gravel that what I had previously always used (it turned out that this gravel was particularly "dusty" even though I had washed it far more than usually required--today after more than 10 years the tank containing this gravel is still the last to clear if it is stirred up), and after three weeks it was still not clear. I used the clear stuff and yes it cleared, but the fish obviously were stressed in their attempt to avoid the stuff. Last time for that.
 
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