Why is this happening?

GregV

also do you have drift wood in the tank?

nofinga911

Yes I have driftwood in the tank...it has a lot of algae on it, could this be causing the problem? Also, not I have brownish yellowish foam on the top of the water on the sides of the tank. It is a 125gal tank

GregV

sometimes driftwood can leech and cause the water to turn yellow.

but i would be more inclined to think it may be the sponge, try a water change and keeping the waterlevel below the sponge and see if that helps maybe?

JouteiMike

I'm still curious what your water parameters are.

crystalclear83

Yellow water can be caused be organics that have been decomposed in the water. Drift wood can also cause this too, as previously stated. I once had this problem oddly enough after a long time of researching the only things I could find that could clean the water of being yellow was either carbon, or water changes. And both work well. But with the carbon you need to use lots or it will only last 3 days try both. As for the cloudiness that means bacteria bloom and could be attributed to you changing "all" the water which is never a good idea. The bacteria are multiplying at such a high rate to compensate for your water change, that they are visible by the naked eye. If the water parameters are healthy for the fish jsut leave it alone for a while beacue you did a water change. You may want to take out the driftwood but I still have mine and my fish love it even if it does make the water yellosish,,,carbon works great try that. The lighting does sound alittle off unless you have plants what kind of lighting equipment do you use? and What kind of bulbs are you using?

nofinga911

sponge? what sponge?

GregV

Sorry i meant the Foam at the top of your tank.

nofinga911

ok I finally fixed the problem today...I removed the carbon I was using and now my water is crystal clear. I tested 2 bags one with just water from the tank and the other with water from the tank and some added carbon. The one with carbon got completely cloudy. I even tried rinsing the carbon and it still made the water cloudy. Are you supposed to soak the carbon or something??? why did it make my water all cloudy?

crystalclear83

I have read that if you use carbon for too long that it starts to deposit back in to the water what it took out. I have never experienced this. What kind of cloudy was it now white or black? Also are you sure it was carbon and not another product?

nofinga911

It is brand new just opened the container...it happend minutes after being put into the tank. It is a white cloudy...extremely cloudy! it also has the white pieces in it, to remove ammonia.