Cloudy Water Problems

[AHackett72]

Three weeks ago I did a very small gravel siphon. My water is always cloudy for about four hours then it clears up. Well this time it didn't. I let it go for a few days, then took out a bucket of water. I replaced the water with crystal clear water. That didn't help so I decided to change my carbon insert(I have an Aqua Clear 200). That didn't make it any better. A few days later I went to the store and bought Accu-Clear. It worked great and fast too. But the next day it was back to cloudy. So I cleaned my filter out, that didn't help. Just the other day I bought a new sponge. So today I did a massive gravel siphon and put more Accu-Clear in. It looks clear so far but I can see what's coming out of the filter and it looks like cloudy water!! I need Help!!!

 

[modernhamlet]

What color is the cloudiness? White, green, brown, or something else?

 

[AHackett72]

It's just a whitish-gray color. I've never had this problem before. I dunno what to do!

 

[modernhamlet]

Could be a bacterial bloom.

What are your current water parameters?
How long has the tank been running?

 

[AHackett72]

I've have a master test kit and I test about every 2 weeks n the water shows up fine on the ammonia, nitrite, and ph level. The tank is been up since December 15 or somethin like that date.

 

[AHackett72]

By the way this is all in my 20-gal.

 

[Wedge]

Hi

I have had the same problem for the last 2 water changes?? i have an 150ltr tank, i have drained the water to about 2 inches and refilled with filtered water (through a britta water filter, takes bloomin ages ) Tanks been running about a year with no problems before this.

If it is a bacterial bloom, which it sounds like mine is what do i do

thx peeps

 

[tstenback]

If it is a bacterial bloom, which it sounds like mine is what do i do

thx peeps

Check your levels for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. If it is a bacterial bloom your nitrite level is probably high. This could be due to excessive cleaning of the filter or substrate or something has killed part of your bacterial colony. Water changes will help.

 

[AHackett72]

I have a test kit and I test about every 2 weeks. Everything always shows up fine.

 

[reg2k2]

Water change--a small one--can help, but overcleaning can strip some of the bacterial load, forcing a bloom as they detect the waste. Tests can read normal, the bloom itself is not harmful. I had one last summer after cleaning the filter case, replacing most if not all the media, major wc & gravel-vac. The advice I came across was to do a 25% wc, replace carbon, and cut back (even skip) feeding for a couple days.

Better to break the cleaning into stages.

 

[Nidge]

A couple of years ago my water went cloudy for no apparent reason, eventually i found out it was the new flake food i was feeding and as soon as i stopped feeding it the water went back to normal.

 

[tstenback]

What are your readings for ammonia. nitrite and nitrate? I know you have said they are fine and i am not doubting that they are (according to your test kit) but if accu clear doesnt clear it, and changing the water doesnt clear it and changing the carbon doesnt clear it then the only thing that will survive all of that (at least as far as i have experienced) is a bacterial bloom. These are caused usually by a nitrite spike. So i would test all levels with your test kit and then take a sample to the lfs or a friend to test and compare results. If nothing else it can get the focus off the readings and on to what else this might be.