Cloudy Water

[ray john]

What causes cloudy water? fish r happy did a 50% water change on Monday night looked clear for one night now its just as cloudy I will do a water test tomorrow . Tank has been running for 2 months it is a 5ft tank how can i clear it???
it is a rena tank and filter. just found on the rena site some thing about some star things to go in the filter does any one have a rena filter and can you tell me what the stars will do and will it help ? ??

 

[WILDER]

What are your water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate, and ph, how many fish and which type, it sounds like a bacterial bloom when the tank is cycling.

 

[timmystood]

Yeah - it does sound like loads of bacteria in one go. Give us your nitrite stats etc. - Also, doing a water change every day will get rid of the cloudy water.

 

[peediepixie]

Hi there, I'm new here but thought I could maybe halp you as I also have a Rena filter. The stars go in your filter in the middle section after the foam but before the micro filtration pads and bio filter media. The stars basically provide a surface area for good bacterial growth to make sure your water is clear of ammonia, nitrIte etc. The cloudy water sounds like it is most likely a bacterial bloom to me. I'm relatively new to this hobby so not suer how best to proceed but perhaps after water test results you'll know better what to do next...

 

[ray john]

cant tell u stats til i can get to buy more testers tomorrow there r some plats, mollys dinos, rams

 

[WILDER]

Don't preform a big water change as you are just delaying the cycle.

 

[blue_ram]

cant tell u stats til i can get to buy more testers tomorrow there r some plats, mollys dinos, rams

By "dinos", I hope you don't mean dinosaur eels.

Don't preform a big water change as you are just delaying the cycle.

Does it really? By couple of weeks, the nitrifying bacteria should be clining to the surfaces/substrate, and most shouldn't be in the water column. When my betta dies, I always do 100% water change before putting in a new betta. Never had a mini cycle...

 

[ray john]

did a test just now results are p.h 8.5-9.0 ammona 0.0-0.1 nitrate 10mg-25mg nitrite 0.0mg
no we have't got any of them fish

 

[ncjharris]

Actually, as it goes, we have just had a bacterial bloom too - looks nasty but I can take solice from the fact I know that the fish are ok.

Ours has come about as we have had to increase aeration to the tank due to medicating for internal infections. In fact, I thought I had increased the aeration enough originally by increasing the flow of the filter and making it 'splash' more, but coming downstairs one morning to some horizontal fish told me it wasn't enough!

So, the last two days we have had an air stone inthere. Given that some bacteria are aerobic (that is they 'breathe' oxygen) their population has exploded with the increased o2 in the water. However, the fish look a lot more lively too.

Have you done anything like this (increased the oxygen in the water recently), or planted the tank, changed the lights?
I doubt that water changes would cause it, but if you have a reading of ammonia you need to keep up the water changes to get that down, and be prepared for a spike of nitrIte.