cludyish water/filter

[wongy008]

hey guys the water in my tank is beggining to get cludy and no matter how many partial water changes i do its stays the same. its not too bad just not crystal clear the way i want it to be

now im sure i read somewhere on this site/forum that theres no need to change the filter blocks and all they needed is to be rinsed off in som excess tank water. is this true.

i also read that changing the filters will be bad for the tank as the bacteria would of been removed from the tank upsetting the balance, i also think it either recommmened that if i wanted to change filter blocks it was best to leave the new ones sitting in the bottom of the tank for a week or so to absorb some bacteria before i remove the old filter elements

i cant find the info i read anywhere

whats best to do

 

[njparton]

What sort of filter do you have?

Cram some filter floss in there and change it every 2 days. Perform 10% daily water changes and feed your fish sparingly.

It will take a while but will eventually go.

 

[Mike&Diana]

Yes, if you change the filter cartridge you will lose most of your beneficial bacteria. I would suggest that you simply rinse it out in tank water (when you are doing your weekly or bi-weekly water changes) and do that for as long as you can. Eventually, you may need to replace the filter block completely(once it starts to fall apart) When and if that happens, floating a new one in the water may or may not help. If possible, you could put 2 blocks in the filter at one time to give the new one a chance to seed. Some filters will allow this and some will not. Keep in mind that the good bacteria will also be in your gravel, decor, and glass. It will live on every surface in the tank. So, if you absolutely positively had to change out the filter, you MIGHT be okay as long as you carefully watch your ammonia and nitrIte levels for spikes. Please correct me if I am wrong! Good luck!

Mike

 

[G_Sharky]

Let your filter catch up on it. Mine was pretty cloudy when i first set my tank and i just leave it didn't do any water changes and after 2 days the water is crystal clear, or it could be that your having a nitrite spike(bacteria is blooming) which is a good sign if your still cycling your tank....

 

[merlin]

I've recently set up a 46 gal tank and during the final days of cycling it suddenly went cloudy, and a white deposit manifested itself on plants and decor. However I did have fish in it, but they soon died (possibly high nitrites more than anything).

I sought advice, and was told it would clear up, and it did. Apparently it is caused by a sudden influx of nutrients into the water causing a bacterial explosion. Reducing the nutrients (ie stop feeding fish for example) causes the cloudiness to subside.

However, I found that although the cloudiness did subside, the deposit remained, so I removed all my plants and decor and cleaned them thoroughly in a 5 gallon bucket of water siphoned from the tank, before returning them. I also took the opportunity to clean all equipment in the tank with an algae pad. The remaining cloudy deposit was filtered out using my carbon filter.

The tank now looks wonderful, and operation cleanup was a complete success. Also, the tank has completed cycling and appears to be very stable with several very content fish.

Hope this helps?