Cosmetic - Cloudy Water

[davee]

Hi - I've got a 42 gallon tank, it's about 2 months old, I have a good stock of fish (plus a few dwarf frogs), my amonia, nitrate, nitrite, and PH are all stable. I've got live plants going, everything is growing well (about 1 watt/gallon, so not too fast), haven't lost any fish yet.... but the tank is still slightly cloudy, just at the top (bottom two thirds is fine) I do water changes, about 15%, once a week... I look at the pictures I see in the forums of members' tanks, and most have very clear water - I'm wondering where I can start to try and improve the clarity...

Front view: http/www.flickr.com/photos/dave_euser/357517553/
Front view: http/www.flickr.com/photos/dave_euser/357517469/

I change/rinse the filter pad every 2 weeks, not sure if I am doing something wrong, or just have to wait a bit more....

Thanks,
dave

 

[sallymander_1]

What type of filter do you have in there?

 

[@ombomb]

What colour is the water going? (hard to see in the pics)

My guess would be tanins from your bog wood, how long did you soak it before adding it to the tank?

 

[TerraDreamer]

but the tank is still slightly cloudy, just at the top (bottom two thirds is fine) I do water changes, about 15%, once a week...I change/rinse the filter pad every 2 weeks, not sure if I am doing something wrong, or just have to wait a bit more....

Due to circulation, your water is no doubt the same cloudiness everywhere else in the tank, it's just that the water is more illuminated near the top. Your bogwood could be the culprit, although in my experience, the water isn't so much cloudy as it has taken on a slight sepia tone. Your cloudiness appears to be more white. What method are you using to clean the filters?

 

[davee]

When I do water changes, there is a sepia tone to the discharge.... I guess it is the tanin then - I soaked the wood for a few hours and boiled for 45 minutes or so, guess not enough..... Since it has been a while, should I remove the wood and resoak, or just do some more agressive water changes in the next few weeks?

I looked again, and I think the whitesh tinge is just from the light at the top of the tank...

My filter is an external Eheim 2213, I've put in fluval carbon filters (square bag) on the advice of the LFS, which I think doesn't make much sense for my external cylindrical unit (which has off-the-shelf round filters available)....

Thanks for all the advice ;-) This is my first tank, did a lot of reading, but got a bit excited and started too quickly.....