making water crystal clear

[Yeaulman]

Well here is my problem... I have 6 fish in a 48 gallon tank that is nicely planted. 2 Black Moors, 2 calico fantails, and 2 plecos. and I forgot about the 3 ghost shrimp. My fish are such pigs that my water is never clear, there is always particals of plants, debris from the gravel, or just I have no idea what they did to make it that cloudy. Its not really cloudy persay just that it looks not clear.

So what I want to know is how everyone keeps their water nice and clear.

BTW, I have a fluval 304 filter in my tank if you wanted to know what filtration I had

 

[Eve]

There is a chem that is called Marine and Tropical Clear. Now having said this, I dont like adding chems to my tanks out of general fear. However this stuff did come from a reputable fish store that I happen to trust. So its really your call. Goldfish are pretty hardy fish so something like this should work fine and dandy.

Goldfish are horribly messy fish though, and Iv never seen them kept in crystal water. Perhaps upping for changes to twice a week?

Hope this helps

 

[pebbles]

hi yeaulman, I too use fluvals but internal ones , it has an option for a finer filter as well as the usual one, i find that helps a little to keep water clear i dont use it all the time though .
as for plant debris , if you have fish that like to chomp on your plants , i think you have to live with it , i find it difficult to keep up with clearing after mine .
gravel vac ing the bottom helps as well. hope this helps a little ..... pebbles

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Probably due to the masses of waste being produced by all your fish. I would definatley not add chemicals that claim to keep your water clear. Just do gravel vacs and regular water changes. Perhaps try feeding less. How often are you feeding at the moment?

 

[Yeaulman]

Thanks everyone, I have been doing all that and also dont want to put any extra chemicals in the tank.

I feed small amounts twice a day, just giving them small amounts till they eat it all up and getting whatever is left over with a net.

 

[luxum]

I would switch the canister to be purely biofiltration, add a prefilter to the intake, and then add a large aquaclear set up for just mechanical. Rince the prefilter daily, and rinse the mechanical media in the AC at every water change, don't worry about keeping the bacteria as you'll have plenty in the canister. What are your nitrates? You may need to up your water change quantity or frequency. If it was me, i'd keep 2 goldfish in that tank and consider that to be pushing it, you've got 4 plus 2 plecos, some of the dirtiest fish around.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Yeaulman

There are products that cause the floating particles to clump together which makes them more likely to get trapped in the filter. This is only a temporary fix however, and if your fish are frequently stirring the water, is not really practical.

If your tank is cycled and your water parameters are good, the particles suspended in the water are probably more annoying than harmful. With fish that are known to be big waste producers, just be certain that the tank bottom is vacuumed regularly to reduce accumulated waste products and to avoid the reproduction of harmful bacteria.

 

[Voorhee]

What about a powerhead with filter? aquaclear models??

 

[canarsie11]

What about Uv sterilizer?