Milky water

[Angelucy]

I have had a 240 litre fish tank for 7 months and not had a problem until a couple of days ago l did a 25%water change which l do fortnightly and its usually crystal clear with a day but it didn't clear it was milky so l did a 75% water change but it didn't clear up so l thought it may be the filter..l bought a new one and added media and sponge from the new one and have them side by side..it is getting worse it is milky and greenish now..l googled and it said it could be a bacteria bloom and was suggested to add activated carbon l have done that.mit hasent cleared as yet..l don't know whether to remove my fish and put them in my 55 litre until the problem is solved but obviously worried about overcrowding..l have 5 angelfish 3 gorami.1 rainbow l filament barb 1 molly l cichlids and a few danios..l don't know what to do to sort the problem out

 

[PewPewChris]

When you do your water changes, what do you do with the media in your filter?

 

[Byron]

From your information, a bacterial bloom sees likely, though there is a hint of green in the photo but this may be due to the green plants in the photo and not indicative of green water. I would certainly not move the fish, as this if it is either bacterial or algae is harmless per say, and the stress on the fish would be severe. Organics obviously occur within the aquarium, but they can also come in with fresh tap water, and this often causes a bacterial bloom if it is a rapid increase. The bacteria that feed on these organics can multiply within roughly 20minutes, so it is easy to see why the cloudiness is rapid. There could also be microscopic particulate matter in the tap water. Significant rains often cause this.

 

[Angelucy]

So how do l cure this problem as its getting worse..it started off milky but is green too

 

[Beanie62]

I have had a 240 litre fish tank for 7 months and not had a problem until a couple of days ago l did a 25%water change which l do fortnightly and its usually crystal clear with a day but it didn't clear it was milky so l did a 75% water change but it didn't clear up so l thought it may be the filter..l bought a new one and added media and sponge from the new one and have them side by side..it is getting worse it is milky and greenish now..l googled and it said it could be a bacteria bloom and was suggested to add activated carbon l have done that.mit hasent cleared as yet..l don't know whether to remove my fish and put them in my 55 litre until the problem is solved but obviously worried about overcrowding..l have 5 angelfish 3 gorami.1 rainbow l filament barb 1 molly l cichlids and a few danios..l don't know what to do to sort the problem out

Hi Angelucy is the water turning green and cloudy

 

[Angelucy]

When you do your water changes, what do you do with the media in your filter?

I do my water changes fortnightly..l squeeze the sponges in a bucket of the tank water and clean the media in the bucket too..l did leave it a few days later than usual could it be that

 

[Angelucy]

Hi Angelucy is the water turning green and cloudy

 

[Angelucy]

Yes cloudy and green now

 

[Byron]

Green water is due to aunicellular algae that lives in the water,not on surfaces as most algae does. Nutrients/organics feed it, and it needs light. You could reduce the lighting duration each day--you have no live plants it seems, so any period of light is OK but make sure the light is on consistently for one period, not on and off as this is stressful on fish. You might also reduce the light intensity, though you say for 7 months there was no cloudiness; but an increase of organics could trigger this.

Water changes may not do much, as they will only add new odrganics to feed the bacteria/algae, ironically. But on a regular basis the water change should be weekly. And with no live plants, significant.

 

[Angelucy]

OK thankyou for your advice..so l just leave it and do a 25% water change weekly

 

[Goose3080]

OK thankyou for your advice..so l just leave it and do a 25% water change weekly

Personally id thow a UV in there like a fish R fun mean green killing machine, it will clear it up in about 3 days, i have a fluval inline one now so its not taking up room in the tank, I used to have all these issues in my tank, my water has been crystal clear since using a UV on a regular basis.

Im doing 2 10% water changes a week, 10% on a Wednesday and 10% on a Saturday, with a substrate vacuum on the saturday water change, I only wash my filters out every 4 to 6 weeks, my water parameters are perfect this way.