my tank is obscured by cloudiness

[bruce]

we have two 10,s on a stand one above the other out of direct sunlite. they were both set up about 6-monthes ago. good water done every week at 25%. we test each time with test strips. and always have the same readings. the two tanks are identical in that they have the same fish, decor, and equipment. thing is that the lower tank is always cloudy. im beginning to lose sleep over this. can anyone help us. its mind baffling

 

[Pointy_kitty]

i'm having sort of a slow day
i can't think straight
all i can think is that if all your nitrates/ammonia/etc are perfect/non-existant and you are doing frequent large water changes then it could possibly be substrates in your water....
but that all depends on how warm the water is that you are putting in your tanks
also, what kind/brand/size is your filter?
for example i have an out of tank/aquaclear/150 (for up to 30 gallons)
inadequate filtration or and old/beat-up filter will also cause cloudiness
make sure the filter and sponge are clean (rinse sponge weekly in a bucket of tank water) and change the carbon once a month

OR if your filter is undergravel, you may not be able to proberly clean the gravel causeing coudy water....
every time you replace the water it just stirs up even more crud


one last question........ how are you changing water?
i found out last week that my friend was just removing bucket of water instead of vaccuming the gravel like yer supposed to do...

 

[G_Sharky]

You said your tank has been running for 6 months and it's always been cloudy, If it was new I would say that it was just debris that got disturb during water change and you filter would catch up. Obviously that's not the case, but I always see a chemical that supposed to clear water(seen it sold in LFS). I've never use this but you could try it, can't tell you whether it's a good or not.........

 

[Bol]

Cloudy white or cloudy green?

Or, cloudy because there's gunk floating in it?

 

[crazie.eddie]

Yes, if the cloudiness is white, then it's an bacteria bloom, which can be caused by high ammonia, large water change, insufficient filtration, etc.

If it's green, then it's an algae bloom, which is caused by excessive nitrATEs and phosphates, too much light, too much food, etc.

If you could let use know what color it is and what type of filter you have, we can service you better.