need help with water quality

[rosie T.]

Actually, my topic title says it's about my water quality, but it's actually about the cloudiness of my water. I don't get it... I do weekly water changes, sometimes even more ( like twice a week) of about 15-20% of the water. My water parameters are good. Oh... I have a 10 gallon tank with 1 molly and 3 tetras and 1 cat. Oh... and NO live plants.

It's not that my water is "cloudy"... but there's always bits and pieces floating around. I guess you can say that my water is "dusty" rather than "cloudy". I have plastic plants that even look dusty. I clean them as mush as I can... what is going on? Is it my filter becuase it seems to working ok. Help!!! My fish look like they're swimming in debris. Is it the plastic decor? I don't know....

Oh... and I do use Cyrsal Clear to clear my water... but it doesno't seem to be working.

 

[sandyd]

Does it look worse after you clean it? Do you have colored rocks in there? I have white rocks in 1 of my betta tanks, and every time i vaccuum the tank, it makes the water look like snow. I figured out it is the coloring coming off the rocks. I have been slowly switching out all my colored rocks for natural looking rocks, and the problem is going away. Sandy

 

[smb]

What filter do you use and how/how often do you clean or change it?

Do you use Crystal Clear because of this problem you're having or have you used it even before then?

What type of cat do you have and how big is it?

What type of food and how often do you feed?

What are your ammonia and nitrite levels?

How long have you had this tank setup?

Sorry for so many questions instead of answers for you.

 

[rosie T.]

Hey Sandy and SMB!!!

Sandy: I only have a fake piece of driftwood but no rocks. And a couple of fake plants. Nothing real... thought it would be easier for me. Oh... and I have the same problem!!! It's snowing in my tank...

smb: My filter is a Whisper Bio Filter and I actually haven't changed it yet. I haven't had my tank for too long, and I thought that it's best for the filter not to be changed too often. I am wrong? I use Crystal Clear only when my water looks cloudy... not to prevent cloudiness. My cat is tiny and it's a Pleco. I usually feed them once a day (Tetracolor flakes), and a couple of days I feed them twice (because I supplement my mollies with algae flakes). My ammonia and nitrate levels are zero, or very close to it, and I've had this tank set up for about 2 months. And in the beginning, I hardly cleaned my tank... once a week since it's only a 10 gallon but lately I've had the urge to clean it every other day!!! It looks like it's snowing in my tank, and I don't want to be harming my fish. Any suggestions?

 

[AquaNut]

I hesitate to jump in here because I'm sure smb will be along later with more information than I could even dream of (he really is the fish guru lol).

This is just a guess, but if it were my tank, I'd assume the cloudiness was a bacterial bloom. The likeliness of this is increased in my mind by the fact that it's a new tank where bacterial colonies are establishing themselves. When you add the Crystal Clear, I'm guessing it's a product that makes all the teeny bits stick together into 'debris' and 'snow'.

I'm not sure what kind of media your filter uses, but after two months, it may be a good idea to rinse it well in some tank water. It's possible that it's clogged with pieces of coagulated debris.

My preferred long term solution (if the problem is indeed a bacterial bloom) is live plants. They will make use of that bacteria, provide comfortable refuge for your plants (those plastic ones can't feel good to swim up against), produce oxygen, and create an ever-changing and growing aquascape for you to enjoy.

 

[rosie T.]

Thanks Aquanut for your advice! I thought of it being a bacterial bloom, but erased that thought since the pieces were quite large for it to be "bacteria". As for my filter, how often should I change the insert? Is it too soon to change mine right now? And thanks for the plant advice... I'll try to get some live ones as soon as possible. Hopefully there'll be a difference.