Should My Water By Crystal Clear?

[Sybilline]

I'm just wondering whether my water should be crystal clear, from a distance of 1m+ the water looks perfectly clear, however if I press my face near enough to the glass I notice tiny specks floating around the tank that I'm sure aren't bubbles. I cleaned my filter out last week so I've ruled that out.

Thanks!

 

[Mowbz]

Could still be junk in the filter coming out.

Could also be normal for the media you have, if you just have coarse sponge and/or cermamic/carbon.

Just posted the same in another thread right before this, invest in Filter Floss. Comes in reels on ebay, or in boxes from your LFS (more expensive however)

 

[Fishy friend2]

Your water doesn't have to be crystal clear, their isn't anything wrong with having small particles floating around, my tank has them and they aren't noticeable unless your looking really hard

 

[Sybilline]

Could still be junk in the filter coming out.

Could also be normal for the media you have, if you just have coarse sponge and/or cermamic/carbon.

Just posted the same in another thread right before this, invest in Filter Floss. Comes in reels on ebay, or in boxes from your LFS (more expensive however)

Yeah, just coarse sponge. How would I go about changing the filter media without destroying the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate cycle?

 

[Fishy friend2]

Hmm, I don't think you can, but if you can I would be curious of how to

 

[Mowbz]

By stuffing more media in

You can take a third of a tanks media away without causing any trouble, but you wouldnt even need that.

I run about 5th, maybe a quarter floss, but its down to individual preference. If your media baskets aren't rammed, take some media from the first baskets (the one the water goes through first, and the next) and move it down one, and fill the space in the final tray with floss.

EDIT: Thought i should clarify. Dont ram it too tight, as you'll see a marked drop in flow from the filter.

 

[Sybilline]

By stuffing more media in

You can take a third of a tanks media away without causing any trouble, but you wouldnt even need that.

I run about 5th, maybe a quarter floss, but its down to individual preference. If your media baskets aren't rammed, take some media from the first baskets (the one the water goes through first, and the next) and move it down one, and fill the space in the final tray with floss.

EDIT: Thought i should clarify. Dont ram it too tight, as you'll see a marked drop in flow from the filter.

I run a filter with two sponges, would it be okay to cut say, a third off the second sponge and fill that space with floss? Hopefully should filter some of the minute particles in the water.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Many filters these days use open cell foam for mechanical filtration. It does a good job, but it's a bit coarse to allow for ease of water flow and tiny particulate matter gets through. I use filter pad material and filter floss or 'wool' (spun polyester) to polish the water just before it returns to the tank. Others use batt material from a craft or fabric store.
Further, I'm using Seachem Purigen, a synthetic adsorbant that attracts and removes dissolved organics. This further aids in water clarity.
Last, I do a 50% partial water change every week - "the solution to pollution is dilution."

 

[Sybilline]

Ordered some filter floss and I'm going to replace between a 1/3-1/2 of my second sponge with the floss so the small particles should be filtered out in theory after the coarse sponge. If I don't see a noticeable improvement I'll try seachem purigen.

Thanks!