Strange grey color to the water

[Magnum Man]

It does appear to be slightly clearer, this morning, but it is no where near the clarity of the tanks beside it , that are getting the same water changes… the only decorations right now are a pair of Marimo algae balls

 

[Naughts]

OK, I was thinking if it hadn't been previously cleaned sufficiently, the gravel could have held a lot of debris and bacteria that was released recently. But there doesn't seem to be a direct correlation.
I know you're fighting against the natural water parameters, but if you can increase the amount of water changed without changing parameters, I recommend it.

 

[Magnum Man]

BTW… did another 5 gallon water change yesterday, and I remembered I still had a small mesh bag of peat beads in the top of the aqua clear… a feeble attempt to lower the ph, that I tried earlier on… I took it out of the other tanks, as it really stained the water, and did nothing to lower my ph… this bag so small, it never added color to the water… there was no fungus or anything abnormal on the bag when I removed it, but maybe if this is bacterial, it may have contributed??? Water is still that weird grey color, but maybe a little clearer after the water change

 

[Magnum Man]

still grey... but clearing a little every day, did another 5 gallon water change... vacuumed the gravel, rather than just a syphon... get a lot of material out of the gravel... assume because of the powerheads pulling it through... next week I'm going to change gravel... new will be this...

Amazon.com

I added that to a tank recently, I really like it, it's kind of between sand & aquarium gravel, like a coarse rounded granule sand... it's very clean, with almost no fines... you can actually add it to the tank without having to rinse all the dust & fines out... hoping I can get the water reasonably clear, before I start to switch over the gravel

 

[NinaK]

I’ve had water issues in the past, been adding RO for a while now, and been doing extra water changes, to get my water back to where is should be… but I have one tank that has a grey clouding… most of my tanks have more filtration than average, this tank has an aqua clear 70, plus a full under gravel with 2 power heads, and 2 - 10 inch air bars… I stirred it up a week ago, and it got all cloudy but still hasn’t cleared… I thought maybe it was the ceramic dust from the bio media in the aqua clear, I didn’t rinse it when I added the filter 6 months ago, as I didn’t realize how much dust there was in the ceramic media, it was the 1st time I used ceramic media in a filter… but seems like there is way more cloud, than that filter dust right now there isn’t anything other that the original gravel, which I vacuumed ( I’m changing over the tank right now ) none of my other tanks has ever clouded like this… thoughts???

One of the Oto’s on the glass showing the cloudy water… it’s not been disturbed for a week, and has a seasoned filter( been running continually for at least 6 months )??? the tank has been set up for 6 months with this gravel, & filter and about a year totally View attachment 327076

still grey... but clearing a little every day, did another 5 gallon water change... vacuumed the gravel, rather than just a syphon... get a lot of material out of the gravel... assume because of the powerheads pulling it through... next week I'm going to change gravel... new will be this...

Amazon.com

I added that to a tank recently, I really like it, it's kind of between sand & aquarium gravel, like a coarse rounded granule sand... it's very clean, with almost no fines... you can actually add it to the tank without having to rinse all the dust & fines out... hoping I can get the water reasonably clear, before I start to switch over the gravel

Good plan to change out gravel. While you're at it, check that U/G Filter. I used to be a fan of them myself but I wouldn't use one again.

How big is your tank?

 

[Magnum Man]

It’s a standard 55 gallon… picture this morning, getting better, but still a long ways from clear… same water change over to RO on the other tanks beside this one, shown in the 2nd 2 pictures

 

[Magnum Man]

What I did to the other tank, I removed the substrate from one filter plate, and added the new material to that plate, left a space between the 2 so they wouldn’t mix, then gave it a few days to seed, then removed the other side

 

[Colin_T]

The grey discolouration has to be coming from the gravel because there's nothing else in the tank.

 

[Magnum Man]

BTW… I am slowly losing glo fish, the Aquaclear seems to be catching them… assuming they are dead 1st, but the Cory’s are doing well and growing… still no stray / strange readings in my water tests… next week the new gravel / sand will be here, and I’ll start changing that over… was wanting to add a couple Sevrums to try1st, but will wait until the gravel change, and hopefully some more normal looking water

The current gravel was ordered from Amazon, but shipped from Petco, and is aquarium gravel ( not got terrariums only )

 

[NinaK]

I'd do a more robust water change. I used to do 30% water changes weekly on a 90g african cichlid tank. My opinion, mind you, but a 5g water change on a 55g, is not even 10%.

Maybe try increasing your next water change to at least 15g (just under 20%) then wait about a week?

I've read that adding a sponge to the intake can prevent small fish loss. Changing out that gravel isn't an easy task; take your time with that. I wouldn't add any new stock until well after the gravel change is established and you've sorted out the cloudiness issue.

I hope this helps.

 

[Colin_T]

I would remove the gravel and go bare bottom tank until the gravel gets there. If the gravel is causing problems then removing it is the best option. Even if it means the fish have a bare bottom tank for a week, which I don't normally recommend. But getting potentially toxic gravel out of a tank is better than leaving it there to keep harming the fish.

If you don't have any live plants in the tank, turn the light off and it will reduce the stress from not having a substrate. When the new substrate has been added, then have the light on.

If your using white sand, have some floating plants to reduce the glare off the substrate.

 

[Magnum Man]

If it is the gravel, it’s funny that it was ok for 6 months, and that it’s a made for aquariums product

I could do more robust water changes now, that all of my tanks are blended to close to neutral… I am limited by how much RO water my filter can produce in a day, and I only have a 35 gallon collection barrel that I pump out of to my tanks… finding a routine is the biggest challenge… I used to do all my changes on one day, now the best I can do is 2 tanks a day, because of the filter volume… my typical water changes are 3 - 5 gallon buckets per tank, so 30-33%… I was doing the 5 gallon changes while I was blending the water, to make it easier on the fish, and so I could effect as many tanks at the same time with the limited amount of daily RO available

 

[Colin_T]

You need a bigger holding contain for the r/o water.

 

[Magnum Man]

I agree with that… open for suggestions there… I already had the translucent 35 gallon drum, and have a 2nd… if I thought that would help… with the current size, it kind of forces me to change water, so the barrel doesn’t overflow

Getting anything bigger might be hard to get down the basement steps, through the 24 inch door to my area behind the tanks, and fit under the basement stairs, where my filter and storage space is

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I don't think it's your gravel thats causing a problem did you notice a spike in ammonia or anything? If it is a bacteria bloom, water changes wont really help unless you remove the organics or whatever is causing the bloom, theyll just keep multiplying while theres excess 'food' available....but youve gravel vacced it thoroughly by now....have you cleaned out the filter you added?

Only other thing I can suggest is that you increase aeration, if it is bacteria, they will be using a lot of the oxygen so that might be a reason why you've lost fish?