"Fuzzy" tank

[statler&waldorf]

I have 20 long that had an outbreak of BBA after too much light, that I since have pretty much eradicated, however my tank still has a "fuzzy" look. I have quiet a bit of moss that I try to keep trimmed and debris free, but it seems to contribute to the unkept look. Honestly, I can live with a bit of algae, and my shrimp seem to enjoy it, but I'm curious as to how everyone else seems to keep their tanks so sparkling clean. My water is clear, and my plants are in good healthy, but it still seems a bit dirty, and I can't pinpoint exactly why (or rather, I'm not willing to pluck out every little bit of fuzz and debris). Is it really good filtration? A fantastic clean up crew? Magic?


And this one is before the clean up, but you can better see the mound in the middle is actually manzanita covered in moss. I'd love to take it out and give it a good scrub, but it's where all the baby shrimpies hang out, and I don't want to accidentally kill any.

[MABJ]

Do you have a picture?


MABJ's iDevice used for this message :p

[statler&waldorf]

I added some pictures to the first post, but they're from my phone and make the tank look worse than it is. I'm waiting for my new card reader to arrive so I can post some pictures from my much-better-quality camera.

[MABJ]

Originally Posted by statler&waldorf

I added some pictures to the first post, but they're from my phone and make the tank look worse than it is. I'm waiting for my new card reader to arrive so I can post some pictures from my much-better-quality camera.

Ahh I see now. You may have micro algae on your glass, try one of those good quality glass cleaners/scrapers. See what happens


MABJ's iDevice used for this message :p

[CoffeeLove]

How much light do you have on it now?

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[Kathyy]

The more biological filtration, the more flow and the more water changes I do and the tank seems cleaner. Polishing the glass sure helps, many times I thought I was getting green water again and all I needed to do was wipe the glass. Ruffle up the moss and substrate so your filter can pick up the debris. When you change water run the siphon over the substrate lightly too. Pick out dead stuff as it happens as dead stuff cannot fight off algal spores. My clean up crew sure helps keep fuzz from being visible too. Shrimp are great fuzz removers, if they aren't able to keep up then maybe your plants need more help? Less light, more nutrients?

[secuono]

I use a fresh razor blade to clean my tanks, glass only!
But I have a MagFloat for my 110g...wish I could use a blade instead...the MagFloat takes forever to clean...

[statler&waldorf]

Originally Posted by CoffeeLove

How much light do you have on it now?

It's a singe 24" T5NO bulb in a odyssea fixture (so not the best of reflectors).

Filtration: 2x Aqueon Quiet Flow 10
Fauna: 14 CPDs, 4 otos, 2 nerites, lots of shrimp
Substrate: Fluval plant stratum

I think my stocking is relatively light, and I added a second filter a few weeks ago to increase the water movement and help remove debris.

As for algae on the glass, there is none (thank you, nerites!). The "fuzziness" is definitely within the tank. There also seems to be an excessive amount of debris that looks kinda like flake fish food (which is odd, because I only feed live/frozen foods), and it seems to settle on everything, the moss especially. I shake up the moss and vacuum the substrate every week, but there still seems to debris everywhere.

I can't figure out if I'm just being overly sensitive to the natural "dirty-ness" of a tank, or if my tank really is a lot more unclean than all the pictures I see posted here.

[Kathyy]

Those filters are rated at 100 gph but how much flow are they actually putting out? When the filter media gets filled up flow slows down, right? I don't have 10x tank volume flow but what I get are drifts of debris against rocks and such or going into the filter, stuff doesn't stay on plant leaves and hard scape. All the corydoras and otos in there probably knock stuff off as well!

Perhaps experiment with the placement of your filters? Perhaps add a small powerhead with a sponge on the intake to protect the shrimplets that mirrors the water movement of the filters to create a circular flow? Perhaps remove the filter inserts and replace with a sponge cut to fit that you can rinse in old tank water weekly? Does your filter have the wet dry insert, could remove it to see if that changes things.