[FromLaredo]

Hi All
I am looking for some help to determine why my tank continues to get cloudy.
The tank has been running for over 2 years, with almost no issues, it is a highlight, pressurized CO2 and well filtered with allot of plants (46 gallon)
In the past if i got cloudy water i would do a few extra water changes and maybe run the diatom filter and the problem would be solved. Lately the problem is recurring but if left alone, the water becomes green. I am frustrated and not sure what to do. My nitrate levels are low so i have been feeding more to try and raise them.. Any suggestions or comments will be greatly appreciated. thank you

 

[jedimasterben]

Could be a number of things, but if the water is turning green if left alone, then that's an algae problem (green water).

I would try a complete blackout. Turn off the lights & cover the entire tank with thick blankets so no light can get through, and leave it like this for ~3 days. Don't feed the fish or remove any of the blankets, just leave it alone. This will starve the algae of light and should kill it. After that, I would do a water change to remove a lot of the now dead algae cells, as they may cause an ammonia spike.

 

[FromLaredo]

right now there is no green water, it jut started to get cloudy (white tint) again, if i leave it alone it will become green so at this point i dont want to do a black out because of the plants. i really want to figure out what is causing this since it keeps repeating.

 

[FromLaredo]

just a thought for anyone reading, could it possible be the root tabs i put in about two weeks ago? they are the "total" formula from aquariumplants.com

 

[Kathyy]

Maybe review your fertilizing method. Perhaps something or another is low and with the plants not at their best the algae is taking advantage? I don't know why but my tank does better if I use GH booster even though my water isn't all that soft and I do large weekly water changes. Rinsing out all the sponges and vacuuming helps too.

Blackouts can be hard on some plants, myrio gets really sad. I let floaters build up and they will shade the tank enough to out compete GW. Or you can temporarily shade the tank with window screen material.

 

[FromLaredo]

what should my GH be at?

 

[Kathyy]

Mine seems plenty high at about 7GH but calcium=28, potassium=3 and magnesium=12 ppm in the tap water and apparently it isn't enough for the bright, CO2 enriched tank unless I dose GH booster as well as NPK+micros.

 

[bsmith]

Your problem is the root tabs if they contain nitrate/a nitrate source which is usually a form of ammonia. GW is cause by an ammonia spike. When the ammonia spikes you get a large spike in bacteria that eat the algae then this algae becomes photosynthetic which result in it turning green. IME the only thing that would get rid of GW was a UV sterilizer. I tried blackouts for as long as my plants could take it and they never id anything helpful.

If the root tabs do not have a nitrogen source then they are not the cause of the GW. But maybe when you put he tabs in the substrate you stirred up a bunch of organics that produced an ammonia spike which again, caused a GW outbreak.

If that wasn't it then perhaps you had a fish or something die and end up in an area that made it unnoticeable.