[FromLaredo]

Hello Everyone

I am having an issue with white, cloudy water.
My tank has been set up for about 2 months.
A week ago the CO2 cylinder mysteriously emptied (not into the water) and caused the PH to spike up to 7.8. It is normally at 7.0. When i discovered this, i noticed the tank had also become extremely cloudy. This is the only out of normal condition at the time the water became cloudy.

I have tested the water and all other levels are normal. I did a 50% Water change with no success and then used a diatom filter along with a chemical to bind bacteria and it cleared the problem right away. However over the past two days i have noticed the water becoming cloudy again. Any idea what could be causing this?

Tank specs:
46 gallon bow front
aquariumplants dot com substrate
pressurized C02, 1 bubble per second.
6x39 T5 lighting on for 8 hours a day.
Since the first instance of cloudy water, i have only dosed excel (regular dose) to try and battle some BBA.
Fluval 305

Besides that i have minimally experimented with Flourish NPK kit.

Plants:
Hairgrass
Wysteria
Java Fern on drift wood
Amazon Sword
Pygme Chain Sword
Salicifolia Hygrophyla
Fire Moss on Drift wood

A few rocks from a stream in New Hampshire. Very blue in color.

 

[Darkblade48]

Are you still injecting CO2 into the water? I also assume that previous to the cloudy water issue, you were dosing both macro and micronutrients?

If not, with 6 x 39W of T5 lighting over your tank, you have a lot of light to not be dosing fertilizers. In addition, you may want to up your CO2 levels; 1 bps does not seem like a very high rate. Do you have a drop checker to determine whether your CO2 levels are optimal?

Finally, the cloudy water may be due to the beginning of a green water outbreak.

 

[FromLaredo]

I am still injecting CO2, i use the C02 PPM chart on Chucks planted pages to monitor levels, according to the chart and my KH+PH levels, i am right about 30PPM CO2.

I was dosing Flourish comprehensive per the instruction on the bottle. I also just got the NPK kit, but only used it once because two days later was the first instance of cloudy water.
I run all 6 bulbs from 11:30 to 4:30 and only two of them from 8:00 to 11:30 and 4:30 to 6:30.

I do not have a drop checker, should i being using one instead of relying on Chucks chart?

If it was the beginning of a green water issue, wouldn't the diatom have fixed this?

 

[timwag2001]

the chart isnt extremely accurate and the drop checker will be a much better indicator to co2 lvels in your tank.

to check for green water get a white styrofoam cup and fill it with water. green its algae. tan its tannins. no color difference (regular cloudy water) its prob a bacteria issue and should clear up on its own.

 

[bigboij]

the chart isnt extremely accurate and the drop checker will be a much better indicator to co2 lvels in your tank.

to check for green water get a white styrofoam cup and fill it with water. green its algae. tan its tannins. no color difference (regular cloudy water) its prob a bacteria issue and should clear up on its own.

^^ best way to find out what your dealing with

 

[angelicodin]

I've also found that a polishing pad in your filter dose wonders for clearing up cloudy water, assuming there isn't something wrong with the water like previously stated, and it's just cloudy.

 

[Hoppy]

Two T5 bulbs over that tank would probably be high light. Six bulbs is in reef lighting territory.

 

[cjp999]

I have the same tank, same filter, EI dosing, and about 1bps of DIY CO2. I use just 2x39 T5 lighting raised 3", and still see some algae (mainly GDA), and that's with Excel and plenty of algae eaters in place. I'm surprised you don't have serious algae problems.

Regarding pH/CO2 charts, my pH drops from 8.1 to 6.5, but I've concluded I've got no where near the CO2 that the charts claim (something like 80ppm). My fish are fine and my plants don't pearl. I'm guessing 1bps gives more like 10ppm, but that's just a WAG.

 

[Nskylinerb-25]

I've also found that a polishing pad in your filter dose wonders for clearing up cloudy water, assuming there isn't something wrong with the water like previously stated, and it's just cloudy.

you mean a car polishing pad or which kind of pad I'm having the same problem

 

[angelicodin]

you mean a car polishing pad or which kind of pad I'm having the same problem

Micron filter/polishing pads ;p You can get them for just about any kind of filterset up but work really well with canister filters like a rena or eheime. Most stores that do fish will have some kind of water polishing pad.

 

[FromLaredo]

Thanks to everyone for all your input.

I did the styraphoam cup check today, water was clear so its not algae.
I am happy about this since all i read makes green water sound like the devil of aquariums.
I ran the diatom again today and it totally cleared it up.

Do you guys have any suggestions about the scape itself? any comments, this is my first planted tank so i am curious to hear what you experienced fellas think.

Some of my swords are turning yellow and leaves are thinning, from what i understand, this sounds like an iron deficiency so i will start dosing that over the weekend. Can anyone suggest a brand and dosing regiment?

Also, i really want the hairgrass to fill in nicely and make a carpet, it is filling in very slowly, any suggestions to make it go faster? How long does it normally take? The pygmy swords have also started to invade the hairgrass area, other than cutting the roots, is there another way to avoid this?
Thanks again

 

[timwag2001]

they way you are describing the leaves turning yellow and thinning sound more like nitrate or phosphate def. as far as brands, i would just get dry ferts. you can order them here http://www.aquariumfertilizer.com/index.asp?Option1=cats&Edit=2&EditU=1&Regit=2

to get your hairgrass to fill in better i would seperate it into smaller clumps.

and look into a drop checker and make sure your co2 is up to where its supposed to be

 

[timwag2001]

oh. and i like your tank. looks good!

 

[Franzi]

You need root fertilizers (preferably with iron) for the swords...they don't care much for the liquid stuff. Stick a pellet in the ground once every 3weeks to a month and you'll see the swords take off.

 

[cjp999]

You need root fertilizers (preferably with iron) for the swords...they don't care much for the liquid stuff. Stick a pellet in the ground once every 3weeks to a month and you'll see the swords take off.

Yes, I had already figured that out, and just placed an order last week. However, now I'm not so sure I ordered the right stuff. I ordered Seacham Flouris Tabs, but they contain very little NPK. Should I get something else?

 

[Franzi]

Like they say all over the boards...try different things and be patient. See how the flourish tabs work out for you. I'm sure they're good stuff. I use aquariumplants.com total pellets with good results. Next time I place an order I'm gonna pick up some iron pellets too to see what kind of a difference that makes.

 

[lauraleellbp]

You should probably get a drop checker with a 4dkH solution to keep a closer eye on your CO2 levels, as going by the chart only gives you a rough estimate since so many variables can influence the actual real-life applications.

And IMO you're running way too much light over this tank; I think it will be much easier to find a good balance over the long term (and will be much less maintenance) to reduce that lighting by at least half.

I think you had green water, and unless you get that tank in balance very quickly you're soon going to end up with a different more challenging algae to replace it.