water quality question - cloudy

Cloudy Water

sphack said:

I have noticed my water getting cloudy a few days after water changes.

My ammonia/nitrites/nitrates are all in line (0/0/~5ppm). If anything, my nitrates are too low. I does EI. My tap is very soft.

I have started doing with GH Booster a few weeks ago and do now know if there any correlations here. Have others seen this?

I have been combating this with 2x weekly water changes (~50% on the weekend, and another 25% during the week).

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Hello s...

Cloudy water is natural if your tank hasn't been running very long. It can take weeks, if not months for the chemistry in the water to settle. Large, water changes are great to help keep the water chemistry stable, but 50 percent once a week is plenty.

Set up and stick to a sound tank management routine and include changing out half the tank water weekly, weekly cleaning of the filtration and checking the media and be careful how much you're feeding your fish and plants. Throwing in a lot of chemicals and food can upset the water chemistry. The less that goes into the tank water, the better.

B

GH booster can cloud the water, but I usually notice this when I first add it to the water, then it clears up very quickly.

You could see if it is having some odd reaction with your tap water by putting a small amount in a jar of water and shaking it until it is dissolved. See how long it is cloudy.

If there is anything else in the tank that might alter the pH or mineral levels look into that first.

Hi. Cloudy water, unless it's green water, is a bacterial bloom, as your tank is already established. As I understand it, you're getting cloudy water after doing a 25 - 50% water change.

The bacterial bloom is caused by an excess of food source, more than the bacteria can normally handle. Either the problem is already in the tank, or possibly if you're adding something to the new water when you do the changes that makes the water look cloudy. I guess it's probably the latter since you're doing frequent water changes.

I do 25% changes weekly, and it works for me. I would do something like that. I wonder if the pH thing is causing the cloudiness, and how long it lasts.
=)

I've been doing water changes to clear up the water. It takes days to reappear.

Thanks for the inputs.

sphack said:

I've been doing water changes to clear up the water. It takes days to reappear.

Thanks for the inputs.

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This sounds more like a bacterial bloom. If you have a gravel substrate, you can try vacuuming it. A bacterial bloom should exhaust its food supply and die off within three or so days by itself without water changes. Water changes before that time will actually prolong the bloom by removing some of the bacteria in the water. Also, a dead fish hiding somewhere in the tank would be a major source of food for this bacteria.

Please post any information that would be in favor or against this information.