Dirty Water

[mrg02d]

Hello all,
I have been having an issue (at least in my own mind) with dirty water. Not dirty as in ammonia and such, but as in fine particulate matter. From a distance the tank looks clear, but when you get up close you can see "stuff" floating all about in the currents produced by my power head and HOB filter.

I dont know what this stuff is, but I want it out.
I am using an AquaClear 50 power filter. It has a three stage filtration system. Stage 1: sponge filter. Stage 2: chemical (comes with carbon but I threw it out for Purgien). Stage 3 is bio (ceramic pellets that bacteria form on).

It seems this filter gets alot of junk in it quickly. How might I maximize the filtering capabilities of it? Are there products to use to help remove the crap floating about? Im really not even sure what it is or how its there.

I am now feeding once every other day as I am sick of the cynobacteria (I think this is what it is) that forms EACH day in my tank and all over the sides. (Slimy brown junk that can be hard to scrape off).

Thanks!
Matt

 

[CaptainAhab]

The change in feeding will probably help immensely. Also look at the filter pad you're using in the HOB. When they get dirty, used or damaged then can let particulates through.

To clean up your current water situation look into a diatom filter. They work great and you only need to run them once in a while when you want to polish the water. You could also run some GAC and see how much that picks up

 

[juice28]

I had a problem with particles so to speak i just added a small hang on filter because i was strapped for cash and I couldnt spend too much. I figured you can never filter out too much matter especially if you a heavy feeder, it worked for me. I have an extra filter pad to change but with my current filtration, i can actually wait a little longer then I used to to change it. just an idea

 

[mrg02d]

Hello,
I already have an HOB AquaClear 50 (meant for a 50 gallon, I have a 20 gallon). Do you mean to suggest adding another HOB filter for extra filtration?

Matt

 

[juice28]

no, what I did was I added a small cheap hang on the side filter from wal mart and put it on the opposite side of my main tank, nothing major like another HOB. so I have my main filter which does catch alot and I have a small penguin I think...on the corner which catches some stuff over there so the stuff that gets pushed past my main filter gets caught by the smaller one.