Cloudy aquarium water

[Jaybird]

Grrrr. I started running my canister filter on my 90G without a carbon filter and tonnes of ceramic tubes and bio-stars. I noticed that the water was a bit cloudy, so some ceramic comes out and a carbon filter gets installed.

I have a red-hump geophagus and three firemouths constantly poking at the gravel and now the water is getting all cloudy again. I try to vacuum as often as I can, but is there another way to help get the small particulate out of the water?

 

[BrianNY]

Activated carbon will do little if anything to help with the cloudiness. You're better off using some filter floss in one of the media baskets and let time take care of things. JMO

 

[Jaybird]

Thanks. I'll take a trip to the LFS and try some filter floss instead of the carbon.

How often should I clean/replace the filter floss? Should I keep it with the every 4-week schedule maintenance for the canister filter?

 

[BrianNY]

I reuse mine from between 4-6 months. Just rinse it out every so often in a bucket of aquarium water.

 

[Jaybird]

So, just rinse out the filter floss every 4-6 months? Sorry for seeming daft, but I have never used filter floss before.

 

[Zagz]

A cheaper alternative to filter floss is 100% pure polyester pillow stuffing. You can get it at Walmart for $4 for a huge roll of it. Same stuff as at the lfs but considerably cheaper. I've been using it on all my tanks for several months. Quite a savings IMO.

 

[BrianNY]

The filter floss (or pillow stuffing, good suggestion), will last 4-6 months. However I rinse it monthly. Just part of my filter cleaning routine. I'm also a huge fan of pre-filter sponges. This keeps large debris from clogging the filter. It's easier to rinse a sponge every few days then open up the cannister.