milky water???

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tinman

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Mar 1, 2005
Messages
73
Location
fayetteville, tn
Ok I have had a 29 gallon going for about 6 months now, mollies, barbs, and tons of fake plants..lol...But I tried my hand at a planted tank with a 10g and the plants outgrew the tank literally. So I decided to change the 29 to a planted. I got everything set-up..went with a layer of the same potting soil I used in the 10g, a layer of sand on top of that then half the tank got small creek gravel we picked up a week ago at a local CLEAN creek. I boiled the gravel for like an hour and rinsed it before and after boiling. Anyway the substrate was in I added 1/3 of the water(new water) then transplanted several plants from the 10g. Water was clear as could be. We did a rock formation out of Bigger rocks we picked up at the creek(same prep as the gravel except they were baked too) then added all but about 5 gallons of the water needed to fill. Turned on the filter which still had good bacteria buildup from running before change over. Water still clear as could be. Then we added the fish back and the water that they were in which is old water from draining it earlier. Now 2 hours later I can't see 4 inches into the tank. MILKY water......what did I do wrong. And do you guys run a powerhead?
 
well I was gonna take a pic but it seems my dig camera is sick or something. I put it in quarentine...lol...but anyway the water is still cloudy but is getting better. No where near as cloudy as it was. It looked like I poured milk in the tank the other night...lol
 
I think mattrox is right - between the 100% substrate change and 85% water change (if I read your post right), I'd say you probably upset your biofilter just a bit. :) If your filter was not running for a few hours while you did all that work on your tank it may have upset the bacteria in there as well. I'd keep an eye on your NH3 and NO2 for a while as you might have a new cycle on your hands.
 
it may have had to do with how you poured water into the tank...if you had used a python, sometimes the water gets full of tiny bubbles due to high pressure...causing them to reflect light and make it look milky...
just a theory... :D
 
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