White cloudy water

[ar2169]

I have just moved my two tanks - both at the same time and in the same way. After 2 months, one tank is clear and looking good, but the other which was treated the same is cloudy.

Both tanks have the same, good ammonia/nitrate/nitrite levels; I change 25% of the water regularly; the filters and carbon are good - any ideas what his could be?

After a partial water change, the tank is almost clear but then daily it becomes more cloudy and milky. The fish don't seem to mind, but I do when I can't see them!

 

[christerrell2k3]

all i could suggest is that its a bacterial bloom

 

[tkos]

Sounds like bacterial bloom. Try doing daily water changes for now to reduce the bacteria and also cut back on feeding to every other day. Do a search for bacterial bloom in this forum and I am sure something better will come up.

 

[Neuve]

did you change something (besides location)? did you take some inserts of your filter out or leave your filtration unnatended for a long long time?
Your bacteria needs constant water movement so it can eat and breathe...

Give it a little time, try not to use any chems on the process, thats what i always reccomend, the less chems, the better.

Any weird smell from the tank?
Fish acting stressed?

whats your setup?
hth
Pato

 

[Kwenbee]

We still have that problem in our tank. The water is still fairly cloudy...not milky, but a whitish color. There IS an odor and has been for several weeks.

I know that we had an overfeeding issue last Friday, and I did notice that it got cloudier after that, but I asked my cousini's husband (who has had fishtanks for years) to look at it when they visited Saturday night. He said it was fine...it was just "new tank" stuff and it would eventually clear up.

Now my ammonia/nitrites are NOT okay....but they are improving FINALLY...this morning, the ammonia had dropped to about 1.5 (from 2.0) and the nitrites had risen to 2.0...I added a little salt to the tank so the fish didn't get stressed.

I've gravel vacuumed and done the 25% water changes faithfully, but the cloudiness just won't go away.

 

[tkos]

Oh do some water changes to get those levels down. The salt will help the fish to not die from the high nitrites but they will suffer from the high ammonia. I would be doing water changes every day if I were you.

 

[PlatyLady]

I had unexplained cloudy water once, for the life of me could not figure it out. Levels were fine and everything. I tried some P-Clear (I know, I know, I know, I know, I know... chemicals!), but it worked. It claims to clear water that has clouded because of particles floating through.

 

[Kwenbee]

I am definitely doing daily water changes and am definitely making some progress finally!

Ammonia is now down to .25 (was as high as 3.0) and nitrites right now are 2.0, but seem to be slowly (very slowly) lowering. I've been adding a little salt to the tank to help the fishies.

The cloudiness still bugs me though...but the odor seems to be going away. I see all these crystal clear tanks when I go places and ours looks like our fish live in the fog!

I am assuming when my nitrites finally drop to 0, my cloudiness may get better?

 

[Fruitbat]

Kwenbee...

Sounds like your tank is going through normal cycling quite nicely, actually. The cloudiness is undoubtedly a bacterial bloom...the so-called 'new tank syndrome' that occasionally rears its ugly head. You're doing everything right and yes, the cloudiness will get better.

 

[joewest_777]

Its a new tank problem. Went the Nitrates appear and take over I belive all will clear up. Time is needed!!!!!!!

 

[Kwenbee]

Okay...so for the first time EVER today....we have 0 ammonia!!!! I am so happy! And, the nitrites have gone from 2.0 to about 1.5...slight drop since yesterday!

However, the water is still very cloudy. Now it seems to be a darker color than before. I wonder if it might be algae? We have an algae eater and two catfish, and we do add algae wafers about every other day...could that be what's causing the problem? Maybe they're eating the chips and not eating the natural stuff?

When I did my daily water change (becoming part of my daily routine), and I dumped the water out of my bucket, it appeared to have a greenish tint. Never had that before. What do I do about that? Just stop giving them the algae wafers until the clean up what's there? Sort of a fish version of "eat what's on your plate before you get more?"