Cloudy at every water change?

[IceForever]

Seriously, if I change even 5 gallons of my water my tank gets a little cloudy.

No other side effects...fish behave normally/normal breathing, snails, shrimp...all fine...

Has anyone ever encountered this before?

I admit my tank has been one of ‘those’ from the start...took me forever to fishless cycle...like 6+ months...I ended up giving up, buying live bacteria to get it started and clear the ammonia and nitrites so I could toss in 5 danios (who are still alive and in the tank today)...never had any issues when adding fish, except for one spike, but everyone survived as they were acclimated and it didn’t get THAT high...and I actually believe that my tank is in good shape- my plants have always done alright, my shrimp breed (don’t shrimp need good water conditions to breed?) and my fish have good color and behave happily...but yeah, for as long as I can remember, whenever I change my water my tank gets cloudy.

Test results come back normal every time.
0/0/20-40
PH 7.6ish
Temp 76

It’s only cloudy for the night of the water change, and it doesn’t get cloudy until a few hours after I change the water.

This started happening before I was even moderately planted, and before I was using any ferts besides an iron tab by Dennerle.

 

[ZxC]

Could be minerals interacting in the water, tap water contains lots of CO2, which drops pH, so as the CO2 off gasses pH rises slightly, and could cause minerals to lose solubility / precipitate out of solution and make the water seem cloudy.

Just a hunch.

 

[m.j.gomez]

Hello, is there a way to age your water? Let it sit for 24-48hrs. This will give it time to gas off & give conditioner extra time to do its job.
I was having a problem in my fry tank. Every time I'd do a water change I would lose a couple of fry. Decided to let water age 24hrs before adding & die off ceased. Might be worth a try. Hope this helps you!

 

[IceForever]

Could be minerals interacting in the water, tap water contains lots of CO2, which drops pH, so as the CO2 off gasses pH rises slightly, and could cause minerals to lose solubility / precipitate out of solution and make the water seem cloudy.

Just a hunch.

Hello, is there a way to age your water? Let it sit for 24-48hrs. This will give it time to gas off & give conditioner extra time to do its job.
I was having a problem in my fry tank. Every time I'd do a water change I would lose a couple of fry. Decided to let water age 24hrs before adding & die off ceased. Might be worth a try. Hope this helps you!

The tap water actually sits in my bathroom closet for a week + before it gets used, but thank you for your ideas.

I actually thought we had it figured out until mj reminded me that I age the water. Unless you think that’s what could still be going on, ZxC?

I don’t know if it makes a difference but when the water is sitting in the closet it is in a jug with a cap on it...I don’t know if that would prevent degassing and leave your theory as plausible?

 

[ZxC]

The tap water actually sits in my bathroom closet for a week + before it gets used, but thank you for your ideas.

I actually thought we had it figured out until mj reminded me that I age the water. Unless you think that’s what could still be going on, ZxC?

I don’t know if it makes a difference but when the water is sitting in the closet it is in a jug with a cap on it...I don’t know if that would prevent degassing and leave your theory as plausible?

If it has a lid, there is likely no or very little off gassing of CO2

 

[m.j.gomez]

I've never aged my water that long in a sealed container. I simply use a open 5gal bucket & let it sit overnight. I've read that some people even add an airstone to help w/gassing.

 

[IceForever]

If it has a lid, there is likely no or very little off gassing of CO2

Ah ok, so this coming week I will take the lid off the jug a couple days before and see what happens.

Let me ask you this, then...I don’t dose co2 for my plants at all...should I NOT degas the water so the plants can have it?

I've never aged my water that long in a sealed container. I simply use a open 5gal bucket & let it sit overnight. I've read that some people even add an airstone to help w/gassing.

Ah gotcha. It’s not intentional lol. I just live a ways away from my LFS, so I’ll grab enough water to do changes for a few weeks whenever I go, that way I don’t need to go back.

 

[ZxC]

Let me ask you this, then...I don’t dose co2 for my plants at all...should I NOT degas the water so the plants can have it?

They won't be able to use it. They have built their inner make ups to operate at a certain CO2 concentration (ambient atmospheric levels) so more CO2 concentration for a few hours (while it off-gasses) won't affect plant growth / utilization.

 

[IceForever]

They won't be able to use it. They have built their inner make ups to operate at a certain CO2 concentration (ambient atmospheric levels) so more CO2 concentration for a few hours (while it off-gasses) won't affect plant growth / utilization.

Awesome, thanks so much for your help and for humoring all my curious-George questions haha.

I do water changes on Monday, so I’m taking the lid off now. That will be enough time for 5 gallons to degas, right?

Man I hope this is it haha it will give me such peace of mind

 

[ZxC]

Awesome, thanks so much for your help and for humoring all my curious-George questions haha.



I do water changes on Monday, so I’m taking the lid off now. That will be enough time for 5 gallons to degas, right?



Man I hope this is it haha it will give me such peace of mind

Do you have a pH test? Test the tank, and then test fresh tap water. That will confirm if there is a CO2 build up in the tap water (pH of fresh tap will be lower than pH of tank because the tank will be completely off gassed).

Let the tap water sit out for 24 hours and test again. If you want to speed the process up, put a pump or air stone in the bucket and leave for a few hours(more surface agitation will off gas water faster).

Completely off gassed water will have a very similar pH to tank water (assuming no buffers in tank like aqua soil, driftwood, crushed coral etc).

 

[King Fisher]

If you sit the water out for several days and are experiencing these problems then why not try to add the water right away after adding dechlorinator of course?

What do you use for a dechlorinator?
How are you changing your water.....gravel vacuum or just removing water without cleaning?
Do you clean the filter media every water change?

 

[IceForever]

Do you have a pH test? Test the tank, and then test fresh tap water. That will confirm if there is a CO2 build up in the tap water (pH of fresh tap will be lower than pH of tank because the tank will be completely off gassed).

Let the tap water sit out for 24 hours and test again. If you want to speed the process up, put a pump or air stone in the bucket and leave for a few hours(more surface agitation will off gas water faster).

Completely off gassed water will have a very similar pH to tank water (assuming no buffers in tank like aqua soil, driftwood, crushed coral etc).

I do have a ph test. I took the lid off one jug, and left it on the other. On Monday, before my water change, I will test ph of both plus my tank and post back with results.

I forgot to mention, when this occurs, any brown algae growing on my filter components, and what I assume to be biofilm(?) on the glass bc it’s invisible until this all happens, turns white. I hope that makes sense. Every time I tell people that they just tell me it’s my tank cycling again lol, but doesn’t that seem far fetched to be happening every time I do even the slightest water change...and considering my tank has been up for like 8-10 months now?

 

[IceForever]

If you sit the water out for several days and are experiencing these problems then why not try to add the water right away after adding dechlorinator of course?

What do you use for a dechlorinator?
How are you changing your water.....gravel vacuum or just removing water without cleaning?
Do you clean the filter media every water change?

Because I don’t need the water right away lol. That would mean I’d have to drive over an hour every week just to do “fresh” water changes.

I use API’s stress coat+

I change my water weekly

I don’t vacuum my substrate because I’m pretty well planted/have a lot of cleaners in my tank as is. I suck up big stuff off the surface (if there is anything) I just don’t go down in to it.

The only time I clean my filter media is when the flow is affected, and I just lightly ‘shake’ it off in my water change bucket before I dump what I’ve taken out. I have added ceramic rings behind my penguin cartridge in the second ‘slot’

I also have a 40g sponge filter in there by my shrimps castle to help out.

 

[ZxC]

Because I don’t need the water right away lol. That would mean I’d have to drive over an hour every week just to do “fresh” water changes.

What are the parameters of your tap water?

Why are you bringing in water?

(Not sounding naive, just asking relevant questions)

pH, hardness, tds ..... township water report??

 

[IceForever]

What are the parameters of your tap water?

Why are you bringing in water?

(Not sounding naive, just asking relevant questions)

pH, hardness, tds ..... township water report??

My tap water is super hard and has a really high ph. My LFS sells filtered fresh and RO water, so rather than have to worry about my tap water I just slowly refilled my tank with their water, so it would be the same for any stock I bring home.

 

[ZxC]

My tap water is super hard and has a really high ph. My LFS sells filtered fresh and RO water, so rather than have to worry about my tap water I just slowly refilled my tank with their water, so it would be the same for any stock I bring home.

How hard are we talking? Mine is pH 8.2 without issue... kH 15 and gH 17.

100% RO water needs to be remineralized or else you are risking 0 kH which results in wild pH swings. No calcium or magnesium either, not good for osmotic pressure in livestock, shell and exoskeleton development in snails / shrimp or secondary nutrients for the plants.

 

[IceForever]

How hard are we talking? Mine is pH 8.2 without issue... kH 15 and gH 17.

100% RO water needs to be remineralized or else you are risking 0 kH which results in wild pH swings. No calcium or magnesium either, not good for osmotic pressure in livestock, shell and exoskeleton development in snails / shrimp or secondary nutrients for the plants.

Ph was high 8s. Kh gh not sure I’ve never tested for those tbh lol

I don’t use RO water for that reason. My shrimp are healthy and molting, and even breeding actually.

 

[ZxC]

Ph was high 8s. Kh gh not sure I’ve never tested for those tbh lol

I don’t use RO water for that reason. My shrimp are healthy and molting, and even breeding actually.

Whoops, I read your previous post wrong. Yes shrimp should be fine in regular tap water (as yours are).

 

[King Fisher]

Because I don’t need the water right away lol. That would mean I’d have to drive over an hour every week just to do “fresh” water changes.

I use API’s stress coat+

I change my water weekly

I don’t vacuum my substrate because I’m pretty well planted/have a lot of cleaners in my tank as is. I suck up big stuff off the surface (if there is anything) I just don’t go down in to it.

The only time I clean my filter media is when the flow is affected, and I just lightly ‘shake’ it off in my water change bucket before I dump what I’ve taken out. I have added ceramic rings behind my penguin cartridge in the second ‘slot’

I also have a 40g sponge filter in there by my shrimps castle to help out.

That's a lot of work for water. A lot of work to change it really. I think I'd get an RO system hooked up to your sink and mix 50/50 with your tap. Hell of a lot easier than traveling an hour and setting water out for a week at a time. Lol

 

[m.j.gomez]

Hello again, I totally agree w/@KingFisher. With the time, effort, price of gas & water a RO system would pay for its self in few months. I've seen systems on craigslist for 80-100$. There's another app called offer up(buy & sell)thats shipping online now. Hope this helps!