cloudy water in established tank

[ichy]

if i am asking this question in the wrong forum, please refer me to the right one. i've had my 10 gallon tank going for about a year now (see my profile for specifics). i have always had great looking water that tested fine, until a month or 2 ago. i have developed quite an infestation of tiny snails and have been getting rid of them by putting lettuce and baby carrot sticks in the tank (1 piece of each for 3 days at a time) and removing them with the snails attached. my water got very cloudy and i stopped using the lettuce and carrots for a week, thinking they might be breaking down and fouling the water. the water stayed cloudy. i thoroughly vaccummed the gravel once a week and changed 2-3 gallons of water twice a week to see if that would clear it up; it stayed cloudy. i feed them 2-3 times a day, small amounts. the water still tests fine even when it looks bad. to me, this does not seem to be the result of overfeeding or letting carrots and lettuce rot in the tank. i don't want to try a clumping agent because i've heard they kill invertibrates, and i love my big snail. but i might quarantine him and try it anyway to see if it helps AND possibly kills some of the bad snails as well. could the cloudy water be the result of the snail infestation? any suggestions?

 

[tomherndon]

maybe someone emailed you directly? I am a novice at this myself, but hate to see a question not acknowledged. It sounds like bacteria/mini cycle - based solely on what I've seen others post and reply to here. The veggies might have fueled it? and that may account for the persistence after the veggie removal?

It seems counter productive to feed frequently when you're trying to minimize a snail bloom. More food = more snails. And the pulverized/uneaten food maybe sustaining the bacteria - if that's what it is.

Clouded tanks can be clearing up without appearing so just because of the thickness of the water column you are viewing through and the limit of precision of your eyes. I would periodically check the water in a thinner container (like a test tube with the test kit? Or even a wine flute) to see if the opacity is really staying the same or clearing up a little. You can put a card with text behind it to check more precisely for clearing. . .