Cloudy water

[Grrriph]

Why is my water cloudy?

 

[LyndaB]

How long has the tank been set up?

 

[Grrriph]

How long has the tank been set up?

Almost two years

 

[Starka]

Almost two years

Did you add anything new to the tank?

 

[Grrriph]

Did you add anything new to the tank?

Yeah just did a water change a few days ago.

 

[Grrriph]

Yeah just did a water change a few days ago.

Aand a snail. But I know that not the problem. I think it was my water. It was slightly slightly cloudy when I did a 30% change. But it got worse and that's what I don't get

 

[senemedar]

Aand a snail. But I know that not the problem. I think it was my water. It was slightly slightly cloudy when I did a 30% change. But it got worse and that's what I don't get

Did you use Prime or anything like that? Maybe it's expiry date went off?
The other thing I can think of is that you stirred the substrate too much, but that wouldn't get water THAT cloudy, I suppose...
Maybe try to get a bit of water aside and check whether it'll go cloudy on its own after a while?

 

[Grrriph]

Did you use Prime or anything like that? Maybe it's expiry date went off?
The other thing I can think of is that you stirred the substrate too much, but that wouldn't get water THAT cloudy, I suppose...
Maybe try to get a bit of water aside and check whether it'll go cloudy on its own after a while?

Yeah I used a conditioner. And I made sure not to disturb the substrate. I'm gonna test my faucet when I get home tonight

 

[Marconis]

Looks more like green water to me than "cloudy" water. Perhaps you have too much lighting?

 

[Grrriph]

Looks more like green water to me than "cloudy" water. Perhaps you have too much lighting?

Even though it seems like it gets worse when the lights come back on?

 

[Marconis]

Well, I'd say if it gets worse when the lights come back on could be an indication that it is due to light intensity...

 

[Grrriph]

Well, I'd say if it gets worse when the lights come back on could be an indication that it is due to light intensity...

I mean like when the lights come on it looks like the water got worse during the time the lights were off. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Grrriph]

Well, I'd say if it gets worse when the lights come back on could be an indication that it is due to light intensity...

Do you suppose I should turned the lights of for a while?

 

[krbooker]

Sounds like you have algae growing in your water. I had the same problem with a slightly newer tank. It would get slightly better when I did a water change then a couple of days later the cloudiness would come back. I had to hook up an ultraviolet filter to my filtration system and it killed off all the algae in my water and my tank never looked better.

 

[meegosh]

I'd start by cleaning the glass as good as you can. You can do a couple day blackout (wrap the tank in a blanket) and keep lights out even when feeding the fish. Your plants will be fine for a couple days with no light.

Did you replace the bulbs or buy a new lighting fixture? I agree with the others, it seems more like an algae bloom than a bacterial bloom (white water).

My bet is you have excess nutrients and too much light. How long do you keep your lights on? How many watts does your fixture put out?

 

[krbooker]

The only problem I see with doing a blackout is that it is a temporary fix, if it is an alage problem once you start putting the lights back on your problem will return.

 

[Grrriph]

I'd start by cleaning the glass as good as you can. You can do a couple day blackout (wrap the tank in a blanket) and keep lights out even when feeding the fish. Your plants will be fine for a couple days with no light.

Did you replace the bulbs or buy a new lighting fixture? I agree with the others, it seems more like an algae bloom than a bacterial bloom (white water).

My bet is you have excess nutrients and too much light. How long do you keep your lights on? How many watts does your fixture put out?

I got a new lighting fixture a few months ago. They're 2x36W. I keep them on for 10 hours. I'm gonna turn them off now. I'm not sure it's excess nutrients because one of my plants was dying and I believe not getting enough potassium because the roots were turning. Idk though.

 

[Grrriph]

The only problem I see with doing a blackout is that it is a temporary fix, if it is an alage problem once you start putting the lights back on your problem will return.

I want to add a co2 system; would that help with the problem?

 

[krbooker]

Even though you have a fresh water tank do you add aquarium salt to the water when you do water changes? Also how often do you do water changes? How often do you feed your fish? What temperature do you keep the tank at? Is your tank close to a window were it might get some natural light? All of these things might be a factor in your problem.

 

[Grrriph]

Even though you have a fresh water tank do you add aquarium salt to the water when you do water changes? Also how often do you do water changes? How often do you feed your fish? What temperature do you keep the tank at? Is your tank close to a window were it might get some natural light? All of these things might be a factor in your problem.

I don't add aquarium salt, 20% change every week, feed fish every other day, 78 degrees, it not by a natural light source. It happened the day after I trimmed some of my plants back.