The Unbeatable Fog

[ChrisK41]

I have been using the RO/DI water for a few reasons. First off, the tap water here is really bad, I won't even drink the stuff. The KH is above 70 (I ran out of room in the test tube). I was also using the RO/DI water because it is the same water the store I have bought everything else from is using in their planted tanks with Amazonia soil. The KH and GH buffers are added by them so I would have to get water elsewhere to go without the buffers completely. I figured if they can use the water without any problem I should expect the same. (but things don't always work out as you would expect!)

As for rinsing the pads, I am assuming that means the fine white filter pad? If so I replace them every month when I take the filter apart, so I don't think that is an issue.

I wondered about the micro bubbles a few days ago. I did find a spot on the eheim's intake where it was sucking a little bit of air, so I plugged it with silicon. I then shut off everything for about 8 hours and there was no change. If it was air I would think after that long you would at least see the fog start to move upward?

The fluval came with carbon, which I left in for about a month, and it didn't seem to do much so I replaced it with purigen which didn't do any better. I do have some carbon left over that came with another filter that I could try again...

I did find a magnum H.O.T. 250 yesterday for cheap so I picked that up and put some D.E. in there. It has been running for about 20 hours now and has cleared up ~30% of it. It is still foggy, but it did make a difference. Maybe if I let it run for a few days it might fix it? I thought it would work quicker, but maybe not.

If it is a bad batch of soil, which I am also thinking it almost has to be at this point, will it eventually stop leaching stuff into the water or will I have to replace it to fix this problem? That stuff was kinda pricey, not the mention how big of pain to replace it it would be.

I only have my phone for pictures so it won't be great, but I will take a picture and try to figure out how to post it to the forum.

Thanks again for all the help and ideas, you guys are great.

 

[ScaryFatKidGT]

I never had a problem with my 20g or 29g but when I filled up my 150 with a hose/buckets it was foggy/bubbly for 3 days.

But its hard to imagine a leaking line putting in fine enough bubbles for long enough to fill the whole tank.

DE?

 

[Caliban07]

When you buy your RO/DI water pour it in to a glass container and check for cloudiness.

Remove some of the substrate with a spoon and add it to the glass container and check for cloudiness.

Add one of your chemicals to the glass container and check for cloudiness.

Mix a second chemical in to the water and check for cloudiness.

Slowly try to replicate your tank setup in a small glass container but add each element one at a time. When the water goes cloudy you will find out what is actually causing the issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Krogman]

When you buy your RO/DI water pour it in to a glass container and check for cloudiness.

Remove some of the substrate with a spoon and add it to the glass container and check for cloudiness.

Add one of your chemicals to the glass container and check for cloudiness.

Mix a second chemical in to the water and check for cloudiness.

Slowly try to replicate your tank setup in a small glass container but add each element one at a time. When the water goes cloudy you will find out what is actually causing the issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

+1 to that

 

[ChrisK41]

Ok, so a quick update for anyone else who ever has this problem.

I have been running D.E. in a magnum H.O.T. for a few weeks now. The filter can go about 24 hours before water flow stops, so I then take it apart a clean it and fill it with more D.E. (which means I have done that about 12 times now).

The filter will clear it up enough to see the back of the tank. It is still cloudy, but you can see what is going on in there. If I stop using the magnum the water would cloud up again overnight to the point I can't see the back of the tank anymore. Obviously I can't keep recharging a filter everyday, especially when it never even gets that great, but the D.E. filter is the only thing that has ever even made a difference.

I tried isolating some water in a glass like you guys said. I had a tough time telling much in a tiny glass, but I am pretty sure it is the soil. When I added the soil and let it sit with nothing else in the glass it did start to look a little cloudy.

So I guess what it boils down to is the soil is the problem. I don't understand how it can be leaching so much stuff into the water that large water changes and D.E. filters can't keep up with it, but after 4 months of trying the soil is still going strong.

At this point I am not sure what could be done about it. The tank is well established with lots of roots in the soil and fish in the tank. I guess the moral of the story is, if you are going to use ADA soil, make sure your water goes clear before you put anything in the tank. As for my tank, I have already spent almost 500 dollars in different filters/chemicals/etc trying to figure out and fix it over the last four months and I think I am ready to call it quits. May my tank R.I.P

Thanks again for all the help though. I think I learned more about tanks and troubleshooting in the last four months than I have the previous 20 years I have been keeping fish tanks.