White Cloudy Water for AGES (FRESHWATER)

[surjer]

Little background

Tank: Fluval EVO XII
Decorations: 2 fake plants
Fish: 5 Glo Tetras
Substrate: Black/Neon Rocks
Filter Media: 50 micron Filter Pad, Filter Floss, Stock Foam, Bio Balls, Carbon (In that order).

I have been battling this stuff for like a year and a half. The tank is established. I do 20% water changes every couple of weeks. The tank clears up a bit, but then gets cloudy again the next day or so. I know someone will no doubt say "bacteria bloom". But there is no way its been blooming this long. haha.

Recently I did figure out that my AI Prime's fan was pretty dusty and after cleaning it out real good, I did notice it wasn't getting as cloudy as quick.

Recently I found this miracle drug called Fluval's Quick Clear. I can dose the tank with that and then 3 hours later, CRYSTAL clear water. MAGIC! However, the instructions state to change the filter floss after it clears up. Which I have done. Each time I notice the filter floss has a pretty green tint to it. Not sure if that is the chemical reaction between the solution and whatever particles are suspended in the water column or what. I am SOOOOOoo confused. I really dont want to have to dose this tank to get it to stay clear. That stuff like like 15 bucks.

Anyways, here are a couple of pictures.

https://www.amazon.com/Fluval-Quick-Aquarium-Treatment-8-Ounce/dp/B01N3KJSGU/ref=sr_1_4?gclid=Cj0KCQjw852XBhC6ARIsAJsFPN3iKu49ZQXtgGRH6NpBCf1pjMHoL7k9Yq1_OSU255r0fodJfOndxxcaAvm6EALw_wcB&hvadid=182439664519&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9015859&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=7825838992721470782&hvtargid=kwd-107374738843&hydadcr=16194_9894079&keywords=fluval+quick+clear&qid=1659386284&sr=8-4






This last picture is old (about a year ago). I have since removed a lot of substrate.

 

[surjer]

Amonia = 0
NO3 = 0
NO2 = 0
pH = 7.2
GH = 500
KH = 120

 

[Danio8]

Does your tank ever get any direct sunlight at any time during the day?

 

[surjer]

Does your tank ever get any direct sunlight at any time during the day?

It does not, We do live in an old house and my wife and I were talking last night and wondering if its honestly dust. The tank in the bedroom doesnt do this but it has a cover and its setup exactly the same. (Its the fluval spec 5g). Thinking it has to be dust from the open top. i dunno... grrr! haha

 

[Autumnsky]

That does seem a huge frustration and for Soooooooo long!

What is the light / light bulb on the tank?

When you change the filter floss is that the filter pad? Or is there ceramic media or balls or filter pad that remains in the tank, and is only rinsed with dechlorinated water or old tank water?

You technically could be causing a perpetual bloom if you kept changing the actual filter media. But not likely.

A couple other things.

What kind of food(s) are you using? Many flake food have more phosphorus than other foods maybe try Hikari microwafers or micro pellets, which ever is better suited for your fish.

Watch for over feeding. Do tiny amounts a little at a time so there is little waste / drop past the fish. And more often as they would still need to have a reasonable amount of food.

I was told to think of their stomach as the size of their eye, in the amount of food to feed. (it isn't exactly true about it being the size of the stomach but a good way to estimate how much food is needed)

Do you leave the blue light on a lot or all the time? If you do, then try just using the blue lighting for a couple hours a day, when you would be watching the tank most.

Fluval water polishing pads go to 100 micron. I would try using those polishing pads with this
https://www.apifishcare.com/product/accu-clear
Try the recommended dose and instructions, don't double the dose to try and get faster results.

You can rinse out the polishing pad with tap water, (shake out the excess water or rinse in dechlorinated water) if it is doing it's job well, and use a bunch of times, till it starts floofing apart.

 

[surjer]

Light sched

Light schedule, - will answer other questions in the next reply.

 

[surjer]

I just recently started using the polish pads and just wash them off with the kitchen sprayer. Those things turn back to brand new! haha. I have only had them a couple of weeks and after spraying them off, i just shake them til they are pretty dry before putting them back on the tank. The filter floss i just throw away and add new. Their is also a foam filter that holds the bio balls and carbon media that i only take out of the tank once every couple of months and i just ring the foam out in dirty tank water during a water change. I figured that is where the bulk of my benificial bacteria is.

I will say, the filter floss doesnt get really all that dirty unless I add the quick clear stuff. Which i think is a very similar product to the Accu Clear you mentioned.

I am very conscious about over feeding. These little rascals are VERY aggressive eaters so I just put enough in where every bit gets devoured. I do this a couple of times. I only feed about every other day. It doesn't seem like a lot of food but over many years of keeping fish, they don't actually eat much so I feel pretty good about the feeding schedule.

I am using flakes, I was using the TDO tiny pellets but they dropped in the water too fast. Literally the ONLY thing I can think of that is left, is because its an open top, it may just be dust from the house. The bedroom tank doesnt get near like this, but it has a top and is in a different room.

The pump is an upgraded SICCE Syncra Silent 1.0. It is on the more stong flow side of things but I got it to support the tank when it was salty years ago. Both tanks used to be salt water long ago but i got into a fight with cyano algea and could never overcome it so i stripped both tanks down through everything away accept the pumps and started over fresh. Now battling this white cloud forever. lol I feel i maintain the tanks well with water changes and vaccuming. So i can only think it has to be dust. But, its not like my furniture is caking up dust in 2-3 days time so nothing obsurd? shew, sorry for the long winded rabbit hole. I just think i am close after finding that the quick clear works so well. It means there is tiny debris that needs cleared out right?)

 

[m.j.gomez]

I just recently started using the polish pads and just wash them off with the kitchen sprayer. Those things turn back to brand new! haha. I have only had them a couple of weeks and after spraying them off, i just shake them til they are pretty dry before putting them back on the tank. The filter floss i just throw away and add new. Their is also a foam filter that holds the bio balls and carbon media that i only take out of the tank once every couple of months and i just ring the foam out in dirty tank water during a water change. I figured that is where the bulk of my benificial bacteria is.

I will say, the filter floss doesnt get really all that dirty unless I add the quick clear stuff. Which i think is a very similar product to the Accu Clear you mentioned.

I am very conscious about over feeding. These little rascals are VERY aggressive eaters so I just put enough in where every bit gets devoured. I do this a couple of times. I only feed about every other day. It doesn't seem like a lot of food but over many years of keeping fish, they don't actually eat much so I feel pretty good about the feeding schedule.

I am using flakes, I was using the TDO tiny pellets but they dropped in the water too fast. Literally the ONLY thing I can think of that is left, is because its an open top, it may just be dust from the house. The bedroom tank doesnt get near like this, but it has a top and is in a different room.

The pump is an upgraded SICCE Syncra Silent 1.0. It is on the more stong flow side of things but I got it to support the tank when it was salty years ago. Both tanks used to be salt water long ago but i got into a fight with cyano algea and could never overcome it so i stripped both tanks down through everything away accept the pumps and started over fresh. Now battling this white cloud forever. lol I feel i maintain the tanks well with water changes and vaccuming. So i can only think it has to be dust. But, its not like my furniture is caking up dust in 2-3 days time so nothing obsurd? shew, sorry for the long winded rabbit hole. I just think i am close after finding that the quick clear works so well. It means there is tiny debris that needs cleared out right?)

Hello, just tossing this out there. Do you think you may be over cleaning. A bacteria bloom usually clears up anywhere from a couple days up to a couple of weeks. If water parameters aren't going to extremes you may consider leaving tank alone for a couple of wks & doing water changes only when absolutely necessary to see if that helps.
I realized you've been in hobby for a while but something is off & it might worth a shot. + I noticed you have 0 nitrates. Hopefully this helps!!!!!

 

[Autumnsky]

It seems you have experience and also have been going down the list of things which need to be checked. It was pretty much all the things I can think of.

Except, I would add Purigen, maybe also throw in PhosGuard. Try that too. It's appx $10-12 ea.

And would try new food too, what the heck.

It might be a fungus, but I don't know enough about that, to say what to do.

 

[surjer]

Thanks everyone, I have tried to let the tank just be as to see if it was a bacteria bloom and it just kept getting milkier and milkier. To the point you couldn't even see the poor fish if he was more than 2" deep into the tank.

I don't think its excess nutrients because I don't really fight algae. I do have some algae that I clean off the glass and the substrate but nothing crazy. I went ahead and ordered a bottle of API accu clear and 50 micron filter pads.

I fed the fish Hikari micro pellet's last night and they took to it well. I will try to keep this thread updated as i progress. I do think my test strips are bad. Says 0 nitrates. That cant be right cause i have friggn fish in it and a little algae so its gotta have at least SOME nitrates. I used to run purigen and chemipure when it was salty. I thought maybe it was a bit overkill and i was stripping the water of all nutrients so I went back to straight up GAC.

Thanks for all the suggestions and brain storming!

 

[Aiken Drum]

The nuclear option would be a UV steriliser.

 

[Autumnsky]

That's true, always what I consider would be a last resort kills so many unknown maybe good things too.

I haven't run Puritan since over a year ago when I moved. I was careful to preserve BB and gently rinse the substrate as to not lose too much and had a bunch of issues with algaes ever since. I forgot about about Purigen and then a couple months ago realized I never put them back. Oops. But think it had helped the balance, so I personally also need to add it back in.

Will look forward to hearing updates. Love to learn possible options to see problems!!!

 

[surjer]

well, took the plunge and ordered this. Will see how it goes.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/auqa-shield-uv-sterilizer-desktop-innovative-marine.html

 

[surjer]

Fixed

Well, the UV nuke has fixed the issue. Thank you kindly to everyone for thoughts and ideas. I can finally see my fishies!!

 

[Autumnsky]

2 letters UV. Short and sweet to be able to see the fish!

Nice!!!

 

[surjer]

Updated picture.

 

[m.j.gomez]

Updated picture.

Glad you solved your problem & tank looks great!!!!! Still baffled over what was causing all the haze. If you ever figure it out give us a heads up. Thanks!!!!!