White Fog

[fishmonger75]

I am stumped. I have a 75 gallon freshwater tank. It's always been pretty clear and suddenly the water is very foggy. You can barely see the filter tubes in the back. The Magnum filter I had was not spitting out water as fast as it used to so we got a new Marineland Magnum 350. This new filter is a significant upgrade. It's been 3 days and the fog hasn't lifted. I've also noticed that the current is non-existent compared to when the older, smaller Magnum was operating at its peak. The gravel is pretty clean and we've taken the water to the local fish store and everything checked out fine. We use no real plants. The temperature in the tank is 82 degrees. Temp is a little high but the heater is turned off and that is as low as it is going to get in the middle of the Texas heatwave.

Any advice on how to uncloud the water?

With the new Magnum 350, shouldn't I be getting a decent current?

Is it possible that no amount of filter power will clear the foggy water?

Thanks

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Did you use the same filter cartridges from the old filter for the new filter? What are the exact readings of ammonia, nitrites, nitrates? Was the LFS testing with test strips? What fish are in there?

It could be a bacterial bloom.

 

[fishmonger75]

Did you use the same filter cartridges from the old filter for the new filter? What are the exact readings of ammonia, nitrites, nitrates? Was the LFS testing with test strips? What fish are in there?

It could be a bacterial bloom.

The filter cartridge is new but the water was foggy before with the old filter. I'm sorry but I do not have the equipment to know the specifics of the water chemicals. We do have PH strips and the clean bill of water health from the store. We currently have an oscar, a pleco and 4 smaller cichlids, all less than 4 months old. We are also going to hold off their feeding for 2 or 3 days to see if the water clears up but there us very little debris floating or sitting on the bottom.

 

[fishmonger75]

Did you use the same filter cartridges from the old filter for the new filter? What are the exact readings of ammonia, nitrites, nitrates? Was the LFS testing with test strips? What fish are in there?

It could be a bacterial bloom.

Update - we did the test strips and here's what we have

GH - 120
KH - 40
PH - 7
NO2 - 0.5
NO3 - 80

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Update - we did the test strips and here's what we have

GH - 120
KH - 40
PH - 7
NO2 - 0.5
NO3 - 80

Your nitrates seem high, but we could be guessing the levels basically as test strips aren't that accurate. Do you know the ammonia level? Did you cycle the tank beforehand?

I would recommend doing some PWC over the next few days. If not: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/cloudy-water-cant-shake-it-162625.html