whitish water

[buggsmarinetank]

what would you think is the primary cause of a whitish colored water?


20 gallon

roughly 7 small fish
1 cory cat
1 algae eater

 

[QTOFFER]

My water comes out of the tap looking cloudy and milky - it's caused by my faucet aerator. After the water sits for a few minutes, the tiny air bubbles dissipate and the water clears up. Is this what you're observing?

Another reason may be a bacterial bloom. Has the tank been cycled?
Cloudy water can also be caused by adding tank decorations that have not been washed and rinsed.

HTH

 

[Felf]

something added to the filter? soap? probably bacteria like QTOFFER said if nothing else or silicone residue if it's a new tank.

 

[buggsmarinetank]

the cloudiness is'nt from the faucet, and nothing added to filter has done it either. A bloom may be the cause, It is about 3-4 weeks cycled, but due to ammo chips in my filters, I think that I have been slowing down the completion of the cycle.

 

[bzbee]

Hi, I guess I'm a little confused about your last statement. (I'm a newbie to the hobby but bear with me...) Is your tank truly cycled? ie Ammonia and Nitrites read 0ppm? Also, have you tried a blackout in case it's an algae bloom? This happens if you have high Nitrates that encourage rapid algae growth and I've noticed it often happens toward the end of a cycle. Green water usually starts out as a milky white cloud in water that turns progressively greener within a week. Hold off feeding for a couple of days in conjunction with either a blackout or planting some low-light plants and see if that makes a difference. The idea is to starve the algae of nutrients and light.

 

[buggsmarinetank]

well....

It is about 3-4 weeks cycled, but due to ammo chips in my filters, I think that I have been slowing down the completion of the cycle.

Is your tank truly cycled

I said I think I am causing it to cycle slower....
I dont think a "blackout" would help, only beacuse thew whitish color has been around for about 6 days. If it was algae, it would have bloomed, or gotten worse by now.

 

[jsoong]

I take it you are 3-4 weeks into the cycle? What are your readings (NH3/NO2/NO3)? Bacterial blooms are pretty common in the early part of the cycle.

It is possible that this is from tiny air bubbles. I had a leaky seal in my cannister a while back & air got into the filter, got chopped up by the impeller & came out milky. The air bubbles are so small that they don't float up to the top of the tank & the whole tank looked cloudy as a result.