Cloudy Water

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heroop

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Nov 18, 2016
Messages
4
I'm not sure what is going on with my 45 gal. freshwater tank. The water has been cloudy for almost a week. On Monday I did about a 20% water change. my pH, N02, N03 are all normal,my pH has always run higher- my ammonia has been going around .25-.50ppm. I have been testing my water daily and it remained consistent. I did use ammonia lock but didn't notice a change (to 0). I'm not sure what is going on. At a local pet store they tell me my water is great, but why is it cloudy? Should I do another partial water change? I have 2 angels, 3 gouranamis, 2 clown loaches, 1 plecko, 2 tetras, and 2 danios
 
no, it is! Its been set up for probably 6 months or more.
 
It's going back thrugh a mini cycle is my guess did you make any changes on Monday? How big are the clown loaches as they aren't meant for a 45 gallon tank, did you swap a filter? Are you testing with a liquid test kit or strips, did you change anything in the filter like cartridges?
 
Monday I changed the filter cartridge, vaccumed and did 20% water change, bc it was starting to get a bit cloudy and the ammonia was higher (.50ppm) The loaches are very small, under 3cm each. I was told it would take years for them to outgrow the aquarium. I had baby snails about a month ago and got them to take care of those. I am using an api liquid test kit.
 
Monday I changed the filter cartridge, vaccumed and did 20% water change, bc it was starting to get a bit cloudy and the ammonia was higher (.50ppm) The loaches are very small, under 3cm each. I was told it would take years for them to outgrow the aquarium. I had baby snails about a month ago and got them to take care of those. I am using an api liquid test kit.
Er... Your beneficial bacteria live in the filter cartridge. I consider yourself cycling again. Seachem Stability is your friend.
 
I did also use API quick start after the filter change. Is that the same thing as the seachem?
 
So you're cycling again as I suspected, when you change a cartridge you should cut the pad on the old cartridge and put it in the filter with the new one, you can also add bio balls to the filter or media to it so you don't have to worry about cycling when you change a cartridge, do you use seachem prime when you do water changes? If not what water conditioner? If you have the extra money I would honestly get away from the cartridge filter and run one that has a sponge and media like an aqua clear, if you do this do not remove your old filter run both until your aquaclear gets established, you could just keep running 2 which = more places for BB to grow.
 
I believe quick start is a competitor though I am not really an API fan personally.

Also most filters can be modified but you need to look at the design and maybe go to the craft store and get some fishline. What type of filter is it?
 
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