Cloudy water issue - do not know where to go next

[jonrud12]

Hi. I will try to be brief and thanks in advance for anyone who can help

I have a 10 gallon Aqueon freshwater tank (bought a kit). I cycled the tank properly (all levels great) and just have 3 small fish a molly, platy and a swordtail I think (may not be a molly).

For 2-3 months the tank was great. Crystal clear, no issues.

a couple of months ago the water got cloudy (appears more whitish than greenish to me so I don't think algae). I went to the internet and followed advice - water changes, vacuum gravel, don't feed 1 day a week, etc... for a month or more nothing helped at all.

Eventually I thought maybe the filter was not good enough, so I installed a brand new Fluval 20 gal tank filter. In a day everything cleared up and I was thrilled!

This lasted about 3-4 days, then the cloudiness all came back. has been back for 3-4 weeks.

I called a local fish store - this guy tells me do NOT do water changes, do NOT clean the gravel, because you are removing bacteria. if this is bacterial bloom it seems waiting for weeks and months is not working.

At this point I am completely lost as what to do. I don't know if I should do frequent water changes or none at all. Should I clean the gravel or not?

Checked ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, all good. only thing maybe off is PH is around 7.6.

Because the new filter system cleared everything up initially I was thinking the tank was just dirty as it cleared up instantly. but now back to cloudiness.

I really don't know where to go from here. Would really appreciate anyone who can point me in the right direction.

Thanks.

Jonathan

 

[edevingo]

Every spring all my tanks start to get cloudy. I definitely understand the frustration when nothing seems to work. You've definetly probably over killed with cleaning. Been there done that and probably will again. [emoji23] As far as just water changes, not much of your BB actually lives in the water column. Personally the only thing that finally got rid of the cloud was a UV sterilizer, I lack patience to wait it out. I don't use them all the time but every year at this time I've come to the conclusion that it must be some sort of change to my tap water that causes it. Whether it be all the pollen or the extra Chlorine I can smell in the water my town adds to combat something. When I see the cloudiness starting I pop them in and it starts to almost immediately clear up my water.

Hi. I will try to be brief and thanks in advance for anyone who can help

I have a 10 gallon Aqueon freshwater tank (bought a kit). I cycled the tank properly (all levels great) and just have 3 small fish a molly, platy and a swordtail I think (may not be a molly).

For 2-3 months the tank was great. Crystal clear, no issues.

a couple of months ago the water got cloudy (appears more whitish than greenish to me so I don't think algae). I went to the internet and followed advice - water changes, vacuum gravel, don't feed 1 day a week, etc... for a month or more nothing helped at all.

Eventually I thought maybe the filter was not good enough, so I installed a brand new Fluval 20 gal tank filter. In a day everything cleared up and I was thrilled!

This lasted about 3-4 days, then the cloudiness all came back. has been back for 3-4 weeks.

I called a local fish store - this guy tells me do NOT do water changes, do NOT clean the gravel, because you are removing bacteria. if this is bacterial bloom it seems waiting for weeks and months is not working.

At this point I am completely lost as what to do. I don't know if I should do frequent water changes or none at all. Should I clean the gravel or not?

Checked ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, all good. only thing maybe off is PH is around 7.6.

Because the new filter system cleared everything up initially I was thinking the tank was just dirty as it cleared up instantly. but now back to cloudiness.

I really don't know where to go from here. Would really appreciate anyone who can point me in the right direction.

Thanks.

Jonathan

 

[sereneselkie]

Questions to consider.... is the white dusty look from debris or dust coming off your substrate? What levels does your tap water test at? What kind of decor is in the tank? What media are you using in your filter?

This is a frustrating problem and I’ve had it too. Hopefully the fish look okay!

 

[V227]

50% WC every week W/ thorough gravel vac. Rinse off your filter media once every 3 or 4 weeks in used tank water. Only replace the filter cartridges when the polyfiber start to unravel. That should take many months.
New tanks almost always have annoying bacteria blooms. It's ugly but not usually lethal to fish. I agree that UV light is a good tool, but I choose not to use one. Just one more gizmo to keep up with. Lol. Stay the course, things will eventually level out.

 

[Caliban07]

Cloudy water should give cause for concern. You have disturbed the bacterial balance of the aquarium somehow and I agree it’s probably from over cleaning which we are all told is what we are supposed to do and that it is normal to have these blooms.

Seasonal bacterial blooms most likely occur when water company’s alter the amount of chlorine or chloramines in the water and the amount of conditioner normally added isn’t enough to stop the chlorine killing off most of your microbes.

I’m at a loss as to why people think tap water is clean. As far as the ecosystem is concerned tap water is polluted. It sounds dramatic but when you step back and really think about it it makes sense that adding large volumes of tap water upsets the balance of the ecosystem.