How to clear up a foggy fish tank?

[Nshortsle]

Have a 55 gallon tank with no more than 12 fish at about 2" each. Silver mollies red tail wags and 2 placos. The filter is a Marineland Emperor 400 that filters 400 gallons per hour and is for tanks up to 90 gallons. Recently the tank has gotten very cloudy. I do a partial water change of 5 gallons about ever 3-5 days and. Hangs the filter once a month. I'm pretty sure it's algae growth but I'm not sure how to stop it. I have included a picture do you can see. Any recommendations for how to get rid of the foggy water. Also I'm thinking about trying a DIY syphon pump system but not sure if it would be beneficial.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

You change the filter once a month? Don't. By doing that you are throwing away all the good bacteria in your filter. It looks like you have a bacterial bloom. They are usually a sign something's out of whack in the tank. In your case constantly replacing media.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...-to-Starting-a-Freshwater-Aquarium/Page1.html

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/246850-bacterial-blooms-explained/

 

[Readingexcalibur]

Have a 55 gallon tank with no more than 12 fish at about 2" each. Silver mollies red tail wags and 2 placos. The filter is a Marineland Emperor 400 that filters 400 gallons per hour and is for tanks up to 90 gallons. Recently the tank has gotten very cloudy. I do a partial water change of 5 gallons about ever 3-5 days and. Hangs the filter once a month. I'm pretty sure it's algae growth but I'm not sure how to stop it. I have included a picture do you can see. Any recommendations for how to get rid of the foggy water. Also I'm thinking about trying a DIY syphon pump system but not sure if it would be beneficial.

Agreed with mumma.of.2, also would consider changing that water change schedule, I find it more beneficial to do a 25-50% weekly and using a three stage filter, changing the mech. and chem. bi-monthly. I clean my bio with the aquarium water every 3-6 months. This is all just my preference.

 

[Nshortsle]

Ok so do a 25% water change once a week and. Hangs filter media every other month? The filter has 2 filter cartridges side by side and has 2 carbon cartridges as well. Also clean out the bio-wheels?

 

[Jill]

I have a tank that has been running since October, and it has the original cartridge in it. When flow is restricted, I rinse the cartridge with tank water. The water in the tank is crystal clear. I do a 50% pwc every week. This seems to be working well for me.

 

[jlk]

I have to agree with everyone's comments. Stop changing the filters & just rinse them in some tank water and up your water changes to atleast 40-50% a week. These filter cartridges are pricey as well- slit the bottoms of the blue material/bag, dump out the carbon & stuff them with polyfill (filter floss). They will last you atleast a year (if not much longer) this way and save you some money as well. You can pick up a bag of polyfill cheaply for a couple of dollars at any big chain store (walmart) or arts & crafts store. Alternately, you can cut off the blue bag part entirely & place foam sponge inserts in front of the black plastic part. What are you using in the grey/white cartridges?

 

[Cornstar]

I don't think he means he changes the filter but cleans the filter.

 

[Nshortsle]

I have some carbon in the additional grey cartridges. I can remove the carbon and put in another filter material like the stuff your talking Bout if it would be better.

 

[Nshortsle]

Also I'm thinking about making a siphon sump filter system. Using an additional tank with fine filter material in it instead of the over the side filter. Just not sure if it would be better or worse.