Cloudy Water

[lwhite281]

I have a 10 gallon fish tank that is well established. I did a 50% water change on it about a month ago because I had 3 fish die on me within a 2 week time frame. I figured to do a good cleaning. I also changed out the filter because it was starting to look full. After this water change I noticed the water in the tank has a white cloudy look to it. I was told it was the cause of a bacteria bloom. I ended up losing a lot of the good bacteria when I did the 50% water change. It would be a few weeks before it all settled. Well, it's been a month or so and it is still cloudy. I did a 20% water change over the weekend and now the water is a greenish cloudy. Can someone please tell me what the cause of this is and what I can do to make it clear again? I've tested the water myself and it's fine in all areas. I have had the pet store test the water as well and they say it's fine. So I'm not sure what the problem is. In case it makes any difference, the fish in the tank are: cory catfish, guppies, crowntail beta, dwarf platty, mystery snail and live plants. Any information is greatly appreciated!

 

[rkilling1]

From the sounds of it, you removed most of your Biofilter when you changed out your filter.

Doing water changes will not rid your tank of good bacteria. The bacteria adhere to the surfaces on the aquarium and do not, under normal conditions, stay in the water column. The bacteria will be mostly in your filter.

When you changed the filter, you removed a lot of the bacteria and therefore had Ammonia in your water column. Having a lot of NH3 in the tank will cause the bacteria to quickly propagate and cause a cloudy haze. The other thing that happens is algae comsumes the NH3 as well. NH3 plus light = GW (green water, ie algae)

Search the forums for information on green water.

 

[Zagz]

Changing water will not harm the bacteria, cleaning out your filter and media can as rkilling mentioned. You probably caused a mini cycle and were suffering from a bacterial bloom. Keep on watching your parameters for the sake of your fish, perform water changes as necessary.
The greenish water is an algae bloom, things to consider is lighting. What kind of lighting and how often are you keeping the lights on? Is the tank near a window or a natural source of light? Do you have live plants, dose ferts or C02? There are many posts on green water as mentioned. You could try starting out with reducing the amount of time the lights are on for starters.