What exactly does cloudy water tell me?

[lectraplayer]

I have been working out of town alot, and have been maintaining the tanks on the weekend, among other things. Not sure what the feeding schedule is now since my wife is in charge of that with me out, but I have been fighting an algae bloom. After a water change, the well water goes in muddy but normally turns crystal clear overnight. Last few w/c's the water has kept a thick, white cloud. I'm changing 50% water btw on both a 10g (shown) and a 29g. This week was the first I've worked in town so I changed 50% water every couple days.



PH=7
Nitrates=>20ppm
Nitrites & Ammonia=0

 

[candymancan]

Hmmmm either that's tannins from your driftwood.. or sand in the water.. Or a Bacteria bloom..


I would keep the lights out for 3 days and see what happens.. usually when my tanks get white cloudy like that its from too many nutrients in the water so I turn the lights off

 

[ppo8820]

Bacteria bloom or high nitrites make my water cloudy............and I hate it.

 

[lectraplayer]

Tannis wouldn't be it. No driftwood shown. Tannins and sand would be only at initial setup wouldn't it?

What kind of bacteria would cause this all of a sudden? Nitrates are still testing low as noted. Wouldn't nutrients clear out after a couple 50% changes unless my groundwater suddenly got thick?