Question on Cloudy Water

[Kerrinne]

Okay, this weekend out of the blue my water in my 75 gallon turned cloudy. It wasn't cloudy that morning, and by the time feeding time came that evening -- it was. I hadn't fed them during the day, and I haven't been feeding them any more food than usual.

Water params appear normal (amm 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 60 (normal for me anyway)). What could be causing this and what can I do to clear it up? And how can I prevent this in the future or can you? The gravel doesn't appear to have crud all down in it, but I figure I'll gravel vac it tonight when I get home just to be sure. Any other suggestions as to what this might be? Fish don't seem to be gasping or having problems, but then again it's hard to see them!

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[mr86mister]

are all fish accounted for? there might be a possibility of a dead fish somewhere making it cloudy....take a look and update!

 

[Kerrinne]

Yeah, I thought of that first thing, and I should have said that. I'm sorry. I even checked my one live plant to be sure it wasn't decaying/dying in there and all the leaves looked great. Everyone was accounted for - I even lifted up all the decorations and peeked inside and shook out the little cave where I've found tetra babies now and then. Nada. The first day I noticed it, I cleaned out my Fluval 304 and put fresh filter media in there as well as my biowheel. That was Saturday. It's still cloudy today.

 

[mr86mister]

hmmm....this is a tough one, you dont have messy fish....no dead fish...no rotting plants.....water parameters are all ok....i cant think of anything, i wish i could help more.....somebody help her!!! lol, good luck kerrinne but i think im going to learn just as much as you with this one

 

[Fishyfanatic]

How often do you do water changes? With a Nitrate of 60, I'd do more. I don't think that this is contributing to the cloudy water, but just something that needs to be taken under control. The Nitrates should be 30 or below.

 

[Kerrinne]

I was doing 1/2 or more water changes once every three weeks. I've moved that up to every two weeks, with gravel vaccing each week. I have never been able to keep my nitrates below 60 on any of my established tanks (even the planted one!). They always hang right around that range. About six months ago, I purchased some "De*Nitrate" rocks or whatever you call them and added as a filter media to my fluval and in the baskets of my biowheel, but that didn't seem to lower the levels much. I wanted to do water changes once a week to see if it helped the nitrate levels, but my mother had a duck about what that would do to her water bill. I wish my Dad would hook up the well again -- water was cheaper and had better quality IMHO.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I'd try doing weekly 25% water changes. The smaller more frequent changes would be better than the large less frequent ones. Your tank isn't overstocked by any means, but just to try and get the Nitrates under control, I'd do once a week 25% and see where the Nitrates are after about 2 weeks.

 

[Guest]

The first day I noticed it, I cleaned out my Fluval 304 and put fresh filter media in there as well as my biowheel

could it be a bacterial bloom? Since you put fresh filter media in, that would be my thought.

 

[Jchillin]

I had the same problem recently and discovered that a ton of solid waste had built up in the intake tubes and around the intake itself. I took them off, rinsed them out and the problem went away almost immediately.

 

[Kerrinne]

Sorry for my delay in responding. My cable went out during storms last evening; therefore, my internet went down too!

Without being able to read the responses here after my last post, I went ahead and did some things last night to the tank.

1) Gravel vacuumed it. There was one spot under the biowheel filter intake that seemed pretty yucky in the gravel, but I still can't imagine that was the cause of the cloudiness for the whole tank.

2) Did 25% water change in the course of gravel vacuuming.

3) And this is the strange part Jchillin - I decided the only parts I hadn't cleaned out where the tubes for the intake and outflow on my Fluval. Can we say disgusting? I'm not sure if this was the cause for sure or not, but it was nasty.

Anyway, I cleaned those out and this morning - voila - cloudiness gone. In fact, the tank water has never looked clearer. Maybe a combination of all three? Whatever, it's nice to see my fish again.

Thank you to everyone who contributed with ideas even if I couldn't read them until now! I'm so happy.

 

[Kerrinne]

And thank you fishyfanatic. I think I am going to try the 25% change each week on all three of my tanks and see if that helps the nitrate levels any. Well, the 10 gallon I have to do once a week. It's too small!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

No problem Kerrinne. I think that by doing the weekly change, it will decrease the Nitrates in the water. It should anyways. You may need to even up the percentage, depending on how much the Nitrates decrease. I know that there are a few members that do 50% weekly.

 

[mr86mister]

yahoo Kerrinne, nice and clear.....i bet it feels great to have that off your shoulders

 

[Kerrinne]

Oh yes! Not to mention half of my night time entertainment is sitting with the lights off and watching my cory cats play at night! Impossible to do in cloudy water!

 

[Jchillin]

Kerrinne...I nearly drove myself crazy trying to figure out what was causing my problem. I did everything you did and it wasn't until I took inventory of the tank and my maintenance regimen, I realized that I hadn't removed the tubes since I set the tank up. I ran my finger along the intake tube and, well...you know what was there.

I had never considered that as the cause of the problem but, since it was done, the water is so clear I want to jump in myself.