Can't keep my water clear! =[

Smalltank3

Smalltank3

Large Fish
#1
Dec 23, 2005
961
4
0
Wisconsin
#1
Well, first I had green water algae. I did and 80% waterchange saturday night, and a 90% w/c yesterday. The tank was crystal clear all last night. Now its turning cloudy again. I'm confused and I do not know what to do. *ALL* The only thing that came to mind was taking all my fish and plants out, turning off all equipment, and taking out all of my substrate, rinse and put everything back. It seem that the shulz's aquatic soil is the problem but I don't know. I'm afraid if I do as I just said, I would lose a bunch of bacteria, causing a cycle, killing all my fish, pissing off my parents, and most of all, no fish tank. I'm overreacting but it is really irritating when you do two huge water changes with little results*thumbsdow

Smalltank*SICK*
 

MrBungle

MrBungle

Large Fish
#3
Oct 18, 2006
421
4
0
37
NY, on an island...
#3
I know people hate using additives but my tank was hazy, not green but a white haze. I picked up this stuff called Algae Destroyer Advanced made by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. Let me tell you......after an hour the water was clearing up. 3 hours later the tank is crystal and stayed that way!
 

K

Katome556

Large Fish
#4
Oct 16, 2006
365
0
0
33
Russell,Kansas
#4
i'm having a problem like yours,i did a 98% water change and no longer have green/algae cloudyness but now i have a white cloudyness due to my new pleco's habit of sturing junk up when he hides in the boat in my tank. :\

*none of my fish were in the tank at the time of the w/c though it took 1 hour to catch em all*
i did major w/cs 3 times first was 80% secound was 90% and third was 98% w/ a rinse with water that already had declorinizer in it is still cycled ,w/o a mini cycle .
 

Smalltank3

Smalltank3

Large Fish
#6
Dec 23, 2005
961
4
0
Wisconsin
#6
Well, everytime I do a big water change, it turns cloudy. I really think it is the substrate. Does anyone have any opinions on a substrate change without losing all the bacteria and causing a mini cycle? I have done it before, and everything went fine. I have 2 filters, plants and driftwood. Would that be enough bacteria to not cause a mini cycle with changing the substrate?
 

Big Vine

Big Vine

Elite Fish
#7
Feb 7, 2006
3,895
9
0
47
Florida
#7
Do you have any mesh-type of bags that can hold some of your current substrate in there without it falling out all over and making a mess?

If so, just do that and leave it in for a while after you've swapped out the old stuff and replaced it with new gravel.

If not, put a bunch inside of a plastic tupperware/ziploc container (rinse it well first) and let it sit at the bottom of the tank "in" the new substrate (try to 'bury' the container into the new stuff as much as possible---but don't cover it up) in order to make it relatively even with the new substrate level. Position it so that the filter outflow is passing directly over top of it, if at all feasible.

Hope this all makes sense.
If all else fails, you may have an established enough tank/filter + all those plants to be able to replace the old stuff without a mini-cycle.

BV
 

Smalltank3

Smalltank3

Large Fish
#8
Dec 23, 2005
961
4
0
Wisconsin
#8
Well, I'm not going to change the substrate. However, the green algae is back and my tank is cloudy, so tonight I'm doing 2 80% water changes, one after the other. Then see what happens.
 

C

Cichlid-Man

MFT Staff
#9
Jul 9, 2003
8,866
14
38
38
Columbia, SC
www.youtube.com
#9
I'm not one to use chems to fix much....but i bit the bullet Sunday. Found some old "Accu-Clear" under one of the tanks. Now i swear by it. Crystal clear water that makes me want to drink it withen hours of dosing. No harm to fish.

I had the same problem before. Green water, WC, WC, white cloud, WC, white cloud...put this stuff in and havn't had a problem since Sunday.
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
#11
May 16, 2003
8,589
10
38
42
Colorado
#11
For those with cloudy water issues...you ought to do some searches on here for what has worked for others in the past.

For green water, really you need to figure out the CAUSE or big water changes making it go away is not going to be a permanent fix. Once you know the cause and are ready to get rid of it, you need to do some big water changes, change your filter cartridges and usually combine it with a blackout of the tank for a few days to really get rid of it.

If its WHITE then you have a completely different issue and usually doing more water changes will make the problem worse. If white cloudy doesn't go away on its own after a couple of weeks of normal maintenance, then it probably isn't a bacterial bloom. I had one tank that used to have issues with that from time to time and I think it was from lack of adequete water movement. I got some p-clear (I believe its hagen? I don't recall), followed the directions (capful, let go overnight, put in new filter cartridge, another capful) and wa-la clear tank.

BUT I think that chemicals really need to be a last resort after you've gone through everything that you can to fix it naturally.
 

Avalon

Avalon

Superstar Fish
#12
Oct 22, 2002
2,846
10
0
Ft. Worth, TX
www.davidressel.com
#12
Smalltank, your problems are one in the same: a damaged biological system.

Green water is caused by urea, most likely due to a biofilter that can't process fish waste fast enough. Cloudy white water is a bacterial bloom because your biofilter is trying to establish itself. One thing is for sure, water changes won't cure either of them, but time will help.

So, you need to think back and figure out what you did to damage your biofilter. Did you clean your filter recently? Did you change your filter pads? Did you add anything to the tank, such as plant tabs that contain urea?
 

Smalltank3

Smalltank3

Large Fish
#15
Dec 23, 2005
961
4
0
Wisconsin
#15
Yeah it is. Thanks for all the info about the filters. I had no idea that changing your filter could make your water cloudy. I read the bottle and usually they say do not use with inverts, but Accu-Clear didn't say that. But before I get cherries, I'm going to get 3 ghost shrimp because they are 3 for a dollar at my LFS. I use them as test shrimp. If they live, maybe they can scavenge through my mass of Java Moss:)
 

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