Ive got the cloudy water blues!

[emma1981]

Please help me before I go out of my mind!!
My fish tank is 220 litres, has 6 medium sized goldfish in it, has had cycling issues, the 3 fantails got streaky fins so i myaxin the lot & after 2 treatments alls well with them.
They do chase each other from time to time but the water is ALWAYS cloudy, all the perameters are normal, the bacteria is nearly fully established, I have a big old Eheim filter that I only clean in tank water, I use dechlorinator when changeing tank water but nothing works.
Ive switched to useing live food (bloodworms) which are rinsed before i add them because i thought the flake food may be causing it, yet still no change, im really scratching my head on this one!
I was wondering if the substrate maybe leaking thru the gravel in the tank as the water always has a cloudy yellowish look to it but the filters are full of browny silt.
Any suggestions?

 

[skjl47]

Hello; will need more information. Sounds like you put some sort of material ("substrate may be leaking") under the gravel. Any drift wood or such in the tank?

 

[emma1981]

Yes the bog wood there are two pieces but they've been in another tank for over 3yrs, so its not that, the substrate is dirt that goes under the gravel to enable the plants to root , feed & grow, i wondered if the gravels too thin & when the fish are chasing eachother or forageing for food its knocking the dirt up? but it seems unlikely as it never happened in my other 4 tanks. I keep opening up my filter & its full of gunk & silty-muck, so i keep washing it in tank water & i dont know where all the mucks coming from! it seems im having to clean the filter far too often as an Eheim of that size should be able to cope with 6 goldfish no problem, but its struggling.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; My guess is that the dirt under the gravel is the source of the cloudiness. Maybe a bacterial bloom or just something in the dirt being released into the water.

 

[emma1981]

Thanks, ok I will put in some more gravel so they cant get to the dirt level, this will eliminate that, I opened my filter yesterday & yet again it needed cleaning! every 4days for an Eheim is madness!! I cant think whats going on! so what I will do is take the filter completely apart & clean all the tubeing as it looks grotty & probably isn't helping!
I will let you know how it goes & update the post.