Really cloudy water

I have searched the web endlessly and looked at the causes for cloudy water. None of them are anything I have done (such as overfeeding, overstocking, etc.) Unless my cycle is completely crashed (which I don't think it is because it was cloudy then went to CRYSTAL CLEAR for about a few days... now back to cloudy) I don't know what else is causing this or even how to fix it.
Again, my parameters are fine it is just really cloudy only about an inch deep visibility ..
Any help? Every comment is appreciated. If anyone can point me in the right direction or cite me to the right info!!

bacterial bloom? Is this a newly cycled tank?

Luca1980 said:

bacterial bloom? Is this a newly cycled tank?

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It has been established for about 8mo-year. I may have killed off the bacteria somehow although I don't know what could've causes that.

It would be unlikely that your water parameters would be fine if your bacteria had been killed off.
Would you mind posting some pictures of your set up before and after a water change, so we can see if there is anything that might explain your problem.
At the moment I can't think of anything helpful, but I'm hoping that looking at some pictures might trigger some discussion that will help.
How are your axolotls behaving? Are they having any problems with the cloudiness?
Have you changed anything recently - decor, plants, etc?
What happened when the water went clear? Have you checked that your filter is working properly? Could it be stopping and starting?
Fingers crossed that we can help get to the bottom of the problem eventually.

Donna001 said:

It would be unlikely that your water parameters would be fine if your bacteria had been killed off.
Would you mind posting some pictures of your set up before and after a water change, so we can see if there is anything that might explain your problem.
At the moment I can't think of anything helpful, but I'm hoping that looking at some pictures might trigger some discussion that will help.
How are your axolotls behaving? Are they having any problems with the cloudiness?
Have you changed anything recently - decor, plants, etc?
What happened when the water went clear? Have you checked that your filter is working properly? Could it be stopping and starting?
Fingers crossed that we can help get to the bottom of the problem eventually.

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I did not change the water yet but this is what it looks like currently. I will try to get pictures of the water change tomorrow. (The picture is kind of dim, sorry, the light made a huge reflection). I also attached a photo of the filter itself to see if something is fishy with it.

My axolotl seems to be behaving fine. His gills are a bit stubbier but not by much. It is hard to find him when he goes to the back of the tank because of the cloudiness!
I haven't changed anything at all recently. I put in the stone aerator since the cloudiness occured but that hasn't changed much.

When the water went clear... I don't think I did anything differently. (I added the aerator and the addition of the new filter but the effects weren't instant it must've been a few days+ so it cant be attributed to that (?)).
I do know I held off on feeding him for a few days because I did not want the water conditions to get bad because I figured the cloudiness was caused from little/dying bacteria colonies.. So I did not want the food to overwhelm the tank and mess it up more.
I did end up feeding him though but I'd say every 2 or 3 days.

My filter seems to be working fine I put in a new filter along with the old one (1.5/2 weeks ago, I'd say) to increase filtration.

Do you think purchasing a plant such as a java fern might help to clear the water? It might not help because my parameters are fine, I will check now.
Thanks for the help!

Parameter are:
pH- 8.2 (that's how it normally is)
Ammonia- 0ppm
Nitrite-0ppm
Nitriate- about 20ppm

Your parameters are good. I'm guessing that you have quite hard water.
So far I can't think of what could be causing the cloudiness.
Do you clean the sand using a syphon? Do you disturb the sand with the syphon to make sure there are no air pockets or any food/poop particles inthe sand?
I'm grasping at straws here as I can't put my finger on why this is happening.
I'm hoping that some more people will throw some ideas in.

Donna001 said:

Your parameters are good. I'm guessing that you have quite hard water.
So far I can't think of what could be causing the cloudiness.
Do you clean the sand using a syphon? Do you disturb the sand with the syphon to make sure there are no air pockets or any food/poop particles inthe sand?
I'm grasping at straws here as I can't put my finger on why this is happening.
I'm hoping that some more people will throw some ideas in.

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Hmm I don't siphon deep into the sand but I do get out the particles sitting on top of the water when I siphon..
Something weird I noticed is that my ammonia test tube eventually turns orange after sitting there overnight or so, maybe it is reacting with something else in the tank water over time? Just an idea, I tried to google that but others just said it could be a dirty test tube.

Yup, I have hard water, on the test strips I'm almost sure its the highest one..

That corner of my room is dark and the sides of the tank are covered with syrofoam, would letting in light help? I honestly don't know what would help it!!

I have hard water too. Most sites say that axolotls prefer harder water than soft, and it helps to keep the tank environment stable, so you won't get pH crashes, so all good there.
I also usually only syphon off the top of the sand. My gang move the sand around enough themselves for me not to worry about air pockets or anything. The sand in my tanks isn't deep, less than an inch, but enough so they can grip the bottom of the tank, and the decor doesn't move around too much.
Don't worry about your ammonia tube going orange overnight, the results after 5 minutes are what are important.
Is your water pH of 8.2 inthe tank the same as the pH of water from the tap? I have a higher pH in my tanks than my tap water, and I'm starting to wonder what is causing that. I'm going to be handing that question over to the people on the fish forum I use, so if I find any useful information there that might help us here I'll let you know.

Donna001 said:

I have hard water too. Most sites say that axolotls prefer harder water than soft, and it helps to keep the tank environment stable, so you won't get pH crashes, so all good there.
I also usually only syphon off the top of the sand. My gang move the sand around enough themselves for me not to worry about air pockets or anything. The sand in my tanks isn't deep, less than an inch, but enough so they can grip the bottom of the tank, and the decor doesn't move around too much.
Don't worry about your ammonia tube going orange overnight, the results after 5 minutes are what are important.
Is your water pH of 8.2 inthe tank the same as the pH of water from the tap? I have a higher pH in my tanks than my tap water, and I'm starting to wonder what is causing that. I'm going to be handing that question over to the people on the fish forum I use, so if I find any useful information there that might help us here I'll let you know.

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Alright Thank you! I will check my tap water's pH when I get home. It is still cloudy today but the plastic parts in the filter are full of big globs of bacteria. Everything seems so healthy so I do not know why it is this cloudy!!

Adding live plants may help? Even if they don't help with the cloudiness, your axies will love them. I have vallineria, java fern and anubias in mine and all four of my axies are obsessed with hanging out in them

Is the cloudy stuff in the water like a thin, white/milky film? I'm a new newt keeper, but I've been keeping fish for years, and I've had that cloudy white water. It started when I added some driftwood and leaves to my tank. It started spreading almost like an underwater cobweb. It didn't get better after I removed the wood and leaves. I had to clean out the whole tank.

I'd recommend some more frequent water changes to see if that helps.

Good luck.

Luca1980 said:

Adding live plants may help? Even if they don't help with the cloudiness, your axies will love them. I have vallineria, java fern and anubias in mine and all four of my axies are obsessed with hanging out in them

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Cool thanks I will have to try that!

MnGuy said:

Is the cloudy stuff in the water like a thin, white/milky film? I'm a new newt keeper, but I've been keeping fish for years, and I've had that cloudy white water. It started when I added some driftwood and leaves to my tank. It started spreading almost like an underwater cobweb. It didn't get better after I removed the wood and leaves. I had to clean out the whole tank.

I'd recommend some more frequent water changes to see if that helps.

Good luck.

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Thanks! I will try doing frequent water changes. The cloudiness is more of a dusty-transparenty type color rather than a milky/white film. There is a picture attached further above in this thread, but I will try to get a new one! It looks a bit white in the picture but I believe that is because of the glass' reflection.

I'm not finding any useful information that could help us to answer this problem.
How is your tank looking now? Are the water changes helping?

Hey, I just did about a 30% water change yesterday, I'm holding off on today as I dont want to remove too much at once, and tomorrow I will do another 30% water change.

I bought some java fern [It's called windelov java fern] (just today) to maybe help clear it. However, there is some very prominent brown patches on them, do you think I should return them for better looking ones or is it nothing to be concerned of? I don't want it to end up being an algae and mess up my tank further.

Ok so,
My axolotl seems to have this weird dusty stuff on him. I've seen it before, it normally doesn't do harm to him.. I believe. However, I noticed its on his eye (which could fall off in a few hours but It seriously concerns me). Maybe all of this stuff collected on him because he stays in one position for long periods of time?

Also, this white algae type stuff is attaching itself to the new plants I put in. Any ideas to what it could be? I've had this problem before..

I'm shaking up the nitrate bottle as I type, but so far my parameters are still,
Ammonia- 0ppm
Nitrite- 0 ppm
pH-8.2

*Also my pH from the tap is 7.6*, hold on this is so strange its been about a minute and my ph is reading something like 6.4 It turned really light
Although my parameters are fine, I guess if I have a serious algae/fungus type problem it could still harm my axolotl!

ANOTHER UPDATE** the fuzzy on his eye is gone, and his head doesn't look too bad anymore and it hasn't been that long. hmmmmm
Nitrate is 20ppm

Another update wow sorry for the spam, his eye is still a little cloudy I guess I just missed it earlier.