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water still dirty after doing partial water change...?

koala

Asian Newt Group
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I just did a partial water change on my 10 gallon tank. After doing that, I was really annoyed because even after that work the water still looks really dirty. It has brown poo floating around and a few leftover pieces of bloodworms. Is the filter not doing it's job? It's a 5-15 gallon whisper filter, and it was brand new a few weeks ago, so it should be fine. What is the problem?
 

Jennewt

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Removing the poo and the leftover bloodworms is a separate (additional) task from the partial water change. Leftover food should be removed immediately after every feeding, so it shouldn't have been there to start with. What are you using to remove the water? You need a siphon or turkey baster, so that you can remove the water from the bottom of the tank.

My advice is to go back immediately and do another partial water change until all the crud is gone. And rinse any crud out of the filter using dechlorinated water. Your tank is still in the cycling period, so the crud (in the tank, or in the filter) can create ammonia, which is toxic. Until the cycling period is over (about a month), you need to do MORE than the recommended water changes, perhaps as often as every day.
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml
 
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