Cloudy water

[carl]

i cleared out about 2/3 of water and its still cloudy any ideas

 

[mik]

Carl, do you use a gravel syphon often and have you given time to settle?

Can't remember are using sand, gravel or something else as a substrate?

 

[heather]

my water is always cloudy after i change it, even if i put clear water into the tank. i give it about a week and it becomes crystal clear

 

[kaysie]

often when cycling an aquarium, the water can experience 'bacterial blooms' causing it to look cloudy. Like Heather said, after a few days, this goes back to normal. But if your water is cloudy EVERY time you change the water, you probably havent cycled the tank (or you're using substrate which causes particles to be suspended)

 

[kim]

Carl,

from what i can remember you have sand yeah?

Me and Mik have had think theres are a few questions.

1. Did you wash the sand out before putting it in the tank? Not just washed but completely wash so that there is nothing in the water and it is clear.

2. Have you let the tank cycle fully? If it hasnt it could be a bacteria bloom.

3. Where is the tank? If it is in front of a window or in direct sunlight this could also cause a bacteria bloom.

Just a few thoughts that we had...

 

[richard]

I use sand in almost all of my tanks, and I've experienced the same situation. I start with regular cheap sand from the hardware store and rinse it a lot. Even after thorough rinsing, the sand still makes the water cloudy a lot when you get it into the tank. Once the substrate layer is settled and not disturbed, the water clears after a few days and looks fine. When I go to change the water though, I usually pour the water in and stir up a bunch of sand and the cloudiness is released from the sand. I would try to maybe pour the water in a way to disturb the sand as little as possible. Also... eventually all of the cloudiness will be released from the sand. My tanks older than a few months or so never get cloudy from sand anymore.

 

[mik]

On filling tanks:

Obviously you want to disturb the sand as little as possible. Two things spring to my mind.

You could be taking too much water out of the tank and dropping the water level so low that when you pour new water in you can't help but disrupt the top layer. Try changing a smaller amount of water everyday instead of 20% weekly. Use a beer glass to remove a pint and replace one. In a 3 ft tank if you did 6 or 7 pints a day you should be able to keep things right. Remember to go through he usual routine of letting water age before adding it to the tank though.

In a deeper tank say 400-450mm deep try a deep bowl, like you get with a food-mixer. Pour the water into the bowl and let it dissipate over the sides. When finished, tip the bowl to one side to lift out (slowly) otherwise you'll end up no better off.

Personally I prefer gravel, pebbles and slate. But i pour new water in using a bowl too.

Good luck

 

[carl]

i cleaned the sand really realy loads and it isnt in front of a windoe the tank gets very little sunlight

 

[jennifer]

I think it could still be from the sand. There is one other possibility for cloudy water that I know of. If the tank is just set-up there can sometime be an inorganic precipitate that comes out of the water. I have no idea what it is, but it's not a bacterial bloom. When it's really bad, you'll even get puffs of stuff along the bottom of the tank. I used to live in an area with this kind of water problem. It clears up on its own after a couple of weeks.

 

[charlie]

have you thought about switching to aquarium sand? the stuff i use is pre-washed and has never caused even the briefest of cloudings. i'm sure it's going to be more expensive than builders sand - but if it solves the problem it's gotta be worth it

 

[carl]

it is aquarium sand and i cleaned it loads i bought it from a petshop