# Can't stand it '



## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

Dear all 
I have been fighting with cloudy water for months now and I cannot bear it anymore! It's killing the hobby for me ! In need of help any tips or any help you guys have for lousy cloudy water !?
My water is always perfect paramter wise nothing ever ! Harmless cloudy water ! Even after WC and anything else 
?
I have never exp this ! 
I honestly either blame and aquarium itself glass or my light is too bright white :a
Thank for any input people


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## SpeedFactor (Dec 1, 2011)

My tanks used to get cloudy when I don't properly cycle them before introducing new fish. I also had problems when I overstocked my tank and the filter couldn't handle the bio load.


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## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

That's te thing the setup is not new Atleast four months old can't be cycle right ? That's the thing now my eheim pro 3 and AC 110 should be fine plus no way of checking bio load. I'm stumped  any other ideas ? I am increasing a new filter next few days


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## blurry (May 10, 2010)

How big is your tank?


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## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

120! Could the glass or lights or bare bottom be causing this clody water


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## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

With and without my main light ?


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## keitarosan (Apr 21, 2010)

Put in some Seachem Purigen in your filter. Make sure your filter is also rated for above 120g.


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## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

Lol already have more than needed purigen added month ago !


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## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

Yeah eheim pro 3 should be fine that's what's worrying so maybe inside filter but I clean once a month


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## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

I have check and tried everything even carbon and I even tried clarity that chemical ! And the chemcal didn't even clear it up fully !


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## blurry (May 10, 2010)

Do you have direct sunlight hitting the tank and how long is your light on usually?


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## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

Some sunlight not much but even wen blinds shut all day no diff so doubt sunlight , my light is no more on 6-7 hours


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## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

With just room light on its looks clearer :s


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

How do you clean your filters? If you kill off the bacteria in your filter, you tank may go into another cycling period. It may be fluctuations with your water parameters, too much light, or killed off bacteria.

If you can give us a bit more info, maybe we can help you out a bit better and give you better information to help you resolve your tank issue. i've filled out what I've abstracted from your posts. Help us help you.


Size of tank: 120g
Type of lighting (include size of fixture): (36" T5HO, 24" T8, 48" LED,&#8230
Duration of photoperiod: (the number of hours you have your lights on per day)
Type of substrate: bb
Temperature of your tank: (celcius or Fahrenheit)
pH:
GH:
KH: (do a GH test of your water)
Nitrate levels: (provide a ppm measure of nitrate if known, unknown&#8230
How often do you do water change:
How much water do you change:
Type of fish and how many in the tank: ray, aro,....
What do you feed your fish and how often:
Do you have algae in the tank?
Description of your tank problem: cloudy water


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## sunshine_1965 (Aug 16, 2011)

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change when doing water changes? If you can try and put something across the back glass to see if that helps. Sometimes makes a difference. If it is cycling it will take a few days to clear up. Hope it clears soon for you.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

I think it is a bacteria bloom. Have you consider installing a small UV?


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## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

I do weekly water change 15-30 percent ! Kind of extending it now since with more WC more cloudy ! The more I leave tank without wc is gets abit clearer but as clear as the pictures get above so still not clear at all  I had a UV bulb burnt out so now its running on an old UV bulb ' can't seem to find a replacement ! When I clean my canister its tank water and the baskets r only rinsed in tnk water only sponges throughly cleaned , basically te whole canister is bio and purigen


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## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

If you can give us a bit more info, maybe we can help you out a bit better and give you better information to help you resolve your tank issue. i've filled out what I've abstracted from your posts. Help us help you. 



* Size of tank: 120g

* Type of lighting : coralife bright white light not sure details 36" with 8 top fans :s 

* Duration of photoperiod : 6-8 hours a day max 10 if out

* Type of substrate: bb

* Temperature of your tank: 24-26

* pH:6.8-7

* GH:NA

* KH: 30 under but their

* Nitrate levels: near zero 
* How often do you do water change:1/ week longer past week 

* How much water do you change:15-30 percent max 

* Type of fish and how many in the tank: two small rays ,  African odeo pike, aro,two dats , mbu, pike chilid 

* What do you feed your fish and how often:hikari massiovre for rays and shrimp and prawn for rest 

* Do you have algae in the tank?no algae at all so doubt count be sun light problem ?

* Description of your tank problem: cloudy water constant constant constant ! Pushing me away god damn always same never better 

Thanks for help guys ! Hopefully we can solve it with everyone exp


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

Try doing larger water changes like 50% or more... then clean your filter once a month, don't bother cleaning the media... just rinse the sponges. Use seachem prime when changing water. Is there any reading for ammonia?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## sunshine_1965 (Aug 16, 2011)

Just a question could it be caused by the food? I can only imagine how messy that is to feed.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Foxtail said:


> Try doing larger water changes like 50% or more... then clean your filter once a month, don't bother cleaning the media... just rinse the sponges. Use seachem prime when changing water. Is there any reading for ammonia?
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


why would you not clean the bio-media if filter cleaning is just once a month? The bio-media will get clulked up with stuffs. It is a good idea to rinse them with TANK WATER while doing the cleaning of filter. For me, I use tap water to clean the sponge of any canister filters, but I ALWAYS use TANK WATER to clean the bio-media.

I do agree to do a bit more than 15%. It is hard to believe your nitrate is closed to zero as you have some heavy bio-loader in your tank. Did you shake the test really well?


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

Sorry, that's kinda what I meant... I never rinse the media, I just put it in a bucket of tank water still in the tray and shake it a bit before putting it back. I was just thinking he may have been cleaning all the beneficial bacteria out of the filter...

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

Okay thanks for the help! I have finally had some clear water today! Thank you to Charles the power head issue I only have one on tank now one direction and the water changes ! I haven't done one in a week almost so now its much much more clear I don't really understand how WC would cause cloudiness that much I have been changin water alot past few months:s ammonia zero and nitrate is low , ALSO my Ph plumped down very very low way yellow on the kit as far as it goes I would say and that's the second time this month ?! Then I added kh booster and turn lights off an hour later I checked and MUCH clearer in one hour and ph 6-5 so higher !! Can ph cause that too ? Also why would my PH plumps so low ? I presume I didn't notice before since every WC I would add higher ph and balance it out but the more water stay longer drops ?
Thanks guys hopefully it will keep getinf better


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Chassan said:


> Okay thanks for the help! I have finally had some clear water today! Thank you to Charles the power head issue I only have one on tank now one direction and the water changes ! I haven't done one in a week almost so now its much much more clear I don't really understand how WC would cause cloudiness that much I have been changin water alot past few months:s ammonia zero and nitrate is low , ALSO my Ph plumped down very very low way yellow on the kit as far as it goes I would say and that's the second time this month ?! Then I added kh booster and turn lights off an hour later I checked and MUCH clearer in one hour and ph 6-5 so higher !! Can ph cause that too ? Also why would my PH plumps so low ? I presume I didn't notice before since every WC I would add higher ph and balance it out but the more water stay longer drops ?
> Thanks guys hopefully it will keep getinf better


I've never experienced it myself so correct me if I'm wrong, I believe fish waste is acidic, therefore if you don't have any buffers or substrate (to buffer) then you just gradually get decreasing pH? Adding kH booster should help.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

your PH is lower and continue to lower because you have no buffer material in your tank to stable it. When there is waste in your water, the process of your bacteria changing waste to anmonia, nitrite, to nitrate will reduce your carbonate in your water and therefore, lowering your ph.

It is not a good idea to have a big jump on ph. Keep your eyes on the ray as they don't like a fast ph swing.


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## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

I understand thanks so every day or two I must add a buffer ? Isn't that abit to much ? Since I added KH booster yday and now its back down AGIAN ? Also in regards of using too much all buffer would my KH reach too high levels ? And is that dangerous ? 
Not really looking forwrd to using alkaline buffer every two days so any other ideas to maintain ph 7-8 would be good , my tap is 6ish


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## sunshine_1965 (Aug 16, 2011)

Water changes every couple of days would help keep water clean and hopefully maintain an average PH level. If your tap water is low 6's you are buffering all the time anyways. Try adding some crushed coral to help increase PH levels. If you do not want any substrate on the bottom of the tank then fill a couple of media bags and place in the back corners of the tank.


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## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

Yes I agree but if I do a weeky or 4 day WC my water clouds till I leave it for few days really bad so il keep testing water I guess for ammonia and nitrite and ph , in regards to crushed coral I would not mind a substrate but for stingrays the coral would not be suitable correct ? 
Correct me if I'm wrong but if nitrite and ammonia low WC is not necessary once a week ,maybe 10 days ? 
I was thinking of a sand subtrate but read online maintenance and pockets of bad Bactria r prone so thinking BB is less WC 
Thank you


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

If you are in vancouver, your ph should be just the same as mine... 7-7.2 from tap.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

I've had to deal with dropping ph as well due to the chemical processes that are part of the normal nitrogen cycle. In my situation with discus I only needed to add some crushed coral in my canister and it was sufficient to buffer my water so the ph didn't drop like a rock.


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## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

Well I guess il fill anther canister with corals crushed 
Thanks to all thank god my tank clear and well finally no murky 
Appreciate your time


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