# to make water clear



## Johnnyfishtanks (Apr 21, 2010)

what to do you can do to make water clear . i have a 180 gallon little cloudy .
what are the things i can do to make it clear . and this goes for other tanks too all the info will help thanks .

i want crystal clear water at all times and just can get it


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## beN (Apr 21, 2010)

well i dont know what kind of filters you have on there??
how many??
maybe add more?

how often do u do the water change?


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## Johnnyfishtanks (Apr 21, 2010)

Just a rena XP4 im gonna get more filtration soon but not right now. 50% change a week 
seems with more fish and all the feeding its more cloudy. not like puffers . when i had a puffer my tank was so clean all the time .


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## Johnnyfishtanks (Apr 21, 2010)

i was think of getting another cannister and going all sponge in it and micro filter sponge like stuff


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## beN (Apr 21, 2010)

get a AC110 to go with that XP4. 

that should help clear up, maybe..

i never want to be certain lol..


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## taureandragon76 (Apr 21, 2010)

I have two AC110's and 1 xp3 on my 135g, the water itself is always clear. The xp4 only does 450gph so even with two of them your only getting 900gph on your 180g which only 5x per hour turnover. I find it best to aim for at least 10x per hour turnover. I think if you aim for 1800gph filtration on your tank and keep up with your weekly 50% changes your water will always be crystal clear. The AC110 does 500gph and you could easily buy 2 of those for the same price as 1 xp4. With 2 AC's on your tank plus the xp4 you have your now at 1450gph which brings you alot closer to where you want to be for the same cost as one filter that does half of what these two will do. The AC's also do have quite a bit of room for bio media.

If your after the canister look and don't like hang on the back filters you will for sure have to spend a bit more money and you may want to look at something like running 2 FX5's. With xp4's you would need 4 of them to get to the ideal water volume turnover.


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## Acipenser (Apr 21, 2010)

If you have messy eaters like big cichlids you can get clearer water by running and AC110 or 2 with pre filters then foam and filter floss inside the media basket, I had this along with an FX5 on my 125G with lots of ciclids and had pretty clean water!


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## Johnnyfishtanks (Apr 21, 2010)

taureandragon76 said:


> I have two AC110's and 1 xp3 on my 135g, the water itself is always clear. The xp4 only does 450gph so even with two of them your only getting 900gph on your 180g which only 5x per hour turnover. I find it best to aim for at least 10x per hour turnover. I think if you aim for 1800gph filtration on your tank and keep up with your weekly 50% changes your water will always be crystal clear. The AC110 does 500gph and you could easily buy 2 of those for the same price as 1 xp4. With 2 AC's on your tank plus the xp4 you have your now at 1450gph which brings you alot closer to where you want to be for the same cost as one filter that does half of what these two will do. The AC's also do have quite a bit of room for bio media.
> 
> If your after the canister look and don't like hang on the back filters you will for sure have to spend a bit more money and you may want to look at something like running 2 FX5's. With xp4's you would need 4 of them to get to the ideal water volume turnover.


i think in a 180 gallon planted tank this would be a little over board for the plant circulation. would it not ?
i was just thinking like 2 rena Xp4 and maybe something else to make water clear. and i dont have a puffer anymore so would i still want 10X .


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

purigen works good too


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## ncutler (Apr 26, 2010)

+1 for purigen, but in this particular case, I suspect as others have said, it's mostly from lack of flow through filtration.


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## Johnnyfishtanks (Apr 21, 2010)

some time i think it my metal halides that make my water look cloudy


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## King-eL (Apr 21, 2010)

My UV lights took care cloudy water for me. Even with massive feeding my tank always looks crystal clear. Before without the UV it will cloude up after I'm done feeding them.


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## Johnnyfishtanks (Apr 21, 2010)

i was thinking uv


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## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

Agree with the suggestions above.
Just to clarify - what's your bio-load in that 180 - how many fish - sizes ?
That may be affecting things more than you think.
I have found over the years that large HOB filters do a great job - I have 2 A/C 110's on my 75 gal tank - using foam pads, Purigen, & filter floss - the latter which I change out at least weekly. Also do 50% w/c's 3 X per week, and my water is pretty much crystal clear all the time. I use pool filter sand & vacuum well with each w/c. Works for me. 
Hope this helps.
Paul


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## CanadaPleco (May 13, 2010)

more water changes is always good too. some tanks I do 30-40% change on every other day, zero mechincal filteration just sponges and crystal clear water.


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## Acipenser (Apr 21, 2010)

Thats alot of water changes I change maybe 20% once a week or two if I am busy in my 65 G.


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