cloudy water

[Nathan Manship]

Hello
My wife's aunt has a tank and she is having trouble with the water being
very cloudy. She has 2 tanks, both use the same water, but one is fine and
the other cloudy. She has had this trouble for a month or so, she has tried
water changes and cleaned the tank. She has also changed the filter a number
of times. Any ideas what could be causing this?

Thanks
Nathan

[Justin Boucher]

There are two main kinds of cloudiness: White (milky) or green.

Green water is indicative of an aglae bloom. Too much light (natural and/or
atrificial) and overfeeding are main contributors to thistype of water.

White, or milky, water is a bacterial bloom. Too much waste in the tank for
proper processing. Overstocking and overfeeding.

Which one does your aunt have?

Justin

"Nathan Manship" > wrote in message
...
> Hello
> My wife's aunt has a tank and she is having trouble with the water being
> very cloudy. She has 2 tanks, both use the same water, but one is fine and
> the other cloudy. She has had this trouble for a month or so, she has
tried
> water changes and cleaned the tank. She has also changed the filter a
number
> of times. Any ideas what could be causing this?
>
> Thanks
> Nathan
>
>

[Nathan Manship]

She says cloudy white. She has also cleaned out the tank completely along
with putting in new gravel. I told her maybe algae, but she claims it
doesn't get anymore light than other tank.


"Justin Boucher" > wrote in message
news:LkkSe.557$Sx4.181@trnddc06...
> There are two main kinds of cloudiness: White (milky) or green.
>
> Green water is indicative of an aglae bloom. Too much light (natural
and/or
> atrificial) and overfeeding are main contributors to thistype of water.
>
> White, or milky, water is a bacterial bloom. Too much waste in the tank
for
> proper processing. Overstocking and overfeeding.
>
> Which one does your aunt have?
>
> Justin
>
> "Nathan Manship" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hello
> > My wife's aunt has a tank and she is having trouble with the water
being
> > very cloudy. She has 2 tanks, both use the same water, but one is fine
and
> > the other cloudy. She has had this trouble for a month or so, she has
> tried
> > water changes and cleaned the tank. She has also changed the filter a
> number
> > of times. Any ideas what could be causing this?
> >
> > Thanks
> > Nathan
> >
> >
>
>

[Justin Boucher]

Okay, thanks.

Cloudy white suggests a bacteria bloom. I would consider the bio load in
the tank. How many fish are there in the tank? Compared to the other tank?
Fish sizes? Would the tank be considered overstocked? How often are they
being fed? I only feed my fish once every 2 days. IMO, feeding more than
once a day is just asking for problems.

How long has the tank been setup and running before the cloudiness began?
Many new tanks can go through a period of cloudy water while the tank
cycles. If this is the case, the cloudiness typically goes away after a
while. If the tank has been up and running for 6 months or more, then I
would consider the other factors suggested above.

You mentioned that she has cleaned out the tank several times hoping to fix
the problem. Did she also clean out the filter media? Your original post
said she changed the filter a number of times. If so, the tank is trying to
cycle again and perhaps the cloudiness is the common bacterial cycling bloom
that I mentioned. You may want to "borrow" some filter media from the good
tank to speed up the cycling.

Justin


"Nathan Manship" > wrote in message
...
> She says cloudy white. She has also cleaned out the tank completely along
> with putting in new gravel. I told her maybe algae, but she claims it
> doesn't get anymore light than other tank.
>
>
> "Justin Boucher" > wrote in message
> news:LkkSe.557$Sx4.181@trnddc06...
> > There are two main kinds of cloudiness: White (milky) or green.
> >
> > Green water is indicative of an aglae bloom. Too much light (natural
> and/or
> > atrificial) and overfeeding are main contributors to thistype of water.
> >
> > White, or milky, water is a bacterial bloom. Too much waste in the tank
> for
> > proper processing. Overstocking and overfeeding.
> >
> > Which one does your aunt have?
> >
> > Justin
> >
> > "Nathan Manship" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Hello
> > > My wife's aunt has a tank and she is having trouble with the water
> being
> > > very cloudy. She has 2 tanks, both use the same water, but one is fine
> and
> > > the other cloudy. She has had this trouble for a month or so, she has
> > tried
> > > water changes and cleaned the tank. She has also changed the filter a
> > number
> > > of times. Any ideas what could be causing this?
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > > Nathan
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

[Nathan Manship]

Thanks for the onfo. I will pass it along, I hope it helps her out. The tank
had been operating for about 6 months before this happened, so it is
probably overfeeding.

Nathan


"Justin Boucher" > wrote in message
news:pXsSe.9830$cy4.3104@trnddc05...
> Okay, thanks.
>
> Cloudy white suggests a bacteria bloom. I would consider the bio load in
> the tank. How many fish are there in the tank? Compared to the other
tank?
> Fish sizes? Would the tank be considered overstocked? How often are they
> being fed? I only feed my fish once every 2 days. IMO, feeding more than
> once a day is just asking for problems.
>
> How long has the tank been setup and running before the cloudiness began?
> Many new tanks can go through a period of cloudy water while the tank
> cycles. If this is the case, the cloudiness typically goes away after a
> while. If the tank has been up and running for 6 months or more, then I
> would consider the other factors suggested above.
>
> You mentioned that she has cleaned out the tank several times hoping to
fix
> the problem. Did she also clean out the filter media? Your original post
> said she changed the filter a number of times. If so, the tank is trying
to
> cycle again and perhaps the cloudiness is the common bacterial cycling
bloom
> that I mentioned. You may want to "borrow" some filter media from the
good
> tank to speed up the cycling.
>
> Justin
>
>
> "Nathan Manship" > wrote in message
> ...
> > She says cloudy white. She has also cleaned out the tank completely
along
> > with putting in new gravel. I told her maybe algae, but she claims it
> > doesn't get anymore light than other tank.
> >
> >
> > "Justin Boucher" > wrote in message
> > news:LkkSe.557$Sx4.181@trnddc06...
> > > There are two main kinds of cloudiness: White (milky) or green.
> > >
> > > Green water is indicative of an aglae bloom. Too much light (natural
> > and/or
> > > atrificial) and overfeeding are main contributors to thistype of
water.
> > >
> > > White, or milky, water is a bacterial bloom. Too much waste in the
tank
> > for
> > > proper processing. Overstocking and overfeeding.
> > >
> > > Which one does your aunt have?
> > >
> > > Justin
> > >
> > > "Nathan Manship" > wrote in message
> > > ...
> > > > Hello
> > > > My wife's aunt has a tank and she is having trouble with the water
> > being
> > > > very cloudy. She has 2 tanks, both use the same water, but one is
fine
> > and
> > > > the other cloudy. She has had this trouble for a month or so, she
has
> > > tried
> > > > water changes and cleaned the tank. She has also changed the filter
a
> > > number
> > > > of times. Any ideas what could be causing this?
> > > >
> > > > Thanks
> > > > Nathan
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

[Ray Martini]

Cleaning out the tank completely, changing the gravel and changing the
filter is only adding to the problem. That's causing the tank to cycle again
hence another bacteria bloom. Leave it alone and do 25% water changes a
couple times a week. It will work itself out.


"Nathan Manship" > wrote in message
...
> She says cloudy white. She has also cleaned out the tank completely along
> with putting in new gravel. I told her maybe algae, but she claims it
> doesn't get anymore light than other tank.
>
>
> "Justin Boucher" > wrote in message
> news:LkkSe.557$Sx4.181@trnddc06...
>> There are two main kinds of cloudiness: White (milky) or green.
>>
>> Green water is indicative of an aglae bloom. Too much light (natural
> and/or
>> atrificial) and overfeeding are main contributors to thistype of water.
>>
>> White, or milky, water is a bacterial bloom. Too much waste in the tank
> for
>> proper processing. Overstocking and overfeeding.
>>
>> Which one does your aunt have?
>>
>> Justin
>>
>> "Nathan Manship" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > Hello
>> > My wife's aunt has a tank and she is having trouble with the water
> being
>> > very cloudy. She has 2 tanks, both use the same water, but one is fine
> and
>> > the other cloudy. She has had this trouble for a month or so, she has
>> tried
>> > water changes and cleaned the tank. She has also changed the filter a
>> number
>> > of times. Any ideas what could be causing this?
>> >
>> > Thanks
>> > Nathan
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>

[A Man]

From my notes:

Cloudy water
============
- Bacterial bloom
Reduce the food and other waste contributing to the nitrates in the tank.
Even dying plants can contribute to nitrates. Crayfish and fiddler crabs like
to eat dead plants.

- Bad fish food
One user was feeding "NUTRAFIN MAX Goldfish Color Enhancing Pellets" and
getting cloudy water. They decided to feed them some of the flake food that
had been given to me " NUTRIFIN MAX Goldfish Flake Food" and the cloudy water
cleared up.
http://www.goldfishinfo.com/water.htm#ammonia

These pink pellets were affecting the water clarity. After discontinuing the
pink pellets, water clears up naturally.



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