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need help with cloudy water

Discussion in 'Aquarium Equipment & Decor' started by Anonymous, Feb 16, 2009.

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  1. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    cloudy water

    my tank is always cloudy... no matter hw much i clean it... after 3 or 4 days it stays clear and gets cloudy again... i hav goldfish, carb, oscar,catfish, and tinfoils in my tank... i hav 1 bed filter and a oxygen filter which can also be used as a filter at the same time... im v dissapointed coz i always want to see my tank clean n shiny.... i also hav a blue coloured underwater lamp to make my tank look nice and clear....bt still its not dat clear..... can any1 help me??.........
     
    Anonymous, Feb 16, 2009
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  2. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    Re: cloudy water

    What size is your tank ?
    How long has it been running ?

    Undergravel filters are not effective at filtering water. The basically just pull the waste to the bottom of the tank where it sits.
     
    Anthony, Feb 16, 2009
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  3. stevenrox

    stevenrox New Member

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    Re: cloudy water

    yea one time i had to clean it i ended up removing all my fishes with huge chunks of cr@p to different tank and doing like a 90% watcer change
    im never using under gravel vacs again
     
    stevenrox, Feb 16, 2009
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  4. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: cloudy water

    Im going to guess that your tank is between ahhh 10 and 55 gallons. If so, thats your problem, buy two or three 125s for those fish and you wont have problems.
     
    Anonymous, Feb 17, 2009
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  5. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: cloudy water

    thanx 4da comments n suggestions.... everybody is so friendly in here..... my tank is length 2ft, width 1.50 ft and height is 1ft.......... i just started my tank abt 1 month ago...... so wat shud i do to make it look clear?..... wat kind of methods are there?..... hope to hear from u guyz soon... tc
     
    Anonymous, Feb 18, 2009
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  6. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    Re: cloudy water

    Are you doing weekly water changes ? That should help. Also, don't overfeed the fish. Depending on what food you're using that can cloud the water A LOT.
     
    Anthony, Feb 18, 2009
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  7. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: cloudy water

    thanx... yes i hav started changin water every week... and i'v also stopped over feedin..... its clear wen i do dat....bt i want them to stay clear without this much work... hehehe..
     
    Anonymous, Feb 18, 2009
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  8. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    Re: cloudy water

    :) You have to put work into the tank to keep your fish healthy.
     
    Anthony, Feb 18, 2009
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  9. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: cloudy water

    ya i knw dat... hehe........bt dont u think the tank shud be more clear without doin water changes every week that much.. do filters really help to keep them clear?..... wud it help if i use more filters?
     
    Anonymous, Feb 19, 2009
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  10. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    Re: cloudy water

    A real filter would likely have a big improvement on water clarity.
     
    Anthony, Feb 19, 2009
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  11. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: cloudy water

    ok... hmmmm..... wht kind of filter wud do the magic?....... shower al ur suggestions on me my friend.... m waitin 4 ur replies... thnx 4da help..........tc
     
    Anonymous, Feb 20, 2009
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  12. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Re: cloudy water

    Those are messy fish to begin with.
    Goldfish and the oscars being the worst out of the bunch imo.

    Without knowing the actual amount of gallons that your tanks capacity makes it difficult to recommend a good filtration system to help keep the tank cleaner, however I do recommend going with major "overkill" when it comes to the gph that the filter claims it will do... EVEN IF gph is certified.

    FOR EXAMPLE:I have a 90g planted community tank and I'm using a combination of "overkill" filtration on it. My filtration consists of the Plants, a Rena Filstar XP4 canister filter that is suggested for tanks up to 260 gallons, and two hang on back Marineland Emperor 400 filters which are supposed to be rated for up to 80 gallons each. A quick tally and you'll see that I'm filtering the 90gallon like it is roughly 420gallons!
    Just to give you a good idea I'd aim at overfiltering by about 4 times your actual tanks size. (In my case 90x4=360...I'm at 420)

    AS others have said, be careful what you feed/the amount you feed/and the frequency you feed. Smaller feedings 2 or 3 times a day is better than 1 large feeding a day. Excess food will defin. cloud your water.

    Defin. Keep up with the weekly water changes using a siphon to get any muck that has accumilated on the bottom of your substrate/tank AND don't forget to add a dechlorinator to the replaced water.

    If you want a fast boo-boo patch so to speak I highly recommend going with a product such as Seachem Clarity (I have personal experience with this product which initially may cloud you water, but within hours made my tank crystal clear while I was battling a nasty algae bloom)...but again, in order for this product to work properly you will still need to have some sort of filtration system in place-And No, Airstones don't qualify for filtration (circulation yes, but filtration...No).

    If you'd like to learn more about Clarity you can follow the link below that will lead you to the manufactures website, for question you can reach them directly at 888-SEACHEM.
    http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs/Clarity.html

    I've used many products off of Seachem's line...and I have yet to find one that I didn't like!

    Good Luck with your tank.

    :cool: You only get out what you put in
     
    MOD_Dawn, Feb 20, 2009
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  13. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: cloudy water

    thanks a billion.... i'l try my best to follow these tips
     
    Anonymous, Feb 20, 2009
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  14. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Re: cloudy water

    You welcome. I've found it helpful to try to do water changes on a certain day of the week. I myself like friday because someone in my area told me they add copper to the water over the weekend (I have a few shrimp).
    That way it's easier to remember when you've done it.
    Also, some may say differently...but I am in love with the Python No Spill Clean and Fill System.
    ~Good Luck!
     
    MOD_Dawn, Feb 21, 2009
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  15. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: cloudy water

    I dont know if anyone mentioned it, but we are not addressing the real problem here. You can throw an fx5 on that tank or ten and we are stil not addressing the real problem you have. That tank is WAY WAY WAY to small for almost every fish you named if not all of them, and I am talking about one of those fish in the tank much less all the ones you have in there. I cannot recommend any filter to you, or how often to do water changes because neither is addressing the actual problem you have, overstocking.
     
    Anonymous, Feb 21, 2009
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  16. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Re: Cloudy Water (Questions & Advice)

    Besides all that has been mentioned, I had a similar issue and found that a UV sterilizer remedied the situation permanently.
     
    MOD_Dawn, Apr 9, 2009
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  17. James0816

    James0816 New Member

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    Re: Cloudy Water (Questions & Advice)

    I don't think this is the same type of "cloudy" that he is referring to.

    This is cloudy from substrate not bacterial or algae.
     
    James0816, Apr 12, 2009
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  18. Guidoman888

    Guidoman888 New Member

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    Re: Cloudy Water (Questions & Advice)

    Then I probadly picekd the wrong thread :) I knew there was one about substrate
     
    Guidoman888, Apr 12, 2009
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  19. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Re: Cloudy Water (Questions & Advice)

    put the wand about 2-3 inches above the sand (the sell ones with suctions cups so you can do this)...Depending on the type of sand you've used I would think within 2-3 days and you should have clear water? You can try using Seachem Clarity in case it's the tiny particles floating in the water...that will allow them to bond and be able to be removed via your filter.

    What type of filtration do you have on this tank (sorry if you mentioned and I missed it)?
     
    MOD_Dawn, Apr 13, 2009
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  20. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Re: Cloudy Water (Questions & Advice)

    it's a marineland penguin HOB filter. Nothing special
     
    Anonymous, Apr 15, 2009
    #20
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