# Murky water wont go away



## troescher14 (Aug 26, 2012)

hello, my 60 gal community tank is has been murky for about 2 weeks now and i can't figure out why. Ive done frequent water changes, reduced my feeding, vacuumed my gravel frequently, done several tests (for ammonia/nitrates/nitrites) and each test has come up perfect, used algae away stuff and had my LFS test my water and the said it was perfect. anything else that you guys can think of that might be the problem?

the only thing i can think of is that i have an internal penguin biowheel 350 (meant for 70 gallon tanks) and it only sucks up the water from one side, if i added a power head to the other side of the tank to push the water towards the filter do you think that it would clear up the murkiness?

and its not just a little murky, i cant even see the left side of my tank if im looking from the right and vice-versa 

Thanks for the help in advance!!!


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## Redhead305 (May 30, 2012)

did you rinse the gravel out and what color is it. is it a brown greenish or a tan milk colored?


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## troescher14 (Aug 26, 2012)

yes i cleaned the gravel before i put it in the tank, and its like a white murky


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## Redhead305 (May 30, 2012)

when did the problem begin what did you do right before it got murky


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## Redhead305 (May 30, 2012)

also that algae stuff u used was it a tablet?


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## troescher14 (Aug 26, 2012)

i did everything i normally did, i left for the weekend and left my parent in charge of the tank, when i got back it was as white as a sheet of paper and they said they did everything i did


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## troescher14 (Aug 26, 2012)

and i used the tetra algae control, its liquid


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## Redhead305 (May 30, 2012)

it sounds like a bacterial bloom to me. how long did you wait before putting fish into the tank


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## troescher14 (Aug 26, 2012)

i let the tank cycle for about a week before i added anything to it


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## Redhead305 (May 30, 2012)

it defintly then is from bacteria flourishing probably from overfeeding. continue doing the water changes in the tank and im pretty sure that your filter has carbon that will help out too. so ontinue doing the water changes and checking your parameters. The way i did it to fix mine after i had fish was do a 50% water change


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

The white water is Alage. What you need to do is nothing. It will go away or do a water change.

Adding chemicals like Alage stuff is bad for your aquarium. You should never have to add anything beside declorinator. Other then that no chemicals your tank will become dependent on it. So stay away from it.

So just do a small water change every day or a large water change.


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## Redhead305 (May 30, 2012)

white water is bacteria green is algae and brown is either tannis or waste depending. its from the algae stuff he added tho thats gonna add to the problem


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## troescher14 (Aug 26, 2012)

so if i just continue doing water changes itll clear up?


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## Redhead305 (May 30, 2012)

yea its gonna take time but just keep checking your water quality and keep doing regular water changes


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

It is commen and it's a type of alage I think redhead. At least that's what I always heard from everyone.

This is also more commonly referred to as "new tank syndrome" 

Very commen and anyone who has ever set up a fish tank goes threw it.

Google "new tank syndrome" if you want more info on it.

And if you want to clear it up, simple water changes. 

The best info I'm going to give you right now as you are just coming into the hoby I'm guessing is throw away all the chemicals. There is NO need for them and they will make problems worse for the tank in the long run. Only exseptible additives are "declorinator" for fresh water changes. Then another is meds. Now thats only for sick fish. Everything else can work itself out naturally and is easy to care for.

The reason a lot of us are not fans of chemicals is your tank after a while becomes depended on them and makes problems worse most of the time. So really do yourself a favor and throw them away.

If you need any other help your more then welcome to ask away. Chances are we have heard it all and we're always willing to help no matter what the question or how you exsplane it.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Cloudy after someone else fed your fish. Not the first time I've that. New fish-sitters always overfeed. The extra nutrients feed something (algae, bacteria, etc). Not harmful to fish (the cloud, the overfeeding can kill). Be patient and change water.

Don't know about the other. Find the fine print and read it.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

woops, i just read that you have a single 350 bio wheel on the tank. EEEKK thats not good. you should order another one. you do not have enough filtration on a 60g tank. i have a 350 bio wheel on my 55 with a 30-60 and im scraping by. 

so you should for sure grab another filter for your tank and that alone will clear up the water. let the two work together that 350 says its "good up to" not it works well. the only time id use a 350 bio wheel alone on a tank is if it was on my 30g tank. nothing more then that.


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## troescher14 (Aug 26, 2012)

should i get another 350 or can i get something a little smaller?


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

I would get another 350 or something bigger


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

There's no such thing as two much filtration unless you have a heavily planted tank.


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## troescher14 (Aug 26, 2012)

ok, im at my lfs store right now so ill pick one up and see if that works


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## troescher14 (Aug 26, 2012)

i put a second 350 in and within 15 mins theres already a huge difference, thanks for the help!!!!


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Yup, now you should never have that problem. The issue was that you had no where close to enough filtration. Iv had that problem. You will see that your tank is going to stay so much cleaner, the next step is getting sand on the bottom so everything gets sucked up and doesn't get traped in the rocks.


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