# Water clarity help!!



## logrzesi (Jan 6, 2011)

I can't keep my water clear to save my life...all I have is Petsmart around me and they are no help...its just foggy all the time...here is a link...please help!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71clECrSARI


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

How new is the tank? How often do you do water changes? Is that a ciclid in the middle of the tank at 35 seconds? Newer tanks are sometimes cloudy as they get established and water clarifiers sometimes wont do anything to fix that. More info please


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## logrzesi (Jan 6, 2011)

The tank is 3 months old, but I have only had the plants in for about 2 weeks and yes it was a ram cichlid...i have two of them, 3 angels, and 10 neon tetra...I do a 5 gallon water change every week and every other week I do about 2-3x as much. I change the filters with water changes and keep the water at around 78-80 degrees.


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## Lanette001 (Apr 7, 2011)

My suggestion is to not change the filter so often. Really, if you absolutely want to change the filter pad, only do it about once a month. What kind of filter do you have? I have an AquaSafe and I only change my filter pad every now and then when it gets really dirty. Never change the white biofilter part though. How much you feed the fish can also play a role. How big is your tank and what are your water parameters?


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

logrzesi said:


> The tank is 3 months old, but I have only had the plants in for about 2 weeks and yes it was a ram cichlid...i have two of them, 3 angels, and 10 neon tetra...I do a 5 gallon water change every week and every other week I do about 2-3x as much. I change the filters with water changes and keep the water at around 78-80 degrees.


Hmmm so are you changing the filters every week or every other week? I only change mine once every 1-2 months and thats only when washing them off doesn't cut it any more. Most of us on here think that the whole change filters every 2-4 weeks thing is a scam just to get you to buy more filters. Regardless I don't think changing them is the problem. What filter do you have? Your tank looks over stocked and the filter could be struggling to keep up. After you do a water change how long does it take to get cloudy again?


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## logrzesi (Jan 6, 2011)

My tank is a 37 gallon and my filter is a Top Fin 40 (cartridge?) filter...I didn't even know you could wash out the filters, I thought that if they were dirty you just changed them. I change them every two weeks when I do the larger water changes. It seems to just stay cloudy, it never gets much clearer than you see in the video. I'm also wondering if its our water here in general, it is really cloudy out of the faucet in general. In terms of over stocked do you mean fish? Plants? Decoration?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Fish and snails are usually counted as stock, anything that makes waste. Plants only if they are rotting. I agree that changing filter cartridges too often is bad. Rinsing filters leaves enough filter bacteria to grow back and do the job. Tossing them doesn't. It looks like that filter has only the 1 cartridge and no sponge or bio-wheel. 

Try rinsing instead of replacing and feeding less. If it doesn't clear up in a couple weeks, post a list of every product you put in the water.


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## logrzesi (Jan 6, 2011)

Will do, thanks guys.


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## AvocadoPuffDude (Jan 20, 2011)

If the tank is cloudy YOU'RE FEEDING YOUR FISH TOO MUCH FOOD, period.

Cut back. Once every 2 or 3 days for a while, and only enough that they'll eat it within 2 minutes. Do some water changes in the mean time, and change your filter pad(s) and charcoal.

Btw, PetSmart and PetCo don't usually know ANYTHING About keeping fish. Do not rely on their information whatsoever. Learning the hard way is better than taking their advice!!!


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

There are many reasons a tank can be cloudy. Overfeeding is not the only reason....


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

possible reasons: 

1. bacteria bloom from too much for bacteria to eat in the water. From 'uncycled' tank or too much feeding or both. Cleaning excess waste off the filter cartridges helps, tossing the filter bacteria in the trash doesn't. 

2. Particulates. Dust from substrate, or from the room, 'precipitate' from water additives other in-tank chemistry experiments, or 'fillers' in cheap food that don't dissolve. Often settles on the substrate like snow. Can be removed with 'micron' filtration, but will recur until you remove the source. 

3. fine air (usually resolves itself into bubbles on the glass) 

4. more than one of the above or something not on the list.


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