Cloudy water

[t.pettet]

Am on a well and find the water stays cloudy after my partial water changes, any recommendations to help clear it up? Thanks.

[MyBirdIsEvil]

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...3578+3974+3982

That would probably be the best option for you unless you wanna invest in more equipment like a micron or diatom filter.

[CearaQC]

We're on a well too and I haven't seen that happen yet with cold water. Although when the hot water comes out, it's cloudy temporarily. I guess the hot water tank does something to it.

When was the last time you had the well tested? Where I live, it's $35 per test.

[want4rain]

does the water that you get from the well but do not add to your tank get cloudy?

how often do you do water changes? is there a difference between the tap and tank pH?

-ash

[MyBirdIsEvil]

I've seen well water that is always cloudy whether it's cold or hot. My hot tapwater comes out cloudy and I'm not on wellwater so I think that's the case with any hot water, but that clears up quickly. A lot of people with well water, or even crappy city water, run big micron filters because they have so many suspended particles.

Cloudy water can also be an indication of a problem with your water though, like a bacterial or algae bloom (which can be caused by a lot of factors).

There is a big difference if it's only cloudy in your tank and your water in general isn't cloudy. That may mean you have way too much waste in your tank that's getting stirred up and not enough filtration to pull it out.

[t.pettet]

Thanks for all the replies. My well water isn't cloudy, in fact had it tested in the summer and its A-OK. I have a 30 gal. tank and a Whisper 20-40 gal. filter plus an aerator. Probably should get a better filter - have been doing partial water changes every 2 mos, should I do it more often?

[MyBirdIsEvil]

My tanks with the least maintanence get 25% per week, and those are lightly stocked.

I aim for at least 50% per week on most tanks, or sometimes 15-25% per 2 days if there's fish that are easily stressed. Most of my fish that are easily stressed go into lightly stocked tanks though so waste buildup isn't much of a problem.

Every 2 months is almost nothing unless you have almost no fish.

What are your stocking levels? Do you know your water parameters (Especially nitrates. Ammonia and Nitrites should be 0 but you should test them anyway if you're not sure)? Do you have any plants? How often do you break down and clean your filter? That should determine your water change schedule.
Without that info no one can really recommend a proper water change schedule. Since you've been doing water changes so little, if you have a large amount of waste buildup you may have to start doing small water changes slowly to start bringing your water quality back into line but prevent shocking your fish. If you have a large amount of nitrates, but especially if you have any nitrites or ammonia, your pH can drop too and changing water too quickly will raise it way too fast. Very stressful.


You should be trying to keep your nitrates at least below 40 ppm on a constant basis, some people aim for below 20ppm but I personally think that depends on the species of fish that you're keeping. Some fish are very hardy and some fish will become stressed or develop health problems with even low nitrates.

So all I can say right now is that partial water changes every 2 months sounds like not NEARLY enough, especially since you're getting severe water clouding that won't go away quickly. You may also need to clean your filters more often so they more adequately suck particles out of the tank, but you really don't have much filtration on there in the first place.

[want4rain]

yep! i second all of that! most importantly, get your ammonia/nitrites/nitrates and pH reading. you can take a water sample to your local fish store and they can do a reading for you. dont accept 'its ok', you need to know EXACTLY what your parameters are.

-ash

[Sneaky]

Originally Posted by t.pettet

Thanks for all the replies. My well water isn't cloudy, in fact had it tested in the summer and its A-OK. I have a 30 gal. tank and a Whisper 20-40 gal. filter plus an aerator. Probably should get a better filter - have been doing partial water changes every 2 mos, should I do it more often?

Hi there,
what could be happening in your tank is common when tanks go through a Mini Cycle. What youre seeing is a Bacterial Bloom of Nitrobacters in your tank. Doing water changes so infrequently causes your tank to go through a mini cycle. You need to be doing 25-40% water changes, vaccuuming half the gravel in the tank thoroughly a Minimum of 1 time weekly or at the very very least 3 times a Month.

Another thing that could be happening is that youre just seeing how much debris is still in your tank due to lack of proper maintenance. It will continue to be cloudy until the mulm settles. Doing gravel vaccuums once weekly will help remove this excess mulm (poop, uneaten food, diatoms, etc), and help clean your tank up.