Why is my water cloudy?

[karl2jack]

Hi everyone, please help. I have a water problem. We have a 48 gal tank, FO, charcol filter, Magnum 350 pump, bio filter. The tank is 9 mos old. Since we have had this tank, our Ph and salinity have been the only levels to change. Today we stand at 8.2 ph, ammonia, nirite and nitrate are 0 and salinity is 1.02.
Our water is cloudy and rusty. Our baby puffer fish died yesterday and the older puffer and 2 striped damsels don't seem to want to eat either. Last week we did a 20% water change and yesterday a 10% change. How often can I change water, and is there something else I should be doing? Thanks for helping.

 

[mr . salty]

Not sure why your water is cloudy,maybe you should try adding a micron/polishing filter element to your power filter.That may clear it up in a day or two.But I am most worried about your salinity.IT IS WAY TOO LOW. You should be more like around 1.021.You need to start slowly raising it up over the next couple days.This could be why your fish are in distress.

 

[mrmaroon]

I think many people actually keep there salinity around 1.023 How often do you change your filter media. YOu may want to switch all of that out. What kind of substrate do you have? Crushed coral...live sand? Are you using RO water for te changes?

 

[peasly1]

as stated your salinity is...way.....to low

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

What is your definition of Cloudy? Is it colored or is it milky? Your salinity as Mr. Salty stated is too low and this can cause stress, disease, lithargic and really unhappy fish. If your damsels are unhappy (which is very hard to do) you have a real problem.
Is your protien skimmer working (i have a relatively cheap one that I have to clean once a month) to keep in operating at peat efficiency.

 

[karl2jack]

Thanks for answering guys. I do not have a protein skimmer and have never used my polisher. My base is crushed coral and I change my filter media once a month when I do regular water changes. As far as salinity, is 1.020 that different from 1.021? When I say cloudy, think of milky, almost the way warm water comes out of the tap before it settles in your glass.Visability is about 2.5 feet. Does this make sense? I would really like to know how often I can change water? If my water has a problem, will changing it out work? If I do 20% per month, in times of trouble can I do 10% per week? Thanks for listening, my nearest pet shop is 45 mins away so local advice is not easy to come by.

 

[josh]

Karl:
You can do water changes as much as once a week, and I would recommend atleast twice a month since you don't a skimmer.Also, I would recommend purigen made by seachem as a polisher. To clear up the tank I would do a carbon treatment with poly filter and then see what color the filter comes out, that will tell you a lot. In addtion, I would take a sample of the water into the LFS for a complete analysis... that should help. I also would most definatly use RO water for changes, I believe some wal-mart stores carry it, that might save you some time in the trip. HTH
Josh

 

[mr . salty]

Karl2jack, Sorry I read that salinity # wrong.I thought I saw 1.002,,,not 1.02.I apologise for my stupid mistake.Now for your cloudy water problem,,,I think if you used that polishing filter,,,,and got a skimmer going your water will clear up quickly....

 

[redhermit]

I also have a 48 gal that was cloudy for the longest time the LFS thought it might be a bacteria bloom. he loaned me his vortex diatomeaous filter. If it was any other than a bacteria bloom it would clear up. I ran it for a day water was still cloudy which suggested it was a bacteria bloom. Remedy: I did a 6 gal water change twice a week. The water is now crystal clear. I run a fluval 304 with two marineland pro 30 bio-wheels and a 202 & 302 aquaclear power heads with cartridge filters attached. I also replaced the cc with 4" of southdown. Ikeep my salinity at 1.19. The tanks been running for 1 1/2 years and (knock-on-wood) haven't lost a fish yet. Inhabits are Lunar wrasse, saddle back clown, white-tailed trigger 4 damsels and a large red hermit crab.

 

[redhermit]

I also have a 48 gal that was cloudy for the longest time the LFS thought it might be a bacteria bloom. he loaned me his vortex diatomeaous filter. If it was any other than a bacteria bloom it would clear up. I ran it for a day water was still cloudy which suggested it was a bacteria bloom. Remedy: I did a 6 gal water change twice a week. The water is now crystal clear. I run a fluval 304 with two marineland pro 30 bio-wheels and a 202 & 302 aquaclear power heads with cartridge filters attached. I also replaced the cc with 4" of southdown. Ikeep my salinity at 1.19. The tanks been running for 1 1/2 years and (knock-on-wood) haven't lost a fish yet. Inhabits are Lunar wrasse, saddle back clown, white-tailed trigger 4 damsels and a large red hermit crab. correct salinity 1.019.

 

[the maintenance man]

Magnum dose offer a diatom powder for use in their filter it will remove up to 1 micron in size particales which will remove cloudy water ..the trick is u only have to use the powder for a few hrs ...