# this isn't considered "clear" water, is it?



## dg32 (Dec 24, 2009)

Tank has been going since late December and it has looked like that since I replaced the gravel with PFS, just want to confirm that yes the sand needs an additional rinse.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

I`ve sure seen many worse than yours.
If the clarity is really getting to you, how about a couple water changes.


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## redblufffishguy (Jul 16, 2009)

throw a HOB filter on it with a couple of high grade carbon bags in it for a few days. that along with the water changes will make you water sparkling. be sure to pull the carbon out though, while it will clear the water, it is not the best for africans.....


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## bmweiler09 (Nov 17, 2009)

do a few big water changes and add pillow stuffing to your filter to filter out fine particles.



> throw a HOB filter on it with a couple of high grade carbon bags in it for a few days. that along with the water changes will make you water sparkling. be sure to pull the carbon out though, while it will clear the water, it is not the best for africans.....


Carbon doesn't do anything to clarify cloudy water. Its mostly used to remove medications and impurities from the water.


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## Cento (Mar 30, 2005)

Purigen... That stuff works wonders... :thumb:

Otherwise, lots of filter floss...


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

clear water is when someone says to you .."wow they look like they are floating in air!" :wink:


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## redblufffishguy (Jul 16, 2009)

BMW: I had a similar cloudiness to my tank that would not go away. I added Boi-Chem Zorb to my filter.

"Research grade combination chemical filter media in a convenient flow-through nylon pouch. Bio-Chem Zorb contains a variety of research-grade organic scavenger resins, natural ion-exchange resin and high-porosity activated carbon. The result is superior removal of organic pollutants. Removes aquarium pollutants including colors, odors, heavy metals and toxic gases. Also improves water clarity and will not remove trace elements from saltwater. Safe for freshwater or saltwater. Each pouch treats up to 55 gallons."

It cleared the water over night.

It may not be 100% carbon, but it is darn close and did a great job.


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## bmweiler09 (Nov 17, 2009)

> The result is superior removal of organic pollutants. Removes aquarium pollutants including colors, odors, heavy metals and toxic gases.


I agree that carbon works well for temporarily removing these things mentioned but I don't think it applies to his situation which is very small dust particles floating around from the pool filter sand. I think a very fine mechanical filtration combined with WCs would work just as well and be less costly.


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## cichlidfeesh (Apr 6, 2009)

get a diatom filter, I've heard a lot of great things about them.


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

I would go with consistent water changes before changing or adding anything.
Changing over to sand can cause this for a few different reasons.
One being the cloudiness from the sand itself.
Another being a possible bio-filter disturbance from the removal of the old substrate.


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## dkbrasher (Oct 11, 2009)

I agree with Cento. A bag of quilt batting is crazy cheap and works great on my tank for polishing the water.


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

i use the batting in my filters(2 EMP 400s) with no other media just the floss packed in the clamshells.
i also do bi-weekly water changes of 50%.
this keeps the view lengthwise through the tank as clear as looking at the front.
i hate cloudy water and this was the answer


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## bertolli (Aug 18, 2009)

sorry for my dumb question can someone explain this "quilt batting" to me?


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

in your lfs its filter floss...at wal-mart where im at its pillow batting.

basically its just a polyethylene fiber that comes in a bag and you just tear of a handfull and stuff it where you need it. its best to stuff a container of some sort to put in your filter or esle you will end up with strands of it all through your tank and may get sucked back into your filter and rap around an impeller


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## bertolli (Aug 18, 2009)

Thanks ill go pick some up my water is ridiculously cloudy and has a green tint to it


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

yeah even with the floss my water still would get a little green haze around day 5 after a waterchange(phosphate issue in my tap water).
since *** gone to waterchanges two times a week the water is just as clear looking through the tank as looking at the front...it _does_ kinda look like the fish are floating in mid air at times.


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## kaivalagi (Nov 30, 2009)

Useful stuff, I think I will be replacing my top most canister filter with pillow batting when the time comes.

Should you replace regularly? Or leave it be for bacteria colonisation?


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## Guams (Aug 21, 2009)

Replace it regularly. It can clog up fairly well and cause quite a bit of bypass. I change mine when I can hear water bypassing the batting and splashing into my sump, which happens once every couple of weeks.


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

in the middle of the week i rinse it well, on saturday i pitch it. its cheap enough to just throw it away.

hazy water and _green_ hazy water are two different animals though. i think as long as you dont have a light issue(lights staying on too long or too much natural light) you may just have to increase either the volume or frequency or both of your waterchanges


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## dg32 (Dec 24, 2009)

wow, wasn't really expecting this one to get more than 2-3 replies

I ended up rinsing the sand and doing two ~40-50% water changes, it still looks the same. I'm not even worried about that anymore, I'm now wondering why my last water change killed three fish that I purchased yesterday within 15 minutes.


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## Pali (Dec 22, 2009)

Do you have big temperature drops during water changes?


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## dg32 (Dec 24, 2009)

No, I try to keep the water as close to 75-80 as I can. I added the water, then about a half cap of Seachem Prime. I've had issues with my water changes, for some reason after I change out the water all my fish get really lethargic, and a few haven't recovered.


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

so you rinsed the sand and did the water changes at the same time???

does that mean you netted all your fish and removed them,drained the tank,took out the sand etc,etc???
if so you may have killed off your bacterial colony and depending on how many fish you have and sizes=immediate and drastic ammonia spike=dead fish
have you done a recent check of levels?

im assuming no possability of contaminants...right?

what size is your tank, stocklist, sizes parameters, maintainance schedule?
a half cup of de-chlorinater seems a bit on the excessive side...

did these dead fish look and act ok to begin with?...i know it may be hard to tell since most new fish do some strange things until they get used to their new tank but...?


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## Steve St.Laurent (Oct 2, 2008)

First, what size is your tank? If you are adding the water directly into your tank then you need to use the appropriate amount of Prime for the total number of gallons of water in your system. One capful treats 50 gallons - so if you have a 50 gallon tank even if you are only changing out 25 gallons you still need to use a full capful. Second you want to add the prime either before or as you add the water - not after.

You really want to match your water going into the tank reasonably close. Say your tank was at 80 and after your water change it was at 75 - that's a pretty big change in temp for the fish. You can get real close by just putting your hand in the tank and comparing the feel of the water temperate.

I would also test your tank water and your water out of the tap and see what the readings are as far as ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, gh, and kh and get back to us.


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## Steve St.Laurent (Oct 2, 2008)

To answer your first question when you get this out of the way this is what I consider clear water - this is shooting across my 4 foot 90 gallon tank:


















After this long I don't think it's the sand causing the cloudiness. I recently removed all my rocks, stirred my sand, etc and my tank was very cloudy when I was done. It was this clear again within 30 minutes. I do have qutie a bit of filtration on my tank though with an Eheim 2028 cannister filter drawing from down low in the tank and outputting back into the tank via a spray bar and a built in overflow draining to a large sump pump through ~400 gph.


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## gregorymlong (Dec 23, 2003)

cichlidfeesh said:


> get a diatom filter, I've heard a lot of great things about them.


Works wonders on salt or fresh. Put it in, stir up the bottom with your hand and, in the morning it will be crystal clear.


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## H-Town Ag '00 (Jan 27, 2010)

Steve,
The tank looks great, and that's what I'm trying to get mine to look like. I too have a 48" long 90 gallon, and it's a bit cloudy right now. I've had it up and running for almost 2 months now with 2 Emporer 400's. I got the trick to add some quilt batting from reading some posts on this board, and it had started to work and make the water crystal clear. But then I went and added some more fish, and now it's back to beeing cloudy. I've done a couple water changes, changed the filters and the batting, and it's getting better, but it's not crystal clear like I want it to be. I'm starting to think that my problem may be a combination of the bacterias changing with the addition of the fish, my overfeeding tendancies (which I have cut back on and gotten that under control now), and I also think I am leaving my light on too long (I've got some nice green algae growing on the top of my rocks closest to the light).

I guess what my questions are, how long should the light be left on during the day? Also, I've been using a sheet of cotton quilt batting where I cut a rectangle and put it in the clamshell filter. Is it better to get a bag of loose, not sheets, and stuff it in the clamshells?

Thanks for the help.

Scott


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## Steve St.Laurent (Oct 2, 2008)

Most will say about 8 hours. On my tank I run an actnic bulb from noon to 11 pm and a white 6500k bulb from 1pm to 9pm (8 hours). I also run a 36 watt UV sterilizer 24/7 on my canister return and have 3 bristlenose plecos in my tank for algae control. If I didn't have the pleco's I'd have a LOT of algae in my tank.


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## bertolli (Aug 18, 2009)

I've had cloudy green water for the last 2 weeks. A few days ago I adjusted my weekly 30% water change to 50% and it didn't seem to help much. I removed the carbon from my penguin and inserted the quilt batting I bought today at walmart and plan to do the same with my canister tomorrow. I also put in some "Clear Water" which is supposed to help clear cloudy green water made by Jungle Laboratories. I'll let you guys know how it works out, thanks to this post I found some additional solutions besides just more frequent water changes.


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

Bio-chem zorb is the best thing i have ever seen... I thought i had clear water until i put a bag of it in my rena xp. Daaannnngggg. Definitly gave the fish floating in air appearence.


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## gatorsaver (Jan 3, 2010)

I dont want to hijack dg32's thread but I'm in the same boat as he is.. my water will not clear up. looks good from front, but like milk from the side. LFS had me use some TLC bacteria http://www.tlc-products.com/pages/7/index.htm they had me use 5-6 oz every 5 days. the gallon was $69 now I more $ in bacteria then I do in fish.  They keep telling me no WC until after adding the fish AND the A and Nrite are at 0 .
After my 28 day Fishless Cycle finished ended on 1/24/10 I was:
A=0, Nrite=0, Nrate=5+, pH=7.6, KH=7, GH=8 
added 10 Labs and 6 Rusties per LFS on 1/28/10. (lost 1 Lab due to a tragic overflow box/tube/then caught in drain for a few days)
As of today my #'s
A=.25, Nrite=1, Nrate=10, pH=8.0, KH=7, GH=10


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## gatorsaver (Jan 3, 2010)

Even my blue/white is clogging up quick, about 7 days.. How often should I change the blue/white filter media?


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## gatorsaver (Jan 3, 2010)

I used my Magnum 350 with the polish filter in it and that cloggs in 30 min. I clean it over night in a 3:1 Water:Bleach then let it soak in clean water with dechlorinator in it for 4 hours per LFS. It helped the first 3 days, then not so much after that. LFS told me to stop with the Magnum because it was pulling out my good bacteria.. some lighter colored brown algae has started and LFS said to turn off the light. I added 4 bushy nose (small 1") and they are very happy and are doing a great job.


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## gatorsaver (Jan 3, 2010)

A=.25, Nrite=0, Nrate=5, pH=8.0, KH=7, GH=9 same cloudiness :?


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

you need to start a new thread..


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## gatorsaver (Jan 3, 2010)

my bad
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=1448991#1448991


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## TangSteve (Sep 20, 2009)

Gaotsaver, 1st get a new LFS

1. A micron filter is not pulling out your good bacteria.
2. $69 for bacteria that is free is insane. They should have just sold you used filter material. Most stores will either give you or sell you what it cost to replace with a new pad.
3. Magnum 350s are weak filters. Sorry, they clog too fast and have weak polishing capacity.

Your tank is going through a mini-cycle.

Review the forum for some DIY on 350s and modify that sucker or get a new filter.

Review how much you are feeding. The blue pad clogging that fast is concerning.


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

if this got cloudy and the only thing you did different is add fish then its a bacterial bloom and nothing to worry about.

its just you bacterial colony catching up with the bio-load.

water changes may prolong this hazy water since you may be removing some beneficial bacteria with the water change that are tryin to colonize


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