# cloudy tank



## kd5exp (Mar 21, 2014)

I have a 75 gal tank and it has a milky look to it. I have crushed coral for substrate and a under gravel filter with a 3 stage external SunSun. I also have a drip system with overflow set about 1/2 to 1 gal an hour hooked up to a culigan drinking water system right after the charcoal filter. My water also goes through a softener first. When I first set it up it was very cloudy but cleared up after about 2 weeks and then not leaving well enough alone rearranged the tank and quess what it's cloudy again. Now it's been about a month and still cloudy. Water PH is 7.8 to 8.0 and all other tests are 0 or near to. I think it is the substrate doing it because when I rinsed the filter out it had a lot of white stuff stuck all over the filter parts. Prewashed my butt. Any ideas on what plan of action I should take.


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

One thing I can tell you right off the bat is that you do not use a water softener with fish. The softener does not soften water. It exchanges certain parts of the water for salts. These salts are not good for fish. DO NOT use a water softener for your fish.

What is your pH/gH/kH/nitrate out of tap?


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## Bikeman48088 (Nov 13, 2013)

pablo111 said:


> One thing I can tell you right off the bat is that you do not use a water softener with fish. The softener does not soften water. It exchanges certain parts of the water for salts. These salts are not good for fish. DO NOT use a water softener for your fish.
> 
> What is your pH/gH/kH/nitrate out of tap?


Water softeners exchange calcium and magnesium ions for sodium ions. The term "hard water" just means that it has lots of Ca and Mg in it. When you remove a large portion of these ions, it becomes "soft water". Unfortunately, you still have metal salts in the water, but now it's predominantly sodium. 
Your cloudiness can be caused by several things. 
If your water softener needs recharging, it can be allowing bicarbonate ions to pass through it. The bicarbonate ions will react with solubilized Mg and Ca salts leached from your coral substrate and cause a cloudy precipitate.

Pablo's suggestion of checking your tap water's pH/kH/gH/No3 levels is a good one. It will tell you the condition of your water softener and its possible relationship to your cloudiness.


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

Bikeman48088 said:


> pablo111 said:
> 
> 
> > One thing I can tell you right off the bat is that you do not use a water softener with fish. The softener does not soften water. It exchanges certain parts of the water for salts. These salts are not good for fish. DO NOT use a water softener for your fish.
> ...


Very informative post. Do you agree that using a water softener with an aquarium is a bad idea?


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

No, softened water does not usually cause problems. I used it for years and not only had no problems, I spawned many species of fish (not just cichlids) in it with great success. The idea that it is bad almost always comes from people who either never actually used it, or had some other problem and blamed it on the water. However, fish that require water with very low hardness still require the addition of R/O or rainwater, if you are in a location where the latter is safe.

The OP's problem comes from not washing the supposedly prewashed substrate. Besides which, crushed coral will continue to produce dust even after it is in the tank, as vacuuming or stirring it causes it to wear due to being a relatively soft material.


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## kd5exp (Mar 21, 2014)

I would have to agree with Mr. Chromedome. I have raised fish here for years now, mostly Tiger Oscars and have had them as long as 11 years. I just gave a large one away so I could get back into cichlids again. I am going to go test my tap water and post the results here in a few. Thanks


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## kd5exp (Mar 21, 2014)

OK I tested the water right out the tap in my kitchen sink. PH is 7.4, Ammonia is 0 tube is clear, nitrites is 0, and nitrates are 0 clear tube again. We have had a change of water due to the Rural #2 lost their lease on the land with the wells on it, indian land. They are now buying water from the city till they can get more wells drilled on a new lease. Thats why our water bill has doubled. The water is much better than my old well wich was 16.1 PH, thats why the softner. I do agree it has much to due to the crushed coral that I used. It was perfectly clear after about 3 weeks till I moved everything around. It has been 4 weeks now and very little change. Doing another water change now.


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## Kalost (Feb 27, 2013)

I dont think your old pH was 16.1. You must be talking about some other parameter.


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## kd5exp (Mar 21, 2014)

I don't know what they used but is was done by Culigan. Didn't take long for stuff to stop up and mess up. We have a lot of gypson rock here. When we drilled the well here I pumped out a lot of white water before it cleared up. Any way I did the water change last night and it's almost cleared up. Will do another tonight and hopefully call it good.


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## kd5exp (Mar 21, 2014)

Thanks for all the advise and help. I have done several water changes and do not know why it took so long to clear up. Never had this problem before and I have had aquariums for over 40 years. I do not remember this with my old cichlid tanks. I remember the substrate was called dolomite I believe and I assumed it was crushed coral. Live and learn I guess. I did learn a lot about fishless cycling and will keep that in mind on the next tank setup. Already got my eye on one. LOL


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## kd5exp (Mar 21, 2014)

Well noticed that my tank was getting cloudy again. I decided to hook up my drip system to the output line on my reverse osmossis system and it took a couple of days but it has cleared up. I may have to shut it off once in a while if the system cannot keep up with the drip system. Only other thing hooked up to it is my ice maker. It takes about 12 hours after shutting off the drip to fill up and I will have to see how it does.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

How long has this tank been setup? A nitrate reading of Zero is usually a sign that the tank isn't fully cycled and what you are experiencing may actually be a bacterial bloom.


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## smitty814 (Sep 27, 2012)

Heterotrophic bacteria can cause this. You need to get the fish waste and uneaten food out of your aquarium, filters and substrate.


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## kd5exp (Mar 21, 2014)

Sorry so slow on getting back to this. I have changed my hook up on my drinking water system to go completly through the system and it has cleared up very nice. I only run the drip system during the day and let my ice maker run on it at night. I can't seem to find a pressure regulator to put in-line on the 1/4 line I am using so I can't run them both at the same time. I would have to put a faucet under the sink and that would be a plumbers nightmare. Tank has been setup about 4 months now.


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