cloudy water getting RIDICULOUS!

I'm fed up with my 10 gallon planted tank. It has been set up for at least 3 months. For the first few weeks I was good, then the water got cloudy (white cloudy not green). I cleaned my filter, put some accu-clear (not the pregnancy test) in there, and got a denser sponge. Nothing. I did multiple water changes. It still went right back to being cloudy. I then thought it was bacterial so i asked my trusty LFS owner, and he said to try melafix because it kills off bad bacteria. I didn't really think it would work, but he gave me a bottle and said to bring it back if it didn't work. I tried it. It didn't work. It just made my water smell like herbs. So then I thought I'd just let it run its course. It has been a month just letting it sit, and it WONT GO AWAY. Yesterday I tore the entire thing down, rinsed the substrate, cleaned the walls, filled it back up, and today it's cloudy again. I also quit CO2 and ferts with no effect.

PLEASE give any suggestions you have. I can't believe my reef looks amazing and I can't keep a simple 10 gallon fresh tank looking good! I have had other small planted tanks before and never encountered this problem.

Thanks,
Ivan

 

nobody? c'mon guys..

 

you got carbon in the filter

 

What is in your tank? What type of substrate? Livestock/plants? What are the tank parameters? Is the only filter a sponge filter?

 

I have tried it with/without carbon..currently running it..in my filter is carbon..the little ceramic cylinders..and sponge..

i have eco-complete substrate..not real sure on what the plants are..just standard pecto plants in the little bottles..6 neon tetras..ran out of nitrite/ate tests about a week ago..nitrite has been 0 and nitrate was always below 50..

plants and fish are healthy the water is just cloudy..i think i'm going to start fresh again and use ro/di and see if that helps

 

I was into freshwater for many,many years.. Never had that problem..??
All the changed you made should have cleared up anything..??

Could it be the tank its self..??

Sorry my friend, Larry

 

who knows man..i'm considering taking it all apart and plumbing it up to my reef..that would be kinda cool

 

I had the same problem on my first freshwater tank. I too thought it was a bacterial bloom. But after a week it got no better. Turned out it was phosphates in the tap water. They are too small for your filter to grab. I used Mardel water clarifier 1 time and have never had a cloud again. It stcks the particles together so the filter can grab them. This stuff really worked well on my third tank also.....good luck.

 

and this is why I sold my freshwater tank

 

that's the one thing i haven't considered..phosphates..just so happens that i have a canister of rowaphos in my cabinet! I'll try putting some in my mini-canister filter (in a bag of course..). The mardel sounds like accu-clear..just clumps stuff together..and it hasn't worked so far..and i have the finest sponge i can find..I'll give this rowaphos a shot..i'm completely out of other ideas..if it works you get karma every day for a month robman