Cloudy water refuses to go away

Discussion in 'Freshwater Aquariums' started by Jodah, Dec 1, 2011.

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  1. Jodah

    Jodah Feather Duster

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    So, have had a 5.5g betta tank going for the past 2 weeks-ish now. Did a 2g water change and added silk plants about 5 days ago. It's been cloudy ever since. Well, I suppose milky would be a better term to use. There is also a similar white film developing on the surface. At first, I figured it was still cycling and it would clear up. Ph was 7.0, ammonia was 0. And shame on me for not getting the nitrates and nitrites test kits yet so those are unknown at the moment.

    2 days ago i did yet another 2g water change, and same thing. Still cloudy/milky with the white film on the surface.

    I'm jsut at a loss, becuase the first week it was cloudy for 1 day and then cleared up. Could the silk plants really have caused this?

    Before i forget, specs: 5.5g aga, whisper 10i filter, aqueon 50w heater (78*) diy strip led lighting.
     
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  3. nedim

    nedim Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    What are your phosphates?
     
  4. SAY

    SAY Ocellaris Clown

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    Did you use tap water? what filter are you using on this tank?
     
  5. xmetalfan99

    xmetalfan99 Giant Squid

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    Sounds like a bacterial bloom. If it is, it will go away on its own. How often do you feed? Did you stir up your substrate? Did you "wash" your substrate?
     
  6. Jodah

    Jodah Feather Duster

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    i'm using a baffled Whisper 10i. No clue what the phsophates are atm. As I said, shame on me for not buying the test kits, but phosphates should be very low if at all. I'm using tapwater thats already run through a filter before I add a conditioner. Everything was fine until the first pwc. Which bugs the heck outta me.

    Edit: I barely disturbed the substrate (petco sand btw) Just enough to bury the anchors of the silk plants. I thouroughly washed the sand before putting it into the tank. Made that mistake once with my g/f's betta tank. lol.
     
  7. tharsis

    tharsis Peppermint Shrimp

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    It is a bacterial bloom, most likely from disturbing the substrate to add the plants. Nothing you can do but wait it out, sometimes excessive water changes can prolong the bloom, so I would say stop the WC until it goes away.
     
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  9. sticksmith23

    sticksmith23 Giant Squid

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    How much carbon are you running and can we get a pic of the aquarium?
     
    Last edited: Dec 4, 2011
  10. Jodah

    Jodah Feather Duster

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    Using stock, unmodified Tetra "M" size cartidges atm. I also stuffed sponge in the intake to slow down the output as it would toss my poor guy around that side of the tank pretty good.

    Heres a fts:
    [​IMG]

    And this one shows just how cloudy the tank really is.
    [​IMG]

    I'm currently waiting on my friend to cut the wood for a base and canopy, have since raised up the lights using some blocks of wood and added an 80mm fan thats set to a very low speed. Basically just to keep condensation off the lights.

    He seems ok though, still making bubble nests. It's just irritating how cloudy the water is.
     
  11. sticksmith23

    sticksmith23 Giant Squid

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    I don't know what kind of filter you are running, but I would maybe try and buy some carbon and mesh media bags or maybe some filter floss. There are other products out there as well, but that is probably the cheapest.
     
  12. Jodah

    Jodah Feather Duster

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    WHISPER 10i filter. Posted it twice now. the filter's that you use with it have carbon in them.