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The filter cartridges can be used over and over again after power rinsing them...

When the floss wears thin the cartridges are discarded.

--garyroland.

I haven't done anything new except the new firemouth fry.

That's my vote... I'm sure I'm wrong on this, but I'd say they're adding enough to visibly cause the water to show up a bit cloudy, but not quite enough to register...although you did say "Ammonia was low"....are you saying some is present or that it's zero. If some is present then I'm seeing the new fry causing a small mini cycle.

^_^
*Proud member of the Committee for Sig Line Restoration*

There was a very very low ammount. Can't remember the #'s but it was barely if anything.

Bacterial blooms can happen anytime...

The explosive growth of bacteria occurs because the bacterial population of the tank is not in balance with the level of waste nutrients.

Overfeeding, overcleaning and the dosing of meds are the main causes.

The bio wheels, although efficient, cannot overcome the bacterial bloom until the causes are corrected.

You can cut back on feeding for a few days, do a 25% water change every two days for a week of the same temp and pH and add a little "New Improved Cycle" which may briefly increase the cloudiness but will produce more heterotrophic bacteria that solubilize nutrients.

--garyroland.

--Vero Beach, Florida.

That means the bacteria are playing catch-up. The water will be cloudy until the get there.

My water is sometimes cloudy after a really enthusiastic gravel cleaning for the same reason. It usually lasts about a day.

Another possibility is if you changed all the cartriges in the filters. Those hold alot of bacteria and brand new cartriges never filter quite as good as olded ones that have a little coating of slime on them.

Just keep an eye on Ammonia and Nitrites.

It'll clear up soon, Mike

Alright, I will wait another week and see how it goes. If it doesn't clear up then I will get the water tested again and see if the numbers have changed.

The filter cartridges in bio wheel-type filters are not really that important...

The bio wheels carry most of the nitrifying bacteria, the gravel the rest and various items in the tank.

The cartridges can be power rinsed and used over and over again when required.

--garyroland.

I disagree. That might be true if you power rinse them every week thus never allowing bacteria to get established. However, if you just rinse them in the water you removed cleaning the tank, (as I do) the bacteria colonize the cartrige and become part of the colony for that tank. Remove that part of the colony and you'll get a bloom.

To illustrate, I just had to treat a 29 with a Penguin 330, I removed the cartriges to remove the carbon and got a bloom. Some of this may be the medication but I don't recall getting a bloom with (Rid Ich) in tanks I've treated that have undergravel filters.

Just IME, Mike

Just rinsing the cartridges in a Penquin bio wheel filter is not enough...

The floss cartridges start to fill up internally and filtering is greatly diminished if not power rinsed with a hose.

You'll never experience any bloom if your bio wheels are fully populated and untouched by any meds.

Meds can easily harm bio wheels and usually do, especially if the wheels were not totally colonized in the first place.

I have constantly power rinsed my 330's, all five of them, with no blooms of any kind.

Over-cleaning gravel, a main area for colonizing bacteria, will add to the problem. Undergravel filters are always a topic of concern. I personally would not run them.

Dosing NIC will greatly enhance your nitrifying bacteria after dosing meds that have killed off the bacteria.

--garyroland.



Last edited by garyroland at 18-Oct-2004 21:12

Good point, I just put up with the bloom when I replaced the clogged cartriges.

Okay, hose'm it is. that might be even easier, I'll just pull all the cartriges before i start cleaning, hose'm and put them in a bucket to be put back as I clean each tank.

Thanks, Mike

Alright, I checked out the other "cloudy water" threads on here and so far I haven't seen one that pertains to me. Here is my scenerio.

I have a 60 gallon w/ 2 emperor 400's. Filters are clean, I have airators (or whatever u call those bubble strips) all along the back of the tank. I have 2 firemouths who had about 100 fry 3-4 weeks ago and I have some catfish and 3 CAE's. My tank has been cycled a LONG time ago (almost a year ago) but all of a sudden my water is starting to get cloudy and its getting worse. So I went and had my water tested and all of my numbers came out normal. Ammonia was low, Ph was around 7.2 and my nitrates and nitrites were low as well. So what causes the water to get cloudy like this all of a sudden? I added some activated filter carbon to my emperor 400's today to see if maybe that would help clear things up. My biowheels are working fine and dirty like they should be and always have been. I haven't done anything new except the new firemouth fry. Any suggestions? Oh and I did a 25% water change to see if it would help but no go.

Last edited by 91Bird305 at 18-Oct-2004 11:05

I haven't used any meds though and these bio wheels have been going for about a year now. So I wouldn't think the bio wheels would have to do with the problem since I haven't added anything to the tank to damage them like meds.

Cloudy tanks are always victims of a bacterial inbalance...

Dose the New Improved Cycle like I suggested and that should solve the problem. It can be dosed over the bio wheels also.

Older tanks can have a bacteria problem. The good strains become weak allowing the other less effective strains to flourish.

The NIC dosing will correct that.

Do a few partial water changes before the dosing.

--garyroland.

Alright, I will try another 25% water change tommorow and see what happens.

Nothing will happen without the NIC...

--garyroland.

Sorry, what is a NIC?

"NIC" as I mentioned in another post here, is the New Improved Cycle...

That product is a bacteria starter, along with "Bio Spira", another bacteria starter.

Read my next article. I'll be covering problems with cloudy water.

--garyroland.

I couldn't find any NIC or Bio Spira at my LFS but they recommended this product that takes that bacteria that causes this cloudyness and buts them in little balls and they get sucked up into the filter, and then after 24 hours I add in this anti-cloud conditioner stuff. It seemed to have worked but it didn't clear up the cloudy water completely. I am gonna do another water change tonight and see what happens.

LoL, ok, the water change just made it CLOUDIER!!! What the heck is going on?

-25% water change = even cloudier
-Tried this Particulate Water Clarifer = nothing
-Tried Bilogical Water Clarifer = little better but still cloudy

These were the products the LFS recommended to me since they didn't have that NIC or Spiria stuff. Again I tested my water and it came out normal in all the ranges. ]:|