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Hello.
I have lurked here for some time and figure I should finally sign up and jump in there.
I have a 30 gallon tank with milky water, all of my tests are fine.
I test with strips and also take water samples to my LFS and the water is fine.
I do not overfeed. I leave my light on a max of 10 hours a day and the tank is not in direct sunlight.
I had 1 black neon tetra until last night when i added 4 neons and a live plant.
I did have more fishes but live in oklahoma, all died last month during the power outage.
anyway, the water is still a little milky, i was wondering if maybe it could be my filter acting up?
I have a penguin bio wheel, 150 i believe.
the one rated for up to 30 gallons.
Maybe I should clean it real good and use 2 media cartridges instead of one?
maybe get a new filter that is rated for a 50 gal?
not sure. the tank is 3 years old and used to look awesome, crystal clear water.
any ideas?

Hey, welcome to FishProfiles!

Hmmm, how long did that power outage last? If it killed some fish it might've taken some of your bacteria colony with it. Also, with only one black neon tetra, even if the bacteria survived the power outage, there would not be enough ammonia to support a very large colony. How long has the milkiness lasted? Since you added the neons? Did the LFS test for ammonia? My first guess would be that the ammonia produced from the added fish has caused a bacteria bloom. I doubt it's a problem with your filter. Giving it a good clean shouldn't hurt too much since you have a biowheel, but if my assumption is correct your biological filtration is weak enough without cleaning out the filter cartridge, which can house a lot of bacteria as well.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Hello cisc,
Welcome to FishProfiles!
If all you fish died during the power outage, perhaps your tank is going through a min-cylce. With the very low bioload in the tank, I wouldn't worry too much. Just wait a few more days to let things taking care of themselves.

I would not suggest you to clean your filter "real good". This will only prolong your problem. You may clean it a bit if it's really dirty.

Sounds like your tank is going through the cycling process again. It depends on how long the power was off. There are several good products on the market that will boost your good bacteria. Only use as directed (keep away from the cheapest brands)

A bigger filter never hurts, if and when you decide to upgrade you can seed the new filter and then run both filters at once. Also only wash the filter material in the tank water, and do a deep vac in sections of the substrate, The tank can be divided up into quarters and do one quarter per week. This does not disturb the bacteria too much in the substrate.

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Well it looks very clear today, almost as if the added fish helped.
to answer the questions though.
the power was off for a week and 4 platys and a black neon survived.
I then got a terrible algae bloom and added a algae killing chemical, it also did my platys in
the lil tetra survived and was alone for a week.
I did about a 75% water change n it last week. Thursday I think it was and the water stayed just a little cloudy.
I had the water tested and everything was great 0 ammonia the lfs said i have great tank water. So i figured the cloudyness was from a small cycle or the filter.
Last night I did a water change. I changed 5 gallons. and this morning it looks great.

oh and a correction: it is a bio wheel 200 not 150. rated for 50 gallons.
and I have had the media in backwards all this time, wonder if that can hurt?

You would want the mechanical filtration first before teh chemical filtration so that the carbon doesn't get clogged with particulate matter. If your filter cartridge is old, though, it wouldn't provide much chemical filtration anymore.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.