Cloudy Water ??? (CONCLUSION)

[Maize-N-Blue-D]

I know what the answer is going to be to this question,  but what would cause a tank to get progressively more cloudier ?

It's a 55 gallon tank and I am running a Magnum 350 w/ ceramic tubes as the bio media, I also have a Cascade 300 HOB and a Aqua Clear 30 HOB running as well both with Seachem Matrix as the bio media on the bottom of each filter.

We feed the fish (mix of African Cichlids - Peacocks and Haps) twice a day.  In the morning (10am) we feed Spirulina flake that I got from Wethumb and in the evening (6pm) we feed them Xtreme Pee Wee floating pellets. 

The lights (Coral life 48" double bulb - White and Color bulbs) are on a timer, they come on at 11 am and shut off at 10 pm each day.

My daughter feeds the fish in the morning,  I feed the fish in the evening (when I get home from work).

I have told Heather to only feed the fish what they can eat in 30 seconds and no more.  We don't want any food to touch the bottom of the tank,  I do the same with the Pee Wee pellets.

Every three weeks or so, I run the Magnum 350 with the polishing filter all night and in the morning the tank is crystal clear.

Are we still over feeding the fish if the water continuously is getting more cloudy as the week goes on?

[Steve]

Every three weeks or so, I run the Magnum 350 with the polishing filter all night and in the morning the tank is crystal clear.

You lost me there, are you not running that filter all the time?

Sounds like maybe a bacterial bloom perhaps? how long has the tank been set up? how often are the water changes?

[jamarini]

Sometimes a large water change will cause a bacterial bloom even if everything else in your maintenance routine remains constant.  Have you done a large water change just prior to noticing the cloudiness?  Water treatment facilities doing their chemical dosing to control bacteria in potable water vary the levels of treatment based upon anticipated precipitation and sometimes we get considerably more or less precipitation than exected and when they underdose one result can be a bacterial bloom in our tanks. 

[Maize-N-Blue-D]

Clarification:  I run the Magnum 24/7 with a basket and filter sleeve,  I also take the basket / filter sleeve out and use the Polisher roughly every 3rd week for a 12 hour period.

The tank has been cycled since X-mas, it took roughly 7 weeks to cycle the tank (fish in cycle).  I normally do a 50% WC every Saturday.   But lately I have noticed that by mid-week the water begins to get more cloudy...I suspect we are feeding too much, but not entirely sure.

I am using well water after a softener.

[Marty]

To start with, try feeding once a day instead of twice.

[danielratti]

Whats your kh?

[four_by_ken]

Sounds like over feeding to me.  But usually you have to really overfeed a lot to cloud the tank.

[four_by_ken]

Other than milk and Oreo cookies being added to the tank, I am unaware of anything else that will cloud the tank.

[danielratti]

Too high of a kh or too low will cause cloudy ness of the water. A customer who had really low kh came in with really cloudy water like what is being mentioned.

[Maize-N-Blue-D]

I am sorry to say but I have never tested for kh.  All my perimeters (Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates, PH)  have been in sync since the tank cycled..

Now what has changes recently is this..

I just set up a cascade 300 HOB Filter loaded with Matrix and sponges, I also set up a AC 30 HOB filter loaded with Matrix and sponges as well.  I want them to establish themselves before I put them in my 2nd 55 tank that I plan to set up in two weeks.  I put some of the bacteria from the Magnum 350 in each hoping that they would develop the proper bacteria so that I can quickly cycle the 2nd 55 tank.

I wonder if the Matrix being not seeded yet and is what is causing the cloudiness...I'm not sure...

[Steve]

Did you rinse the new Matrix in tank water first? I use Matrix in all my canisters and I know it is very dusty stuff when it is new and needs to be rinsed first.

[danielratti]

Could be a ton of reasons on why it could be cloudy then. Could be the matrix, over feeding, under filtered, over stocked or out of whack hardness.

[Maize-N-Blue-D]

No I did not rinse the matrix prior to putting it into the filters...  We may have a winner !   Give that man a cookie !

[Ron]

Not washing the Matrix is a great suggestion, but if this is a reoccurring problem I don't think that is the answer. If anything the dust in suspension should be getting diluted with occasional water changes.

Overfeeding is the most likely root of the problem. As a test, perhaps try cutting back. Hungry fish are healthy fish, so as long as everyone knows that and doesn't cheat the 30 seconds or less feeding in the morning, I'd suggest that you keep letting your daughter feed them then, but perhaps only feed them every-other day or less yourself in the evenings.

The water source is another possibility for cloudy water, but in your case it sounds like you've suggested it's a gradual buildup and I think you'd notice if a glass of water from the tap was hazy.

[four_by_ken]

I agree with Ron.  I really dont think it is the Matrix.  That would be more of a one time thing.  The first time you turned on the filter with the Matrix in it.  Then it would clear up.  Like if you use carbon and dont rinse it enough.

I still think the food is one way or another to blame.