# Cloudy water in tank



## Heavens123 (Nov 10, 2011)

I've seen several suggestions in posts for why a tank might have cloudy water, but am not sure that any fit my tank.

I've recently done quite a bit of replanting and did make the water murky a few weeks ago...which slowly cleared and I changed the pads in the filters as they were saturated...but have ended up with lighly milky water with plenty of particulates in it, despite having done my weekly 50% water changes for the past two weeks.

I have a UV sterilizer on 24/7 and always have, so I'm not attributing this to any bacterial bloom.

I dose EI 3x a week M-W-F, which is nitrate, phosphate, Flourish, Flourish potassium. On T-Th-S I dose iron. I have pressurized co2 and plants are growing beautifully. I've only recently started dosing iron, but I'm dosing it on its own days as I've read dosing with the certain other things could make it precipitate. Could that be it?

I am also using Melafix and Pimafix in this tank because of a fungus on two cories, but the cloudiness preceded the treatment.


----------



## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

the question then becomes are the plants using enough of the iron between dosing to not have precipitation if this is an established tank and is not algae
try turning down the iron dosing for a week and see what happens


----------



## Heavens123 (Nov 10, 2011)

This is a very established tank, but there is some algae, which was the result of having run out of co2 for just over a week. Things are back on track now, but some does remain.

I can cut the iron dose in half and see if that does it. It's certainly worth a try. If that is the cause, should I expect the cloudiness to recede on it's own or would it have to be water-changed out? Water changes currently seem to have no effect on it. What exactly is the cloudiness and can it still be used by the plants? Thanks.


----------



## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

it will recede on its own.. phosphate and iron in high enough concentrations form FEPO4
ferric phosphate. it is unusable by aquatic plants frm my understanding the cloud will sink to the bottom and anything left from the reaction will precipitate out

to be safe check ammonia 
do a HUGE water change after it clears. IME it affects plants ability to absorb p04, it may have been a lack of po4 in my tank after the reaction but i dosed and dosed and plants grew some yellow patches and leaves fell off a about 2 weeks later

since that time it has happened before when i added too much iron, water change afterwards did not have the same problem
also i have noticed the reaction is easily catalyzed by UV 

EDIT:SINCE I brought up u. UV affects ORP and REDOX.. adding prime, gh booster, and guess what IRON can cuase a cloud because its breaking down organic matter rapdily. turn off ur uv for a day and see if that helps ( i've been there too )


----------



## Heavens123 (Nov 10, 2011)

Thanks, I have cut the UV and dosed only half the iron. I'll do this until the next water change and see what happens. Thanks.


----------



## Heavens123 (Nov 10, 2011)

So, it is now six days later. I cut the iron and uv completely. My water is not milky white now, but it is murky looking and definitely not clear. There are also many suspended particles in it. I don't know why two 2028's wouldn't be getting the particles out of the water. Those are both strong filters.

I've now reinstated my uv and will see what happens. I'll also do a water change tomorrow and see if that makes any difference. Any ideas are welcome.


----------



## Heavens123 (Nov 10, 2011)

*Update*

Well, I still have cloudy water and am just getting around to dealing with it again as I've been distracted by other things.

Here's what I've done:

Completely cut iron and UV for a week. No effect.
50% water changes weekly or 2x a week. No effect.
Vacuum substrate very well with water change. No effect.
Replace floss in 2x Eheim 2028. No effect.
Used doses of Accu-clear. No effect.

Cloudy water is contant...even cloudy right after a water change. All water parameters constant and normal. Plants look great and fish seem happy.

Any more ideas?


----------



## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

i know the water in ny is pretty soft based off what other people on here say. i think ur water is fine..

im loath to reccomend it but try purigen. its amazing stuff. of that im sure.


just to be safe does ur tap water look this way?


----------



## Heavens123 (Nov 10, 2011)

HD Blazingwolf said:


> i know the water in ny is pretty soft based off what other people on here say. i think ur water is fine..
> 
> im loath to reccomend it but try purigen. its amazing stuff. of that im sure.
> 
> ...


Does my tap water look which way? I didn't see a picture or a link. The water here is pretty soft, but my pH is 7. I've also had fish tanks with NY water for 20 years and this is the first cloudiness I've ever had that I could not easily get rid of. 

I just read a little about the Purigen and it says it removes nitrates...yet on another thread people say they use it with EI dosing and have no problems because it is not removing the type of nitrates we are adding. I've honestly never heard of this product before tonight but I see many people saying it makes the water crystal clear. It certainly might be worth giving it a try, at least for a week or so and see what happens. I'll call Seachem tomorrow and talk to one of the guys so they can advise me. Thanks for bringing this up. I'm willing to try pretty much anything at this point.


----------



## JoraaÑ (Jun 29, 2009)

If you happen to have power head(wave maker) Hydor Koralia kind..face it toward the surface and run 24/7 and see what happens....if plant and animals are happy I won't worry much...If you can't tolerate cloudy water...use that ick cure thingy...blue liquid few drops and water become bluish: better for eyes...I did this few yrs back when I had the same problem after a month water became crystal clear. Btw, Iron and other Ferts has nothing to do with cloudiness.


----------



## Heavens123 (Nov 10, 2011)

UPDATE:

Wow, wow and wow. After months of cloudiness and trying everything in the book, Purigen did the trick. I called and spoke to tech support at Seachem to ask them what they recommended in terms of how much to get and they recommend 2 of the 100 bags, one for each of my Eheims (it comes pre-bagged in that size). They said you don't need to cover the whole filter, just pop the small bag in and leave it. By morning there was a huge improvement...a few days later crystal clear. I will never run another tank without Purigen again. After trying everything recommended, I can't believe what a difference this made and how quickly it did it. I'm very, very happy with this product and it was well worth the cost, which wasn't that much for 2x 100 bags. THANK YOU FOR THE EXCELLENT SUGGESTION.


----------

