# Particles in water...?



## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

Water changes? Lots of them. Then see if it returns.


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## dunadan67 (Aug 5, 2011)

Well, there could be a hundred different things going on, I guess.. a couple thoughts that jump out at me.

To tell if its the food, you could stop feeding the fish for a few days to see if it clears up.

It could be the substrate(s), which I'm not familiar with (the Aquasoil). Was it recommended that you rinse the substrate beforehand? You probably want to rinse the sand too. How recently was the tank set up?


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## [email protected] (Jul 17, 2008)

I suggest a power head with a plastic bottle attached to the intake. Cut the bottom out of the bottle. Lightly pack the bottle with filter floss. I'd expect normal particulates to filter out in a couple of hours.


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## FriendsNotFood (Sep 21, 2010)

The Aquasoil supposedly didn't need rinsing. The sand *probably* did and I rinsed most of it but not all (sloppy, I know). This tank has been up and running for a while now though. I'd say it's been fully planted with the current substrate since October 1st. I've had fish/shrimp in there for about a month now. 

It gets a 30-40% water change about every week and a half, sometimes more often... The fish are only fed once a day on weekdays, at night when I get home from work, and there's usually a bunch of particles in the water even before I feed them. I'll try skipping their food for a couple days, but if it's the food causing it, there's not much I can do, is there?

Could this just be the result of having sand in the tank and lots of critters that like to dig it up (shrimp, pygmy cories)? Anyone else having this problem?

Thanks for all the help guys


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

Seriously, do a few 50-70% water changes.


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## FriendsNotFood (Sep 21, 2010)

Ok will do  I don't have a python so water changes involve lugging 3 gallon buckets to the bathroom and using a 1 gallon pitcher to fill up my tank about 20 times. The python is on my Christmas list.


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## Daximus (Oct 19, 2011)

If it hasn't been up for a month don't stress. My was all kinds of goofy for the first month or so.


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## tbarabash (May 18, 2011)

My tank was like that. I put about 3" of filter floss in my eheim and it cleared up 75% of it in 2 days hen bought a used 9w internal uv sterilizer and in 2 days my water looked like it wasn't even in the tank it was so clear


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

In addition to what others have said - re: reasonably frequent large water changes, and regular use of filter floss (changed every second week), also try using fine mesh pre-filter sponges on your filter intake tubes (rinsed every few days), and use Seachem Purigen in your filter.
I do all of the above, plus using a UV sterilizer, and my tank is crystal clear all the time.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

If you didn't rinse the sand that well, its probably that and like others asked, how long has it been setup? A new setup tank can go through all kinds of wacky things.


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## FriendsNotFood (Sep 21, 2010)

The tank has been running in its present state since October 1st so I doubt it's the sand particles... Water changes don't seem to help that much either.

Would Seachem Purigen pull too much nitrogen out of the water and starve my plants?


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## tbarabash (May 18, 2011)

Minimally pulls nitrates out. I have no prob maintaining 20 with my tank and ei dosing


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

FriendsNotFood said:


> The tank has been running in its present state since October 1st so I doubt it's the sand particles... Water changes don't seem to help that much either.
> 
> Would Seachem Purigen pull too much nitrogen out of the water and starve my plants?


Purigen's removal of impurities is excellent but it's effect on beneficial elements is negligeable. No problem for your plants.

If you want some evidence, here's my low-tech planted discus tank, in which I've been using Purigen 24/7 for many months:
http://s1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/discuspaul/Sept2011


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## FriendsNotFood (Sep 21, 2010)

Here's how cruddy my water is. It's really upsetting. I have limited power outlets by my tank and an apartment with shoddy wiring, so before I add a powerhead or an extra filter, is it possible that my Eheim 2213 just isn't doing the job? It's rated up to 66 gallons so I thought I was going to be fine, but should I upgrade to one of the pro Eheims instead or just the next one up?

I'm definitely going to put a sponge over my intake for starters but I'm wondering if I just need to invest in a better canister. One with more room to add stuff like Purigen. Thoughts?


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## livingword26 (Oct 28, 2010)

I can't say that your canister is the problem, but I can say that the 2213 is rated at 116 gallons per hour. I am running a Fluval 204 that is rated at 150 gph in my 29 gallon and I still had to put in a power head to get enough circulation. If you want to stay with the Ehiem, then I would go with the 2217. As long as you have the double taps, you can reduce the flow if you need to. Otherwise I would look on ebay for the EXTERNAL CANISTER POWER FILTER. I would get the one rated at 265 gph. As a matter of fact, I am going to, after Christmas, hopefully.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

For your 36 gal, you could add an inexpensive AquaClear 70 HOB which would do a great job and provide lots of room for Purigen, filter floss & whatever.


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## FriendsNotFood (Sep 21, 2010)

Can't add an HOB sadly, my tank is a corner tank with a pretty tight fit. So it's gotta be canister or powerhead...


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## Daximus (Oct 19, 2011)

How much you lookin' to spend?

I've got this guys bigger brother (525 gph) on my 90 and it's working great. http://www.truaqua.com/aquatop-canister-filter-cf-400uv.html

They get a bad rap around here, but I absolutely love mine.

You tank looks pretty clear in that picture...are you talking about the bluish haze? If yes, mine was like that, it just went away after being up and running for a month.


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## FriendsNotFood (Sep 21, 2010)

Daximus, that pic is a couple months old, I just put it up so you guys could see the setup and lack of space for an HOB. If you go back a couple posts you can see a closeup with all the gunk swimming around in the water. Sorry I don't have the best camera.


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## Daximus (Oct 19, 2011)

I see, yea, there is definitely some gunk in there. 

Hmmm, it seems like your can should be enough for that tank.


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## 1aqumfish (Apr 19, 2009)

I am using that filter in my 55gal, works great. I will be adding a pump for co2 and circulation. In your case should do a good job by itself.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Your filter should be fine... circulation might be an issue, but try adding more fine mechanical filtration, ie. fine filter floss or some kind of polishing media. You can also add a sponge cover, pantyhose, filter sock, etc. over the input for another level of filtration.


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

DAXIMUS. i can't believe you hear bad things about aquatops. they are practically sunsuns. which i currently have and love and most people i know theat have them would agree

also mechanical filtration is great but in a healthy aquarium after the first few months. mechanical serves practically no purpose. biological is the real key here especially if you do regular water changes


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## Daximus (Oct 19, 2011)

HD Blazingwolf said:


> DAXIMUS. i can't believe you hear bad things about aquatops. they are practically sunsuns. which i currently have and love and most people i know theat have them would agree



Easy now, lol! 

I have one, and I absolutely *LOVE* mine! I'm running a single CF-500UV on my 90 and it's working perfectly. My water is perfect, the flow is perfect, the filter is dead quiet. I'm not even considering another canister filter! 

But there are some people who seem to "poo-poo" a $125 canister, that's what I was eluding too. I'm Aquatop pimp #1, trust me, lol! :icon_mrgr


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

Not saying ur personally downing them either. 
I can see why people would pay more but for me. Its functionality is perfect.


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

HD Blazingwolf said:


> also mechanical filtration is great but in a healthy aquarium after the first few months. mechanical serves practically no purpose. biological is the real key here especially if you do regular water changes


Say wha? In a planted tank, particularly an established planted tank, plants consume ammonia far faster than bacteria. Thus almost negating the "biological" filter. 

The reason people recommend such high turnover rates in tanks is for their MECHANICAL abilities. Bacteria will not eat large plant and food solids or fish waste in any sort of efficient manor. Filters remove the physical crap from the water. Plants eat the ammonia.


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## FriendsNotFood (Sep 21, 2010)

How do people balance high filter flow with fish species that like calm water? I'd say the flow from my Eheim is pretty high... my plants are visibly swaying and my fish have to swim against the current in parts of the tank. And yet there's tiny particles of crap everywhere. Sigh.


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## Daximus (Oct 19, 2011)

FriendsNotFood said:


> How do people balance high filter flow with fish species that like calm water? I'd say the flow from my Eheim is pretty high... my plants are visibly swaying and my fish have to swim against the current in parts of the tank. And yet there's tiny particles of crap everywhere. Sigh.


High turnover doesn't necessarily mean high current. To combat this in my tank (discus and angels don't dig wicked flow) I made a custom PVC spray bar running almost the length of my 4 foot tank. My filter is moving a lot of water, but I spread the output way out so it's a little slower. 

I personally don't think some of the insane flow tanks are needed. If all your plants are swaying a little I call it good. Not counting some of the extra super high tech ADA guys....but that's another ball game as far as I'm concerned. 

After reading this thread again I'm wondering if you need to try some different media...or maybe your getting some filter bypass. I just stirred up mine real bad, I mean stuff was flying everywhere and my filter has the tank back to normal in just over an hour.


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

i have 31x turnover but my powerheads negate each other. the flow dynamics of my tank dictate as much. im not sure if its spray bar placement rok layout or more likely a combination of everything but i require high turnover to keep everything moving. but as i said my powerheads negate each other and keep the flow frm being too much for fish to handle. it just creates lots of turbulence


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## DishyFishy (Jul 17, 2011)

I would suggest being careful with the froze brine shrimp. If your not really careful, it can muddy up the water, that happened in my 29gal, so now I'm VERY careful when doling it out.


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## FriendsNotFood (Sep 21, 2010)

Stupid question... is it possible that I have TOO much flow and it's stirring up fish food etc and never lets it settle? I've never had this issue in my 2.5 gallon where there's barely any flow at all.. the filter just gently waterfalls into the water. In that tank, frozen brine shrimp just sinks right to the bottom. In the 36 gallon it goes all over the place because of the spraybar.


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## Daximus (Oct 19, 2011)

FriendsNotFood said:


> Stupid question... is it possible that I have TOO much flow and it's stirring up fish food etc and never lets it settle? I've never had this issue in my 2.5 gallon where there's barely any flow at all.. the filter just gently waterfalls into the water. In that tank, frozen brine shrimp just sinks right to the bottom. In the 36 gallon it goes all over the place because of the spraybar.


Yea, I suppose that's a distinct possibility, but if there is that much flying around you might be overfeeding. Depends on what fish your trying to feed too. I have to trick my pesky Angle fish by feeding them at one end of the tank, then secretly slipping some into the water on the other side so it make it down to my Corys, lol.


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## FriendsNotFood (Sep 21, 2010)

Haha well I only feed once a day but yeah, I dump a bunch of food in there. There's a ton of shrimp and 8 cories that live in the back of the tank and hide all day long, so I figure I need SOMETHING to get past the shrimp cleanup crew and the rainbowfish and make it to the bottom of the tank. There's never leftover food lying anywhere. Between all my shrimp and all my hitchhiker seed shrimp things get polished off. Plus I'm waiting for my ferts to come in the mail so I was hoping any food that doesn't get eaten just feeds the plants, right?


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

FriendsNotFood said:


> Stupid question... is it possible that I have TOO much flow and it's stirring up fish food etc and never lets it settle? I've never had this issue in my 2.5 gallon where there's barely any flow at all.. the filter just gently waterfalls into the water. In that tank, frozen brine shrimp just sinks right to the bottom. In the 36 gallon it goes all over the place because of the spraybar.


The goal is to not let it settle and allow it time for your filter to get a chance to suck it up and filter it out.


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## tbarabash (May 18, 2011)

Again, put a few inches of poly-fil into your filter. The NON fire retardent one.. should be able to find it at any craft store or wal-mart for $5 for a huge bag. 

BTW, I have a 2217 on a 36G running it totally unrestrained with the quick connects and my fish are okay. Pigmy cories sometimes have trouble swimming against the current in some spots but are thriving just fine


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## FriendsNotFood (Sep 21, 2010)

Thanks so much for the advice everybody. Right now my plan is to stuff my Eheim full of filter floss and add a sponge over the intake (hoping to find a black one big enough to cover up the obnoxious Eheim branding all over the intake...seriously, is that necessary). If that doesn't help then in a week or so I'll probably be looking to add a second canister or a powerhead.


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## narhay (Feb 28, 2007)

Not enough mechanical filtration. Add another canister or get a larger one.


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