Dusty Water!!

[djceri_g]

As I have put a Black background on my tank I have noticed that there is loads of white bits floating in my water. Its not cloudy, just looks dusty. At first I thought they where small bubbles that I can see due to strong lighting, two filters running and an airstone. Now, Im thinking it could be due to past over feeding! I have been doing 50% water change twice a week to try clear the water and it doesnt help. Also, I have rinsed the filter spouges but dont want to do this too often incase I kill off the bacteria! Any suggesstions people? I think it is irritatong my fish and Ive just lost one! :(

[djceri_g]

anyone?

[ILLUSN]

pics???

could it be a bacterial bloom?

[Merrilyn]

Do you run a UV on that tank?

That often helps with the clarity of the water.

I think it sounds like a bacterial bloom too.

[Bald_noggin]

This is what my tank looked like several weeks after it had been setup.

It passed through this phase a few times so I bit the bullet and purchased a UV. I kid you not, 5-7 days later it was crystal clear. :shock:

[djceri_g]

Mines not as bad as the one in that pic! Its it quite a new set up, has been cycling since May this year and added fish about June. It could be my fault overfeeding! I have stopped that now. Will this irritate my fish? They seen fine though. Ive just given them a dose of worming so the water looks worse! thanks peeps

[djceri_g]

This is getting worse I think! seems to be a lot of flickering, i think its irritating my fish. Ive just wormed them and added salt. do you think a big water change will make a difference? I have ordered a uv Sterelizer.

[Merrilyn]

Certainly a big water change will help until your UV unit arrives.

I wouldn't treat the fish for anything else at this stage. Just keep up with several water changes a week and you'll soon have things under control.

[djceri_g]

Could his bacterial bloom stick on items? I have this white gunk on the black suckers that holds my heater and spray bar

[tzwms]

SnakeSkin,
I would guess that your white film is a fungus rather than a bacterial bloom. It will take care of itself in a week or so.HTH :)

[djceri_g]

SnakeSkin,
I would guess that your white film is a fungus rather than a bacterial bloom. It will take care of itself in a week or so.HTH :)Im not really sue but ive had this problem for a while and its getting worse.

[taksan]

Get a decent filter first off..... those Juwels are junk

[djceri_g]

Get a decent filter first off..... those Juwels are junk~Errm, I actually have a Juwel aswell as a external Eheim! :lol:

[djceri_g]

about this dusty water problem, I always notice when doing the water change, i dont know if any of you is familiar with Juwel internal filters, but when I put in treated tap water into the tank (into the internal filter) no matter how many times I rinse the spounges from the internal filter theres always lots of muck from the spounges going everywhere and on the bottom. I think because I have a bare bottom and I syphon all the muck from the bottom, then after a water change the tank looks horrible again!!! this is not helping the dusty water!! Is it better if i dont use the internal filter and only use the external Eheim 2213? My tank is a 190 UK litres and bare bottom with 5 discus. THanks!

[djceri_g]

anyone? should I ditch the internal or not?

[ILLUSN]

how about not feeding water into the internal when you fill up?

if this helps then its not good enough just to wash the sponges, you'll have to take the thing apart and wash down all media as well as wipe down the internal surfaces with a sponge to remove all the gunk.

give it a go on your next water change.

[djceri_g]

Wont I shock the fish if I just empty the bucket of water into the tank like that? But I suppose ur ment to do it slowly! haha, but a bucket of water is heavy!

[ILLUSN]

wont shock the fish mate, i use a 3400l/h pump to fill up my 6x2x2 in about 5 min.

you are aging and heating your water before right?

[djceri_g]

no, I treat tap water with plenty of Tetra tap safe. Our water is very soft round here, about 6.7ph

[ILLUSN]

ok, that shouldn't be a problem then, aging is better but i use to get by without it.

[djceri_g]

Ye, I wish I had the room and the equipment to age the water! and a easier way of doing water changes! Seems to take forever to chane water! and gets rather messy on my cream coloured carpets!

[Greggy]

An internal filter can be a good addition to the overall filtration system, but your external canister filter is the important one - so treat it very carefully and just gently wash it's foam media in tank water only. As for the internal filter go nuts and clean it as often as you like! When you remove it from the tank firstly submerse a large clean bowl into the water, place the external filter into the bowl and lift the entire assembly out, as that way no muck spills or leaks back into the water column.

I use my internal filter more or less as just a mechanical filter. I wash it out every few months in normal tap water and I find it collects HUGE amounts of gunk in its foam filter block. I wash & rinse the filter, put it all back together until another few months goes by. This has no effect at all on my biological filtration because my team of Eheim 2228 and Aqua One 2450 canister filters are always churning away.

You don't absolutely need a UV sterilzer to get rid of cloudy water, but they probably help. Some of the clearest tanks I've ever seen have not run UV on them.

IMO the key to really clear water that makes your fish look like they are levitating is to reduce the amount of food going into the tank, and this can be difficult if you have a few juvi Discus that your trying to grow up. Its more or less impossible to grow Discus fast and have perfectly clear water short of having MASSIVE filtration including all the gadgets & widgets such as UV etc.

Try 'starving' you tank for a week and see if it clears up - don't worry your fish will survive. Once you get the water crystal clear you can slowly start feeding again and increase the food levels to what you think is right or when the water is cloudy at the end of the day (after the feeds), because if it is cloudy by the evening yet clear in the morning I'd say that the extra food going into the tank is feeding nothing but your bacterial bloom and this is what makes the water look hazy/milky/dusty.

For a 190L tank I would seriosuly consider getting a bigger filter than the Eheim 2213. An Eheim 2228 would be a very nice addition on a tank like that. They are virtually bullet proof, easy to service and don't cost much more than the Eheim Classic Series.

Regards,

Greggy

[djceri_g]

thank you very much for that info! at the moment I dont really like to actually scrubb the spounges from the internal as the tank is quite new, as for the external, I have given it a quick rinse and got a lot of much out of it. I think it is a very good filter, its ideal for tanks uo to 250litres and having the internal is a bonus! Im my tankaswell there is a lot of water flow with the two filters and a air stone! dont think this helps the muck to settle on the bottom for me to syphon up! I shall give the tank a spring clean and leave the external for now! And calm down on feeding! I must admit that I do feed often, but I feed from my hand so thres no waste. I think i should buy a loach or some sort of a hoover fish!

[djceri_g]

could it be this I am seeing as dust be just fine bubbles? my lighting is quite string and I have a clack background? I do endless water changes and I still see these white bits floating around

[ILLUSN]

no if they look soild, they're not bubbles. if its still a new tank it will settle with time.

[Robdog]

I think Greggy has given some pretty good advice there.
Leave your canister filter ticking over and give the internal filter a good clean out and maybe only use it as mechanical filtration.
From what you have been saying it sounds a little like you are cleaning it in the tank or near the tank so that bits and pieces can run back into it and cloud the whole thing. Take the thing out if you can and dump it in the sink and give it a good wash down. Your canister will be able to handle the excess bio load pretty easily and if your ph is low then ammonia spikes won't be a problem anyway.

In the long run it would probably be better to do away with the internal altogether and upgrade to a bigger and better canister. Combined with the UV, you'll have a very capable system.

[djceri_g]

I have given the internal filter a good scrubb and npt fed them for a while. i feed bad because they are all trying to eat my fingers when I put my hand in the tank. Ive had to add a dose of worming powder so this aint helping the water. Im still waiting to get my uv system, I shall keep u informed