# WOULD YOU LIKE SOME MILK



## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

Iv had milky water for around a week and a half now, this happened when my tank finished its cycle, i decided to do a 40% water change using R/O water( never used it before) it helped a little but not much. i used to have crystal clear water. three days ago i did a 25 water change again with R/O and this time rinsed the filter media in tank water again this helped a little more then last time, after this ammonia went up then went down now ammonia is present slightly and nitrIte is starting to show, is this a mini cycle? all this to clear up some water? i also forgot to mention i did regular power gravel vacs, i noticed any left over food grew white fluff all over it??? i am also trying to slowwly increase my pH after using R/O water brought the pH to 5! Could i please have soe experienced opinions?

cheers guys & gals.


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## greebo (Aug 19, 2003)

well in regards to the milky water, my 20 gallon did that once, was clear for a few months then once about 24 hours after a water change it went the same opacity as yours, i was a bit worried about it but could do nothing for it, it got back to normal a few weeks later, I woulda said it was cycling but all the fish (4 plecos, a few neons and assorted chiclids (sp?)) were still there and happy throughout.

About your ph, for a quick solution, cause that is pretty low get one of the PH Neutral mixtures from the Lfs that should sort it. is there anything living in the tank now ?


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

yeah 5 baby reds 2" and a 6" pleco


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## greebo (Aug 19, 2003)

well at that age I'd say the low PH may adversely affect them, not sure though. Get yourself to the pet shop and see if they have the PH neutral stuff, ask ‘em if they have anything for your milky tank while your at it


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

i got some 8.3 buffer so im using that slowly till it brings it to about 6.5-7


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## greebo (Aug 19, 2003)

niec one, hope it works out for ya


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

nice 1 greebo, got some accu-clear aswell.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

rbP NUT said:


> i decided to do a 40% water change using R/O water( never used it before) it helped a little but not much. i used to have crystal clear water. three days ago i did a 25 water change again with R/O and this time rinsed the filter media in tank water again this helped a little more then last time, after this ammonia went up then went down now ammonia is present slightly and nitrIte is starting to show, is this a mini cycle?


 Doing fairly large water changes (25-40%), then replacing the water with sterile R/O water, and also rincing the filter media may have reduced the number of beneficial bacteria in your tank - the result of that is, like you said, a partial recycling of the tank.
To avoid this, never combine larger water changes with the cleaning of filter media, and also, never clean out all the media at once: do 50% one time, and the remaining 50% the other time...


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

cheers big man







should the accu clear do the trick?


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

AccuClear is a flocculent that basically clumps all the fine floating particles so the filter can mechanically remove it. It might clear the water but will not solve the cause of the cloudiness. I would just monitor your water parameters and leave the tank alone. It will clear itself out in time without the use of chemicals. You can do small water changes if there are any spikes in ammonia/nitrite. If you do decide to continue using R/O, I recommend you prepare a 50/50 mix with tap water to start when you do water changes. You can fine tune from there...


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

nice 1 donH


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