# cloudy water....how do i get crystal clear water ?



## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

okay i have 8 p's in a 46's gallon for now (upgrading to a 120gallon in a month or so). had a algae problem a few months ago so i turned the lights off a few days did a 50 water change and bought 2 plecos and my tank was crystal clear . now since the p's have ate the plecos im noticing the tank is cloudy again , not too cloudy but not the crystal clear look i once had. now i have bout another pleco 2 weeks ago and i do water change once a week and i don't think im over feeding them. i heard color sticks are good for the coloring of the ps so i been using that past 2 weeks. and i also just started checking my ph levels. my water comes out the tap at a 8 but once in tank after a day or so i notice my ph always settles to a 6 , cant maintain a 7ph level either. only after i do a water change and check ph a few hours later its perfect 7, in 2 days back to a 6 tho. whats up with that ? i also use water conditioner after every water change and to try to clear the water i used that water clarity stuff or whatever, still no luck. i also vac the gravel once a week.


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## ju5tin95 (Nov 25, 2008)

what are your water parameters? what kind of filters are you using?


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## THE BLACK PIRANHA (Dec 8, 2003)

ju5tin95 said:


> what are your water parameters? what kind of filters are you using?


x2


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## db04ph (Jan 27, 2009)

nitrites most likely man, too many piranhas in a tank with inadequate filtration, u need to get a better filtration system or you will lose your piranhas


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## db04ph (Jan 27, 2009)

why cant you just put them in a 90 gallon and stick your gars in your 46 for now, way too many piranhas in a 46 gallon, and not enough filtration, eather move them to 90 gallon, or pick up ac110 filter or sell some piranhas


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

THE BLACK PIRANHA said:


> why cant you just put them in a 90 gallon and stick your gars in your 46 for now, way too many piranhas in a 46 gallon, and not enough filtration, eather move them to 90 gallon, or pick up ac110 filter or sell some piranhas


my gars are way to big for the 46 !


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## chaddfc (Dec 29, 2009)

ill buy some piranhas!







haha! How old are they?


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

chaddfc said:


> ill buy some piranhas!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


what are you wanting to buy ? rbp ? they are 8months old


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## chaddfc (Dec 29, 2009)

Yeah I want like 3 or 4 reds for my tank! Or lately ive been looking at like 1 Elongatus Piranha. But probably the reds.


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## Jared35 (Sep 15, 2009)

I would also buy some reds lol, ill take all of em off your hands


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

a 46 gallon with that many natts is gonna need a lot more filtration on it than what you have now... i would suggest buying whatever filtration you are planning to have for your 120 gallon and setting it up now on your 46. that would not only help with your water quality issues now, but you would also be cycling your filter for the big tank so you can move everything over right away when you get it instead of having to wait for the new tank to cycle.

even with the upgraded filtration, you will most likely need to perform some extra water changes, as i'm sure the nitrates will build up quickly in that tank. the extra filtration should help, and definitely stay away from chemical water clarifiers.

your ph may be fluctuating because of what your local water treatment facility adds to the water... they like to raise the ph of the water so that it's easier on the pipes in the long run and the ph usually drops after it sits for a day or two. to see if that's the case, fill up a glass of water from the tap, test the ph, then let it sit for a couple days and test it again.


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## the keeper (Jan 16, 2010)

i agree, sound like you dont have enough filtration, i think you said you have a ac 70, thats not even close enough for p's, imo, you should have filtration, should be 8to10 times gallons per hour for the size of your tank, so if you have a 46 you should be pushing around 390 an hour at the min adeal is 460. on my 55's i use 2 biowheels 350's so im pushing 700 an hour, might seem a little much but my water is allways clear, good luck man


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## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

If you're water parameters are in check, the most likely cause is you don't have enough filtration. What happens is when you don't give the benificial bacteria enough media to colonize, they float around in the water. I had this problem when I first started out, drove me nuts, upgraded to a cannister filter and stuffed it full of a few liters of ceramic rings and the problem vanished almost overnight.


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

cool i will be upgrading very soon !! just looking for a proper price on a legit tank ...


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

so are you going to add filtration to help the situation until you upgrade? have you tested your water for ammo, nitrite, and nitrate yet? i saw you posted your ph results, but you never answered about the others.


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

joedizzlempls said:


> so are you going to add filtration to help the situation until you upgrade? have you tested your water for ammo, nitrite, and nitrate yet? i saw you posted your ph results, but you never answered about the others.


no i havent tested anything else. guessing i should then. i just cleaned the filter on 1 of my power heads a few minutes ago and did a 30% water change , cleaned the gravel and added some water cleaner stuff to help with the water and water conditioner .... now just before i added the 2 new fish i did a water cleaning as usual but i cleaned the main filter in hot water to keep from buying a new sponge and all that stuff. could that be my problem since i cleaned all 3 parts of the filter in hot water all at once ? just weird i had this tank for 8 months and never had it this cloudy so long, and i thought i know more bout tanks now lol guess not , learning alot from you guys tho ...


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

yeah, don't clean your filter media in hot water from the tap, just give them a rinse in your tank water to avoid killing all the beneficial bacteria.

also, what do you mean by "water cleaner stuff"?


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

joedizzlempls said:


> yeah, don't clean your filter media in hot water from the tap, just give them a rinse in your tank water to avoid killing all the beneficial bacteria.
> 
> also, what do you mean by "water cleaner stuff"?


water cleaner stuff i meant that water clarifier stuff , it suppose to clear up cloudy water .


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

so dont clean all parts of the filter at once?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

dmackey said:


> so dont clean all parts of the filter at once?


yup, try to clean filters in stages if you can to avoid wiping out all the bacteria


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

just cleaned water only yesterday. tanks looking good this morning finally!!! not quite there but looking better for sure


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