# How To Clear My Water?



## dmackey

i've had my tank running a few months now just wondering why i can keep crystal clear water ? i use active carbon in my sump and it works for like a day or 2 then back to s mild cloudyness , all my params are perfectly fine just the water isnt how i'd like it to be, i washed my sponges with my tank water in a bucket a week ago i dont know what else is left to do, the active carbon stuff i bought is some no name brand from big als 5.99 could that be my problem ? i have 2 full xl bags in my sump 1 bag of active carbon and 1 bag of carbon


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## Us And Them

dmackey said:


> i've had my tank running a few months now just wondering why i can keep crystal clear water ? i use active carbon in my sump and it works for like a day or 2 then back to s mild cloudyness , all my params are perfectly fine just the water isnt how i'd like it to be, i washed my sponges with my tank water in a bucket a week ago i dont know what else is left to do, the active carbon stuff i bought is some no name brand from big als 5.99 could that be my problem ? i have 2 full xl bags in my sump 1 bag of active carbon and 1 bag of carbon


Hey ,

could be a number of things , would you mind posting your parameters ? start at the bottom and try to work your way through it.
What kind of filtration are you using ? and , you have a 180 if im correct right ? How many fish do you have in total ? sizes etc.

Do you use any pH or Ammonia Buffers ?


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## dmackey

Us And Them said:


> i've had my tank running a few months now just wondering why i can keep crystal clear water ? i use active carbon in my sump and it works for like a day or 2 then back to s mild cloudyness , all my params are perfectly fine just the water isnt how i'd like it to be, i washed my sponges with my tank water in a bucket a week ago i dont know what else is left to do, the active carbon stuff i bought is some no name brand from big als 5.99 could that be my problem ? i have 2 full xl bags in my sump 1 bag of active carbon and 1 bag of carbon


Hey ,

could be a number of things , would you mind posting your parameters ? start at the bottom and try to work your way through it.
What kind of filtration are you using ? and , you have a 180 if im correct right ? How many fish do you have in total ? sizes etc.

Do you use any pH or Ammonia Buffers ?
[/quote]

ammonia 0, nitrite 0 , nitrate 5, ph 7.8 . yea its a 180 ,and 8 p's havent added any new ones in months just downsized , i actually took 5 out over the past month and a half. no im not using any kind of buffers. just cant figure out why it wont stay crystal clear


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## notaverage

Why did you wash the sponges where they really bad?
What do you use for Bio media?
If you don't have any then there's your problem

Carbon is overrated.
I NEVER use it unless I want to remove a med I used.
Just take it out and let it dry out.

No need for it and its not going to clear the water.

Is the water cloudy b/c of an algae outbreak or from the silt being stirred up by the P's?

What are you lighting conditions and feeding like on a daily basis?


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## FEEFA

Lose the carbon and add more sponges.

Have you been doing thorough gravel vacs? With pygos you have to do them every single time that you do a w/c


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## dmackey

notaverage said:


> Lose the carbon and add more sponges.
> 
> Have you been doing thorough gravel vacs? With pygos you have to do them every single time that you do a w/c


cool i will give that a try


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## notaverage

dmackey said:


> Lose the carbon and add more sponges.
> 
> Have you been doing thorough gravel vacs? With pygos you have to do them every single time that you do a w/c


cool i will give that a try
[/quote]

You can try the finer "polishing pads" of filter floss to clear the water then as well.


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## I Can Mate

notaverage said:


> Lose the carbon and add more sponges.
> 
> Have you been doing thorough gravel vacs? With pygos you have to do them every single time that you do a w/c


cool i will give that a try
[/quote]

You can try the finer "polishing pads" of filter floss to clear the water then as well.
[/quote]
that stuff works wonders in my canister


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## Dr. Giggles

Are you using sand ??? Only thing I can think of especially if you added it in the tank without a thorough cleaning, even 3 months ago. Other thoughts some water conditioners will cloud up a tank. Or maybe check to see if your test kits are ok by having a lfs confirm a sample of your tank water. Personally I find it impossible to keep nitrates at 5 ppm. I only perform water changes once a week at 40%. My nitrates hover around 40 ppm and thats after the wc.


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## Da' Manster!

Hi D-Mack,

Well, I would do about 20% water changes every other day for about a week and that should clear up your water...It's also quite possible that you had a bacterial bloom and that is what caused the "cloudiness"...this is actually pretty normal and a good thing as the aerobic and/or beneficial bacteria are establishing colonies...It sounds like your tank is already cycled, so just do the water changes at the rate that I suggest and you should be fine...good luck, bro!..


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## HGI

I'm going to throw it out there cause it seems like your having the same problem I am.

My tank's water isn't crystal clear but it isn't nasty thought I'd like to have it crystal clear, I'm saving up for UV unit. You should look into them.


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## dmackey

Dr. Giggles said:


> Lose the carbon and add more sponges.
> 
> Have you been doing thorough gravel vacs? With pygos you have to do them every single time that you do a w/c


cool i will give that a try
[/quote]

You can try the finer "polishing pads" of filter floss to clear the water then as well.
[/quote]
that stuff works wonders in my canister
[/quote]
who sells them and what do they look like ?


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## HGI

Here read this,

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/filtersetupsother/a/aauvsterilizati.htm


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## dmackey

HGI said:


> Here read this,
> 
> http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/filtersetupsother/a/aauvsterilizati.htm


good stuff thanks !!


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## FEEFA

You're keeping pygos so foggy water comes with the teritory. As soon as I sold my shoal and did a water change before adding my new rhom my water went crystal clear and has been that way for 2 weeks now


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## Ba20

Feefa im going to disagree with you Bud, You dont have to have cloudy water get a UV Sterilizer.


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## FEEFA

All I did was get rid of the pygos and now my water is crystal clear.

Isnt a uv sterilizer to control algae? I dont think this is an algae problem and a uv sterilizer would be a waste of money in this case but get one if you want Mackey and let us know how that works out


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## dmackey

Feefa said:


> All I did was get rid of the pygos and now my water is crystal clear.
> 
> Isnt a uv sterilizer to control algae? I dont think this is an algae problem and a uv sterilizer would be a waste of money in this case but get one if you want Mackey and let us know how that works out


yea im pretty sure its not a algae problem.....if i do decide to try it out( the uv sterilizer) i will post the results fa sho tho. i added so extra pads today , looking a lil better already but its only been a few hours, but it does look a tiny bit better


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## Ba20

Aquarium UV sterilizers use high intensity ultraviolet light to kill free floating microbes - bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites and algae (only free-floating; they won't cure illnesses). Aquarium UV sterilizers lack risks associated with ozonizers. You could have a bacterial boom in your water colum, UV sterilizers are very beneficial to aquariums i have them on all of mine.


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## dmackey

did some every other day wc say 30% , added some extra sponges , finally today the water looks excellent , maybe the clearest it's looked since i've had this tank set up. thanks fellas


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## sick of chiclids

congrats!!! i'd love to see some pics. sounds like a nice setup.


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## dmackey

http://s1043.photobucket.com/albums/b440/dmackey_2010/?action=view&current=frontview-1.jpg#!oZZ8QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1043.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fb440%2Fdmackey_2010%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3Dmack-1.jpg%26


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## jp80911

wow, now that is CLEAR~!!


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## impalass

Glad your water is chrystal clear again, I find big als filter floss,(comes in big rolls) does a good job polishing my tank water.
As for carbon, stopped using it 15 years ago, and never looked back.

Beautiful shoal by the way.


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## jp80911

just curious, what kind of light you have on that tank?


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## marilynmonroe

Wow very nice setup, love the white sand , it really stands out.


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## dmackey

yea took along time for me to get the hang of how this whole water thing works , but i finally got it i guess thanks to the members here hands down , yea i throw in the carbon filter just to keep my place from smelling like big als, and i use that floss stuff also. one huge mistake i was making for months was when i did my water changes i would rinse my filter pads out so i guess my bio system could never keep up , i dont even bother touching my filter now just a water change 30% every sunday like clock work, along with a half cup of aquarium salf and one and a half cap of prime thats it, what can i say its been working for me . thanks for the comments btw fellas, took me a full winter to build that tank i still cant believe i built it not knowing squat in the beginning. oh yea i have 4 t8 light but i only use 2 every once in a while i have them all running but not often


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## Piranha feeder

dmackey said:


> yea took along time for me to get the hang of how this whole water thing works , but i finally got it i guess thanks to the members here hands down , yea i throw in the carbon filter just to keep my place from smelling like big als, and i use that floss stuff also. one huge mistake i was making for months was when i did my water changes i would rinse my filter pads out so i guess my bio system could never keep up , i dont even bother touching my filter now just a water change 30% every sunday like clock work, along with a half cup of aquarium salf and one and a half cap of prime thats it, what can i say its been working for me . thanks for the comments btw fellas, took me a full winter to build that tank i still cant believe i built it not knowing squat in the beginning. oh yea i have 4 t8 light but i only use 2 every once in a while i have them all running but not often


You have a very nice fish tank!!! so clean! and the fish r beautiful!! Lucky fish lol I had some questions... U have a mix of Reds and Terns right? and how big is ur tank? possibly dimensions??


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## FEEFA

I believe its a 180gal with sump


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## Inflade

FEEFA said:


> I believe its a 180gal with sump


correct


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## Piranha feeder

FEEFA said:


> I believe its a 180gal with sump


correct
[/quote]
Do u know dimensions? I want to purchase a large tank soon and I like his and want to know dimensions for something similar if anything. Thanks!


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## FEEFA

Sump is his filtration, and the dimensions of the tank are 6'x2'x2'


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## Piranha feeder

FEEFA said:


> Sump is his filtration, and the dimensions of the tank are 6'x2'x2'


Thanks!!


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## Piranha feeder

FEEFA said:


> Sump is his filtration, and the dimensions of the tank are 6'x2'x2'


Is a sump needed for a tank that size?


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## FEEFA

Not needed but recomended depending on how heavily stocked the tank will be.

I have an Fx5 and 2 eheim 2217's on my 220gal for 5x turnover and its fine since my tank is mildly stocked


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## Piranha feeder

FEEFA said:


> Not needed but recomended depending on how heavily stocked the tank will be.
> 
> I have an Fx5 and 2 eheim 2217's on my 220gal for 5x turnover and its fine since my tank is mildly stocked


By Stock u mean how much fish right? like 20gal per fish right?


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## FEEFA

If you follow the 20gal per fish rule thats 9 fish in a 180gal, I would shoot for 10x turnover

I've only got three small fish so my 5x turnover is fine with 40% weekly waterchanges


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## Piranha feeder

FEEFA said:


> If you follow the 20gal per fish rule thats 9 fish in a 180gal, I would shoot for 10x turnover
> 
> I've only got three small fish so my 5x turnover is fine with 40% weekly waterchanges


U only have 3 fish in ur 220?? I want a 135 gal with six fish is that too crowded?


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## HGI

6 in a 135g will be fine if it's a 6' long 19" wide, has good filteration and you keep up on water/tank maintenance.


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## Piranha feeder

HGI said:


> 6 in a 135g will be fine if it's a 6' long 19" wide, has good filteration and you keep up on water/tank maintenance.


Ok thanks!


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## THE BLACK PIRANHA

Hey D did you ever get your Cariba out of your over flow.


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## dmackey

THE BLACK PIRANHA said:


> Hey D did you ever get your Cariba out of your over flow.


Yea lmao that was quite the fun experience yet a head ache .....


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