# Cloudiness in an established tank?



## lilyth88 (Mar 15, 2012)

So both of my NPTs are completely cloudy. It came on suddenly. They've been set up for awhile, and I'm not sure what's going on. I did some water changes to try and clear it up, but it only helps a little and then it gets cloudy again. Any thoughts?


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## Kithy (Nov 21, 2012)

Did you add in any more fish? Sometimes that can cause a mini cycle and maybe a bacteria bloom.


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## jessp118 (Dec 10, 2012)

Sounds like a bacteria bloom. it will clear up in a few days.


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## Kithy (Nov 21, 2012)

Have you checked the parameters? Are there fish in or not? Filter? How long has the tank been set up?


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## rmarkham (Oct 4, 2012)

I had a bacterial bloom after my planted tank had been set up for about 2 years. I had done a large water change and then BOOM... cloudy hell! 

My ammonia spiked at .25ppm but I did another water change and it corrected itself.


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## lilyth88 (Mar 15, 2012)

Kithy said:


> Did you add in any more fish? Sometimes that can cause a mini cycle and maybe a bacteria bloom.


I did not. It has happened in both NPTs, one more than the other. One of them has 4 Amano Shrimp, 1 Nerite Snail, and my betta. It is 5 gallons. The other has 5 Amano Shrimp, 1 Nerite Snail, and my betta. 



jessp118 said:


> Sounds like a bacteria bloom. it will clear up in a few days.


It has been like this for a week and a half despite doing multiple water changes.



Kithy said:


> Have you checked the parameters? Are there fish in or not? Filter? How long has the tank been set up?


I have checked the ammonia, which is fine. See my above statement on the livestock. The tanks have been set up since March.
Edit: Forgot to answer your filter question. There are sponge filters in both tanks.



rmarkham said:


> I had a bacterial bloom after my planted tank had been set up for about 2 years. I had done a large water change and then BOOM... cloudy hell!
> 
> My ammonia spiked at .25ppm but I did another water change and it corrected itself.


My ammonia has been fine. I've done multiple water changes in both tanks and while it clears up some cloudiness, it just comes back.


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## Kithy (Nov 21, 2012)

If only set up since March it could still be cycling a bit. The cloudiness in my tank during cycle lasted almost two weeks before suddenly clearing up.

If the fish are fine and parameters are okay I just can't think of what it could be. I'm sure you're frustrated :<


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## lilyth88 (Mar 15, 2012)

Kithy said:


> If only set up since March it could still be cycling a bit. The cloudiness in my tank during cycle lasted almost two weeks before suddenly clearing up.
> 
> If the fish are fine and parameters are okay I just can't think of what it could be. I'm sure you're frustrated :<


Why would it be fine from March until now and just suddenly do this though? =(


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## Stone (Jan 6, 2013)

Well I just recently had an issue with my 46 gal npt and it was one 3 fronts, I had done a major canister filter cleaning cleaned out all the lines and well everything in a bucket of tank water, and I had added a wave maker in my tank between those 2 things I was in cloudy hell with a bac bloom from the filter re-estabishing and the current from the wave maker blowing apart the algae discs for the corys and pleco and a bit of leaving the light on too long, sometimes it is just not one reason think about any and all changes that might have been made


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## lilyth88 (Mar 15, 2012)

Stone said:


> Well I just recently had an issue with my 46 gal npt and it was one 3 fronts, I had done a major canister filter cleaning cleaned out all the lines and well everything in a bucket of tank water, and I had added a wave maker in my tank between those 2 things I was in cloudy hell with a bac bloom from the filter re-estabishing and the current from the wave maker blowing apart the algae discs for the corys and pleco and a bit of leaving the light on too long, sometimes it is just not one reason think about any and all changes that might have been made



There was literally no changes to the tank. Nothing new was added and nothing was taken away.


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## Stone (Jan 6, 2013)

any driftwood in the tank? anyhting that could be breaking down? do you remove all/most of the deteris? do amanos eat the old dead leaves or not?


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## lilyth88 (Mar 15, 2012)

Stone said:


> any driftwood in the tank? anyhting that could be breaking down? do you remove all/most of the deteris? do amanos eat the old dead leaves or not?


No real driftwood. I remove any dead plant matter when I notice it. Amanos do chew on the ones I miss. I did another 50% water change in both tanks. Cloudiness is still there, but not as bad. I should also mention that when I take the water out, it appears to be very lightly tea colored in the bucket.


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## lilyth88 (Mar 15, 2012)

So I've done a TON of water changes and the water is normal looking now. I still want to know what could have caused it though. =/


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## Stone (Jan 6, 2013)

if the water is tea colored that is usually tannins in the water, which could be from the driftwood or could be from the soil in an npt


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## lilyth88 (Mar 15, 2012)

Stone said:


> if the water is tea colored that is usually tannins in the water, which could be from the driftwood or could be from the soil in an npt


Since there's no driftwood, it has to be the soil. It started out with a nice sand cap, but my shrimp screwed that up really fast. I don't mind how it looks now with some dirt on top. Looks natural.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

ah my soil does the same thing~ It's still turning the water brown even though it's been like half a year or more.


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## lilyth88 (Mar 15, 2012)

aokashi said:


> ah my soil does the same thing~ It's still turning the water brown even though it's been like half a year or more.


Is there a good way to go about getting the bits of soil on top of the sand out of there? =/


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

im not sure  I left mine to do whatever it wanted D:


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## lilyth88 (Mar 15, 2012)

Thinking when I get my 55 gallon, I'll just do sand. Thoughts?


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## Stone (Jan 6, 2013)

sand will lack the nutrients the plants need so you would most likely need fert


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## lilyth88 (Mar 15, 2012)

Stone said:


> sand will lack the nutrients the plants need so you would most likely need fert


With fertilizers, would they still do well?


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## Stone (Jan 6, 2013)

yes they will do fine but ferts tend not to be the greatest things for shrimp from what I have read not so much bad for them but seems they will not breed as much, you can either use root tabs which seems easier or do a weekly liquid


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## lilyth88 (Mar 15, 2012)

Stone said:


> yes they will do fine but ferts tend not to be the greatest things for shrimp from what I have read not so much bad for them but seems they will not breed as much, you can either use root tabs which seems easier or do a weekly liquid


I only have Amano shrimp, so even if they breed, their eggs won't be hatching anyway. My boyfriend wants to start a RCS colony in one of our spare tanks, but I know I'll end up doing all the work, lol.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

I saw a tank somewhere and the person had put Eco Complete in terracotta pots, put in the plants and buried in the sand. Wish I could remember where.

You can fertilize with shrimp in the tank but at half-strength. SeaChem makes Flourish and Excel (which I use) and they claim it's shrimp-safe. I still only use them half and, so far, no problems.


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