Bottom posted.


"KStringer" wrote in message
oups.com...

Any idea what is causing the cloudiness though? Is it that I'm
dislodging bacteria into my tank and it has no where to attach itself
to?

One last thing I failed to mention is that the tubing to and from my
filters was caked with crud until recently. At first I thought maybe
the crud in the tubing (and it was thick) was causing the cloudy water,
but I flushed that out (using aquarium water) and then allowed the
filters to collect the stuff over the next 48 hours. After that is when
I cleaned the sponge media thoroughly (in tap water).

Thanks again for the advice!
Kevin


What the cloudiness probably is is the start of a biological bacteria (good)
culture in your tank water. Changing too much water disposes of the good
bacteria free floating in your water or provides excess nutrients which the
good bacteria reproduces rapidly to eat the nutrients. Also - destroying
good bacteria in this case by rinsing the filter media under tap water (some
people claim this is safe but my experience for me proves otherwise) might
dislodge the good bacteria from the filter and it's (the good bacteria)
contents (biological contents) spill out into the tank from the filter and
other bacteria/organisms pig out on the dead good bacteria's bodies thus
coloring the water white with their bodies. Take note - I am putting my own
spin on what is happening to give you everything I've got mentally about
this subject - do take what I have said with a grain of salt. I'd recommend
continuing to at the very least somewhat regularly clean your filter media
in fresh tank wastewater and changing less water. You tank seems to continue
cycling (good bacteria establishment afterward), let the tank cycle.
Probably if you change a little water more frequently the good bacteria can
establish itself mostly in the filter and otherwise all over all surface
area in the tank water the cloudiness will go away, let it cycle with small
frequent water changes for a few weeks. Sometimes it takes a month or so but
as I learned early in my hobbyism you've just plain got to let the tank
cycle. You can speed up the process drastically by getting someone (lfs?) to
give you a piece of their filter medium which you can then put in your
filter or use a bacteria starter product for freshwater aquariums (cycle,
bio-spira - I have heard good things about bio-spira), or even get some
established gravel from someone else's tank. There is a small amount of the
good bacteria in the tanks water as well, which also should be allowed to
build up. The previous was somewhat off topic - try
rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc for more information. Good luck and later!