I've been meaning to post here about the cloudiness that sets on my large
tank after I make water changes and fertilize the plants. The small tank
doesn't get it, just the big one. Yesterday I changed about 30% of the
water and fertilized with Fluorish, Fluorish Iron, Fluorish Excel, plus I
added some Freshwater Trace. Like clockwork, the water started turning
cloudy about an hour after the water change. This morning it's cloudy, but
it should start clearing this afternoon. I also cleaned the filter
(Eheim), rinsing all the media in it.
One interesting aside is that everytime I make a water change, some of the
usually shy clown loaches come out and hang out all over the tank.

Anybody else get cloudiness after water changes?

Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

How long has the tank been setup? Sounds like a bacteria bloom in a tank
that hasn't fully cycled yet.

Ron

"Victor M. Martinez" wrote in message
...
I've been meaning to post here about the cloudiness that sets on my large
tank after I make water changes and fertilize the plants. The small tank
doesn't get it, just the big one. Yesterday I changed about 30% of the
water and fertilized with Fluorish, Fluorish Iron, Fluorish Excel, plus I
added some Freshwater Trace. Like clockwork, the water started turning
cloudy about an hour after the water change. This morning it's cloudy, but
it should start clearing this afternoon. I also cleaned the filter
(Eheim), rinsing all the media in it.
One interesting aside is that everytime I make a water change, some of the
usually shy clown loaches come out and hang out all over the tank.

Anybody else get cloudiness after water changes?

Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

How long has the tank been setup? Sounds like a bacteria bloom in a tank
that hasn't fully cycled yet.

Ron

"Victor M. Martinez" wrote in message
...
I've been meaning to post here about the cloudiness that sets on my large
tank after I make water changes and fertilize the plants. The small tank
doesn't get it, just the big one. Yesterday I changed about 30% of the
water and fertilized with Fluorish, Fluorish Iron, Fluorish Excel, plus I
added some Freshwater Trace. Like clockwork, the water started turning
cloudy about an hour after the water change. This morning it's cloudy, but
it should start clearing this afternoon. I also cleaned the filter
(Eheim), rinsing all the media in it.
One interesting aside is that everytime I make a water change, some of the
usually shy clown loaches come out and hang out all over the tank.

Anybody else get cloudiness after water changes?

Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

Hi,

another potentially basic (meaning, stupid) question to ask, is that when
you wash your media, you're using either an aged water, old tank water or
de-chlor/de-chloramined water so you don't kill the bacteria colonies...

I've had a similar problem when I place the newly cleaned Micron cartridge
on my Magnum (water going slightly cloudy after filter change).. Found out
that when I clean the Micron filter using their recommended regimen (use 4:1
water:bleach solution, rinse well, dry and reuse), I hadn't quite
de-chlorinated the filter, which somehow seems to have temporarily disrupted
my bacteria colony and caused slight cloudiness.

now I soak and rinse the washed cartridge for days, then douse it in to
super-dechlorinator-saturated water to make sure I get all the chlorine out
before putting it back into the tank..

if anyone knows the most effective way to leech chlorine out of filter
pleats, let me know!

linda


"Victor M. Martinez" wrote in message
...
Ron Nelson wrote:
How long has the tank been setup? Sounds like a bacteria bloom in a tank
that hasn't fully cycled yet.

Nope, the tank has been cycled for months. All water parameters are
perfect.

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

"Victor M. Martinez" wrote in message
...
I've been meaning to post here about the cloudiness that sets on my
large
tank after I make water changes and fertilize the plants. The small
tank
doesn't get it, just the big one. Yesterday I changed about 30% of the
water and fertilized with Fluorish, Fluorish Iron, Fluorish Excel,
plus I
added some Freshwater Trace. Like clockwork, the water started turning
cloudy about an hour after the water change. This morning it's cloudy,
but
it should start clearing this afternoon. I also cleaned the filter
(Eheim), rinsing all the media in it.
One interesting aside is that everytime I make a water change, some of
the
usually shy clown loaches come out and hang out all over the tank.

Anybody else get cloudiness after water changes?

Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv



Whats the substrate? Lighting? Change water info? conditioner?

How about doing a water change tonight and not squirting in all that
stuff and see what happens.......

If it does not get cloudy.....as usual....squirt in all but the Excel
and regular Flourish......and from there.....lets see what happens......

I remember one like this from a long while ago. Seems like it was some
sort of chemical reaction.....but ...I do not remember well enough....

Yep.... both my 50 and 55 do the same, never happens in the grandkids gallon
guppy tank. Clears over night with a Acurel F treatment.

Bob
"Victor M. Martinez" wrote in message
...
I've been meaning to post here about the cloudiness that sets on my large
tank after I make water changes and fertilize the plants. The small tank
doesn't get it, just the big one. Yesterday I changed about 30% of the
water and fertilized with Fluorish, Fluorish Iron, Fluorish Excel, plus I
added some Freshwater Trace. Like clockwork, the water started turning
cloudy about an hour after the water change. This morning it's cloudy, but
it should start clearing this afternoon. I also cleaned the filter
(Eheim), rinsing all the media in it.
One interesting aside is that everytime I make a water change, some of the
usually shy clown loaches come out and hang out all over the tank.

Anybody else get cloudiness after water changes?

Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

Your tank may be getting too much light. Is it in sun light? Do you leave
your hood lights on a lot? That can and does tend to make the water quite
cloudy.

"Victor M. Martinez" wrote in message
...
I've been meaning to post here about the cloudiness that sets on my large
tank after I make water changes and fertilize the plants. The small tank
doesn't get it, just the big one. Yesterday I changed about 30% of the
water and fertilized with Fluorish, Fluorish Iron, Fluorish Excel, plus I
added some Freshwater Trace. Like clockwork, the water started turning
cloudy about an hour after the water change. This morning it's cloudy, but
it should start clearing this afternoon. I also cleaned the filter
(Eheim), rinsing all the media in it.
One interesting aside is that everytime I make a water change, some of the
usually shy clown loaches come out and hang out all over the tank.

Anybody else get cloudiness after water changes?

Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv




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Hi Victor,

Happens to me every couple of weeks when I do a 30% water change and add
fertilizer (doesn't matter whether I use flourish or florena).

As you say it goes away after a day or so.

I put it down to excess nutrients that the plants need to gear up to handle,
as well as other stuff in the dechlorinated tap water that needs to
settle/be filtered out.

Tank size here is 60 gal.

Regards,
Graham.



"Victor M. Martinez" wrote in message
...
I've been meaning to post here about the cloudiness that sets on my large
tank after I make water changes and fertilize the plants. The small tank
doesn't get it, just the big one. Yesterday I changed about 30% of the
water and fertilized with Fluorish, Fluorish Iron, Fluorish Excel, plus I
added some Freshwater Trace. Like clockwork, the water started turning
cloudy about an hour after the water change. This morning it's cloudy, but
it should start clearing this afternoon. I also cleaned the filter
(Eheim), rinsing all the media in it.
One interesting aside is that everytime I make a water change, some of the
usually shy clown loaches come out and hang out all over the tank.

Anybody else get cloudiness after water changes?

Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

Don't change the water and clean the filter at the same time; you are
re-starting the cycling process. Ideally only change half the filter media
at a time, so that some bio-bugs remain. Have seen the same thing happen
when I changed the water AND cleaned all the filter media; what happaned was
power got turned off to the canister filter for over 24 hours, so all bugs
probably dead, so had to kill off what's left, and changed some water to get
rid of N build-up in the tank.

Cheers,
Poe

"Victor M. Martinez" wrote in message
...

I've been meaning to post here about the cloudiness that sets on my large
tank after I make water changes and fertilize the plants. The small tank
doesn't get it, just the big one. Yesterday I changed about 30% of the
water and fertilized with Fluorish, Fluorish Iron, Fluorish Excel, plus I
added some Freshwater Trace. Like clockwork, the water started turning
cloudy about an hour after the water change. This morning it's cloudy, but
it should start clearing this afternoon. I also cleaned the filter
(Eheim), rinsing all the media in it.

"Racf" wrote in message
...

I thought I remembered this.....and I tripped over a possibility. It
really has to do with your dissolved C02 levels in your tank and how it
behaves with CaCO3 (Calcium Carbonate). To make a long guess
short.......If your dosing right after a water change...if your CO2
level drops CaCO3 will/could come out of solution and manifest itself as
milky white pooh until it can dissolved back into solution....which can
be a little while. Does your change water contain elevated amounts of
dissolved CO2? Mine does here in MN....

That's a very interesting train of thought.

My tank has quite high disolved CO2 (around 25ppm due to injection) whereas
the tap water is very low (around 3ppm).

I normally balance alkalinity between new/tank water, but the disolved CO2
will be quite different. Not enough to cause much of a hiccup with the pH
due to the dilution and effect of the CO2 controller, but possibly enough to
give rise to a chemical reaction causing the tank to cloud for a while.

Thanks for the post. Experimentation to follow :-)


Graham.

linda mar wrote:
another potentially basic (meaning, stupid) question to ask, is that when
you wash your media, you're using either an aged water, old tank water or
de-chlor/de-chloramined water so you don't kill the bacteria colonies...

I guess I should've mentioned that I'm not an idiot. The biomedia was only
rinsed using tank water.


--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

Racf wrote:
Whats the substrate? Lighting? Change water info? conditioner?

Gravel mixed with fluorite. (what's the substrate have to do with water
changes?) 1 W/gallon compact fluorescent, 30% water change, tap water from
a municipal source with chloramines and pH of around 9-10. Prime.

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

Racf wrote:
be a little while. Does your change water contain elevated amounts of
dissolved CO2? Mine does here in MN....

Hmmm... it might, but I'm not sure.

Or even some other chemical reactions could occur that could cause CaCO3
to come out of solution temporarily, but I am no Science wizard.......

Actually... a change in pH would. That's probably it! Thanks!

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

Poe Lim wrote:
Don't change the water and clean the filter at the same time; you are
re-starting the cycling process. Ideally only change half the filter media

Says who? That's not true if you are using a canister filter with biomedia
that is handled properly. I don't change *any* biomedia.
Like I said before, the water parameters were/are perfect (no ammonia, no
nitrite), which is a sure sign the biofilter is workign properly.

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

"Victor M. Martinez" wrote in message
...
Poe Lim wrote:
handle the full load. As I said, I have seen that when I did a large
water
change and disinfected the (dead) media. The bio-media isn't the only
place

What makes you think I disinfected anything? I don't wash my biomedia.
Ever.

change, the system is overloaded. Does anyone know if the ammonia
released
from the breakdown of chloramines, although converted to a
non-harmful form
for fish, is still availalble o the bugs and plants?

All water conditioners, including Prime, that neutralize chloramines
also take
care of the clorine and the ammonia released.

I have to say though the chemical reaction theory is also plausible
as your
water is very alkaline.

My tank water is not alkaline, but the tap water is.



How is this possible/being done?




How do you feel about experimenting, and just changing one parameter
at a
time, and see what causes the problem? G

I'll try that. If only I remembered to fertilize weekly instead of
monthly.
But my plants grow like weeds already, I don't want them to grow any
more.


--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv