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#1
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murky water
Hi
My planted tank is about 2 months old and the plants have taken firm root. I have discus/cardinal tetras primarily but also a plec, cloan loach and 1 angel. My question is, is it unrealistic to expect a planted tank to have crystal clear water? There is all kinds of particulates floating around. Its really bugging me. Should I leave it alone? Is this normal for a fairly new planted freshwater tank?? tanks alot John |
#2
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John H. wrote:
Hi My planted tank is about 2 months old and the plants have taken firm root. I have discus/cardinal tetras primarily but also a plec, cloan loach and 1 angel. My question is, is it unrealistic to expect a planted tank to have crystal clear water? There is all kinds of particulates floating around. Its really bugging me. Should I leave it alone? Is this normal for a fairly new planted freshwater tank?? tanks alot John Whitish cloudiness during the first couple of months of starting a tank is not unusual. It's bacteria suspended in the water column living on tap water nutrients. Personally, I've never had a newly set up tank stay cloudy for more than a couple of weeks. After that, all of my planted tanks have had crystal clear water. What you're describing sounds more like a lack of fine mechanical filtration, though. Maybe you're stirring up your substrate when you change water. Try a very fine sponge or a layer of cheap "angel hair" filter floss as the first stage in your filter for a few days and see if it doesn't clear things up some. -- Elaine T __ http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__ rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com |
#3
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On Thu, 14 Jul 2005 13:41:00 -0700, "John H."
wrote: Hi My planted tank is about 2 months old and the plants have taken firm root. I have discus/cardinal tetras primarily but also a plec, cloan loach and 1 angel. My question is, is it unrealistic to expect a planted tank to have crystal clear water? There is all kinds of particulates floating around. Its really bugging me. Should I leave it alone? Is this normal for a fairly new planted freshwater tank?? tanks alot John Clear water is attainable, but tanks differ. Don't ask me why. I have 5 tanks: the 29 gallon has always stayed clear. One of the ten gallon tanks cleared early on and stays clear. A 10 I use as a hospital tank and has no gravel took almost a year before it was stable and clear. A third 10 gallon tank had small debris for over a year, no plants did well and a lot of fish died it the tank. It finally cleared, the plants sprouted and no more ill or dead fish. On the other hand my 75 gallon tank was a beast to clear. I even tried the chemicals to clear. They worked, but I hate maintaining a tank with chemicals. The tank has 2 Penguin 330s. I finally added a finer mesh filter media. The tank cleared and has stayed clear. I have to clean the media more often because the filter output starts to flow out the intake ramps. I change 20% water twice weekly and never vacuum the bottom. I quit using charcoal. And, I removed the bio wheels from the 75 gallon tank since the lower water flow wasn't turning them and I realized my other tanks were doing fine without bio wheels. Good luck. Don't worry about your fish. The debris doesn't harm them so far as I can tell and according to stuff I have read. I think the water clears as the bacteria get better established. I think the hospital tank was hard to clear because it has no gravel to act as a home to the bacteria. It still amazes me how clear and stable my tanks have become. Once you get there things are so much nicer. dick |
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