White cloudy water

Hey guys,

I need some help. My planted tank has had white cloudy water now for about two weeks.

Steps that I have taken up to this point is as follows:
1. Reduced feeding of fishes.
2. Stopped dosing scape liquid carbon
3. Stopped dosing bio-elite aquarium plant grow
4. Reduced lighting schedule
5. Tank blackout for 48 hrs

After all this there is no change.

Any ideas??

Sent from my LG-H840 using Tapatalk

 

White cloudy water is usually an bacteria bloom, nothing to do with algae.
What kind of filtration do you have? How do you clean it and when was the last time you did it?

 

Internal....can't remember the brand!

I stripped and cleaned it just before the water problems started!!

I dose scape bac-up with every water change!!

Sent from my LG-H840 using Tapatalk

 

Sounds like a beneficial filter bacteria disturbance.
Is your filter rated for your tank size?
Never clean it with tap water, only in old tank water during the water change or purified water.
Don't clean all of it at once, try to do only one half at the time.
No worries it should clear on it's own, but two weeks sound quite long.
Also I would use some ammonia absorbing media for a few weeks until it clears up, just for sake of the fish.

Do some reading to understand bio filtration do's and don't.
https://www.thespruce.com/bacterial-bloom-1380092

 

Just did a test for NH3/4, No3, No2 and PH!!

No2 was high and NH3/4 wasn't exactly 0, so it looks like a mini cycle.

Did a 50% or bit more water change and doubled my dose of bac-up.

My filter will cycle the tank +/- 5 times an hour. I always split the old water into two buckets, one to clean and the other to hold the filter and media while cleaning the rest of the tank.

I didn't clean the ceramic "noodles" but the sponge was clogged with a brown sludge so I cleaned that so that it rinsed clean.

@Olivier thanks for the link, more info won't hurt!!

Sent from my LG-H840 using Tapatalk