Hazy water?

[Drumachine09]

My 55 is set up about 4-5 inches away from a wall with no background on the tank. My water looks pretty hazy, and i have heard that the light bouncing off of the wall and entering through the side of the tank could cause this. Has anyone else experianced this hazyness?

[TehTANK]

I haven't herd of light bouncing off of a wall to cause hazyness in the water. What kind of filters are you running? How long ago did you do a water change? Is your tank completely cycled?

[Drumachine09]

I have 5 different filters on it, its cycled, and i changes some water (15 gallons) yesterday. I think it is just the light, because I put some paper behind it and it cleared up.

[TehTANK]

That is really weird. Never herd of that before but If you are experiancing it then I guess it must be. 5 different filters.....wow that is a lot!

[Drumachine09]

Theres only 1 big one. The rest are rated for 15 -20 gallons, plus one sponge filter.

[Chrona]

White haze? Most likely a small bacterial bloom after the water change. Light can't cause haziness in water unless there is something in it to reflect off of.

[Drumachine09]

Well, the haze goes away when i cover the back, so i think it is the light reflecting off of my back wall.

[Chrona]

Well, the haze goes away when i cover the back, so i think it is the light reflecting off of my back wall.

Then that means there isn't enough light to make those particles visible. It doesn't change the fact that you have something in your water ;) For instance, when I was medicating my tank, my water is VERY cloudy, but as soon as I turned the lights off and viewed the tank using ambient light, it looked crystal clear.

It's just like the common misconception that you can see laser beams in air. Lasers (and light) can only be seen when it reflects off of something and goes into your eye. Unless the haze is actually on your tank wall (the front wall), you've got something in the water.

[Drumachine09]

How should i go about getting rid of it?

[Chrona]

Well it depends on what it is. Does it have a white color? Are your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels normal? It may just be debris, which is easy to remove with a water clarifier. First make sure the glass walls are all clean lol.

[Drumachine09]

Its just up at the top of the water, like the first 5-6 inches, the rest is clear as crystal.

[Chrona]

Its just up at the top of the water, like the first 5-6 inches, the rest is clear as crystal.

Even if you stir it around? If so, then that just means not enough of the light penetrates past 6 inches to make it seem hazy. If you don't believe me, grab a bright flashlight and shine it through the tank from the side :)

If it actually a layer of something floating on top and moves when you stir it....then......no clue lol

[Drumachine09]

Oh yea, and nitrate is 20. Is that the problem?

[Chrona]

Nope, 20 is fine.

Didn't you just get the tank? How's it cycled already? :confused:

[Drumachine09]

He broke it down right when i got there i kept 3 inches of water in the tank (made it heavy as hell to move) and i put all of the filter media in a bucket with the water. i added ammonia up to 5ppm when i got it set up and i checked an hour later and there was no ammonia.

[Chrona]

lol, you moved the 55g with 3 inches of water in it? Good thing nothing broke ;)

[Drumachine09]

I was confident in my MASSIVE biceps! lol