filter causing cloudy water>?

**cisc** · 01-25-2008, 05:54 PM

Hello.
II have a 30 gallon tank with milky water, all of my tests are fine.
I test with strips and also take water samples to my LFS to be tested with thier chemical tests, as i cannot afford one yet,and the water is fine.
I do not overfeed. I leave my light on a max of 10 hours a day and the tank is not in direct sunlight.
I had 1 black neon tetra until last night when i added 4 neons and a live plant.
I did have more fishes but live in oklahoma, all died last month during the power outage.
anyway, the water is still a little milky, i was wondering if maybe it could be my filter acting up?
I have a penguin bio wheel, 150 i believe.
the one rated for up to 30 gallons.
Maybe I should clean it real good and use 2 media cartridges instead of one?
maybe get a new filter that is rated for a 50 gal?
not sure. the tank is 3 years old and it used to look awesome, crystal clear water.
any ideas?

**Lady Hobbs** · 01-25-2008, 06:19 PM

Could be New Tank Syndrome? But you do need a larger filter than what you have.

Ty · 01-25-2008, 06:29 PM

yep, filters are only good for about half of what they are rated for.

**sailor** · 01-25-2008, 06:33 PM

How long has your tank been set up? It could be an algae bloom.
If you are going to clean your filter use some of your aquarium water, that way you will not kill off any of your benefitial bacteria. If your filter is in good working order, just add a second filter. This way you have a back up if 1 goes down and you can alternate filters when its time for maintenance.

**cisc** · 01-25-2008, 06:42 PM

its been up for about 3 years, and yes I did recently have an algae blom as well. (green water)
but it is now just a little milky, not too cloudy, but far from crystal clear.
I guess it is possible to be NTS as I did change about 75% of the water a week ago to rid the algae bloom. I never have had this problem before, sucks trying to correct it.

**NickFish** · 01-25-2008, 06:56 PM

The filter is too small, how often do you change the media?
Also you may have caused an ammonia spike when you added those other 4 fish. Did you only have that 1 neon in there prior to adding the others? If so how long has he been alone?

**cisc** · 01-25-2008, 07:02 PM

I go as long as i can without changing the media, I guess it was changed a month ago. I heard that was good to do for bacterial purposes, or should it be changed often?
Yes the black neon was alone until I added the 4 new (small) neons.
he has been alone about 1.5 weeks. But the water was cloudy before I added the new fishes as well.

**NickFish** · 01-25-2008, 07:28 PM

What kind of filter do you have?

**cisc** · 01-25-2008, 07:34 PM

penguin bio wheel 150.
with 1 media cartridge in it, Should I use 2 in it?

heck if i add another the wheel may not even spin, barely does now.

**Tooch** · 01-25-2008, 08:07 PM

Originally Posted by cisc

penguin bio wheel 150.
with 1 media cartridge in it, Should I use 2 in it?

heck if i add another the wheel may not even spin, barely does now.

The wheels will slow down naturall as the crap (good bacteria) grows on it. They may even start to stutter. Just be sure to clean the axels (for lack of a better word) and the cups they sit in. I would just go out an get another filter to add onto the tank. Another 150 is only like $30, right?