Water suddenly became "milky" advise needed!

[MiamiCuse]

is it because of my sticking the hose down the UGF tube, resulting in emptying out the good bacteria down there and encouraged the bad bacteria to bloom?

or is the bloom containing both good and bad bacteria?

I assume the milky water means the bacteria is in the water?

Should I increase or decrease my aeration?

[hannah.maxfield@hotmail.c]

Don't fret

water turns milky normally in the first few days but will clear in a round 4 days

i've found a site to show u....check out:

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/wa...loudywater.htm

[Lady Hobbs]

Water will clear up by tomorrow probably. You just removed a bit of the bacteria is all and will be fine.

[pinsonpa]

MiamiCuse,

Your UGF may be the culprit here and if it's not, theres a good chance it will cause problems soon enough. I know you've already heard this a thousand times (and not just in this thread) but IMO you really should start planning ahead now to upgrade your filter in the near future. I recall you doing some research on HOB (hang on back) filters not too long ago...what did you find out? The world isn't going to come to an end if you don't upgrade your filter, however, I can all but guarantee that it will make your life a lot easier with regards to your aquarium.

You still have a 10 gallon, right? For about $35 you could get an Aquaclear filter (example, not an endorsement) that would make a big difference in your tank. If you did it now you could leave the UGF in and just throw the new one on the back and you'll probably clear up the water in an hour or two. Then when you do take out your UGF, your new filter will already have plenty of bacteria in the filter medium.

I know you aren't crazy about having to change out your UGF (cause it's not the most fun thing to do in the world) but you could probably do it all in 45 minutes (remove half your water, take out your fish and plants, take out the UGF, replace the gravel, replant your plants, add in some fresh water with some conditioner, turn on your new HOB filter.)

I have a Penguin 125 Bio Wheel and while I haven't had any problems with it I've heard plenty of horror stories (bio wheels suddenly not spinning, etc.). When I upgrade I plan to buy one rated for a much bigger tank so when I upgrade to a 30g tank I'll already have a filter big enough to handle the job.

No pressure Miami, I'm just thinking out loud

[Lady Hobbs]

Good idea! I used my UGF for about a month and couldn't stand them. Out they come.

[MiamiCuse]

Water will clear up by tomorrow probably. You just removed a bit of the bacteria is all and will be fine.

Well it cleared up this morning, so it was only cloudy for about 12 hours. Does it mean anything?

A bloom does it mean I have more bacteria then before the water change?

[MiamiCuse]

pinsonpa:

I still have the 10 gallon, and also a 25 gallon now, next to each other. I have UGF in both.

I know UGF is not desirable. I am still looking. I assume if I remove the UGF and start a new filter I will need to cycle my tanks all over again?

I really don't like the ones that hang on the back side of the tank. I am taking a look at canisters and have a hard time figuring out the difference between a cheap one and an expensive one. I saw this one on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=140232355519

Not sure if it's any good, I need to do more investigation obviously.

I assume I can run two tanks to one canister filter? I will have to run some PVC pipes to both tanks and then to a Y connector into the canister and back out the same way?

[Lady Hobbs]

You can gently slide the UGF's out without much problem and without losing your bacteria. I don't believe you'd want this filter. It doesn't even give the brand name and I can't find what kind it is or even how much the shipping charges are. You have to watch these places on ebay as they can really add on shipping charges.

I would just get a couple Aqua Clears. They do a good job, are easy to get to, give good filteration on tanks your size and good water flow. I'd save the canisters for larger tanks.

[Taurus]

Keep it simple! An Aquaclear 20 for your 10 gallon tank and an Aquaclear 50 for your 25 gallon tank should be sufficient. There should be enough beneficial bacteria in your tank at this point so that when you do remove your under gravel filter, the filter media in your Aquaclears should populate with the bacteria.

[MiamiCuse]

Well, I don't know, I just hate to have that giant gadget hanging on the back of each tank, and I do plan to have a larger tank again, so my reasoning is why not get a large capacity canister and run all the tanks through it instead of one per tank, and I can hide the canister under some cabinet that would be hidden away.

I am doing the aeration this way, I got an air pump for 60 gallons and are pumping both tanks.

Is there any reason why a canister filter for multiple tanks would be undesirable?

I can think of...

(1) more plumbing to set up.
(2) if I have bad water in one tank it will be spread to all tanks.