tank cleaning/cloudy water - advice needed!

[jessfish]

I hope this is the right, or at least best spot for this post...

I have been having on going problems with cloudy water in my goldfish tank. I have changed how i clean the filter to stop bacteria blooms from happening (which were happening becasue i was without realizing killing most of the good bacteria in the filter)
i have recently added a pre-filter to the intake tube to help catch loose particals (i have a pleco who is a very dirty eater) & keep the filter a bit cleaner
I have added a powerhead to help circulate the water
& i plan on getting a more powerful filter soon (since goldfish produce more waste than my filter seems to be able to handle)

but i still have a problem with the water becoming cloudy (usually) a day after i do a water change.

I have found on weeks were i am unable to do a water change the water looks great...

my questions....regarding the best way to change the water

I normally do a 10-20% water change each week - i use the hose of the gravel vacuum because i have sand substrate...i suck up as much of the poop & debris as i can with the 10-20% change & then i add the new water.

Now...with the cloudy water problem...
Is it better or even a good idea to just suck out 10-20% of the water (leaving most poop & debris) one week & then doing a proper 'suck up the poop' clean every second week???

More Info:
tank 46gal
5 goldfish (1 baby & 4 that are about 2in)
1 sailfin pleco (yes i know - dont worry they are all getting a bigger home)
filter: eheim 2213

[Lady Hobbs]

You're probably just stirring the sand up too much. Most people with sand just run the vac over the top.

[jessfish]

ya i don't stir the sand (or at least i only move it around with my hands once every month or so to let air escape)

I just skim the vacuum over the sand when i do a water change

the tank gets cloudy usually the day after i change water & it usally takes 3 or more days to clear up...

[hockeyhead019]

Maybe you're disturbing it when you put it back into the tank... like when you put your new water into the tank...

Also have you looked at what's in your tap? Possibly you're putting a lot of one element (ammonia or Trites) into the water since it's in your tap water and that could cause a BB bloom

But it's strange since even if you did have a decent amount of either if you're only doing a 10-20% water change I wouldn't think it'd be enough to spark a BB bloom lol

The only other thing I can think of is maybe your filter just can't handle the bioload you have... between goldfish and plecos you have some mass waste producers so you may just not have enough filtering for your system

[jessfish]

ya someone else mentioned the water itself - which i had never thought of - i figured if i put the water conditioner in it that would be good enough, but i moved 6 months ago & have been having this problem since then so it makes sense...but i also switched to a goldfish tank & i really have a sinking feeling that the expensive filter is not good enough & i'll have to get a more powerful (& more expensive one) on the plus side the holidays are coming so im putting the new filter on the list & hoping that will help solve my problem...
but i am going to look into check the water...
is that something i can find out at the fish store i do i have to contact my water company & find out whats in it?

[hockeyhead019]

You should be able to find the information on the internet. Find out who supplies your water and then you can most likely find it on their site since I believe they're required to publish the information... don't quote me on that one though.

[jessfish]

ok - thanks for the water quality adivce!! i think thats often over looked by new fish keepers - i test my tank water...but not my tap water

[jessfish]

Also im wondering if i should be doing bigger weekly water changes?
I say i do 10-20% buts thats just an estimated guess...i will have to actually keep track of the liters i take out next time & see how much i am actually changing...

if when adding new water it is sturring up debris would a bigger water change (or actually 20% if im not already taking that much) help the water quality/cloud issue?