Why is my fish water cloudy? I change it a lot and it keeps getting cloudy.

1. 53

   twilightfreak66posted 13 years ago

   Why is my fish water cloudy? I change it a lot and it keeps getting cloudy.

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2. 79

   pippapposted 13 years ago

   Probably the biggest reason for cloudy water is overfeeding.  If the fish don't eat all the food, it sinks to the bottom and rots.  Do you have a bottom feeder such an algae eater, catfish, etc?  They live off the food that falls to the bottom.
   
   Or, you could take a sample of your water to you local petstore.  Many of them can diagnose the problem.

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3. 80

   LeanManposted 13 years ago

   Provide some more information about the type of tank, what fish you have and filtration if any...
   
   Generally as pippap below says the biggest problem is usually overfeeding.. just as much as the fish will eat in around 1 min around 3 times a day is as much as they need, less than this if it is a small tank..
   
   The bigger the tank the easier it is to maintain water quality, but invest in good quality filtration. It is not good to be always changing the water, especially with the poor quality of tap water in many areas..
   
   Just hint, never add tap water just before the weekend as they often up the dose of chemicals so that it lasts the weekend while no one is there..

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4. 83

   wychicposted 13 years ago

   How long has the tank been set up, and what kind of cycling procedure did you use? Also, is the cloudiness white, green, or brown? What percentage of the water do you change each time you do your water changes, and what kind of water treatments do you use each time? How many fish, of which types, are in what size of tank? What temperature do you keep the tank at? Have you tested your water lately, and what were the parameters (specifically nitrite, nitrate, ammonia, pH and kH)? All of these can cause cloudiness or indicate the reason for the cloudiness, and most require different actions for correction.I invite you to take a look at some of my different hubs on aquarium care, and I will gladly discuss the issue with you further to help you diagnose the problem .

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5. 69

   blueram85posted 13 years ago

   Cloudy water occurs for a variety of reasons, the three mentioned earlier all are form very different sources, although I usually only work with two, milky and green. 
   Green water indicates that sunlight is hitting the aquarium for some period of time. The power of the sun causes an algal bloom that can rapidly turn the water into a green soup.  There really isn't any instant cure. blocking the sun or moving the tank out if its reach is the long-term cure.  The only way to actually kill the single celled plant cells is by use of an UV sterilizer.  Those are expensive and purchasing one depends on the problem and your commitment to the aquarium.  There used to be filter that could remove the plants - the Diatom by Vortex, but that was decades ago and there are no modern filters I know of that can remove such small cells.
   The milky cloud is much more common, that is the result of a bacterial bloom - suspended bacteria get so dense in population that they can be seen as a milky cloud by the naked eye.  The bacteria explode in population when the circumstances are right, basically there is an excess of dissolved nutrients in the water.  This can come from two sources and is know by two different names. New Tank Syndrome occurs after about three days after a new aquarium is set-up. The new water is suddenly able to sustain life, and if it had lots of nutrients in it from the tap, the bacteria go wild and populate like crazy - it takes about three days before the cloud occurs.  It can be brief, if no added food is provided, but if overfeeding occurs, the tank can remain cloudy for weeks, since the food is available to host the overabundance of bacteria. In older tanks, that is the main cause, overfeeding allows the nutrients in the waste and rotting food to dissolve onto the water column and give the suspended bacteria plenty to eat.  They bloom and become the same basic cloud as from New tank syndrome, just from a different cause.
   I don't use chemicals when this occurs, stop all feeding for three days to balance again.  As the food is used by the bacteria, the rest starve and die back to clarity. 
   Once the three day fast is over, feed the fish what they can eat in two minutes, nothing hitting the bottom.  Anything left over means the tank has been overfed.  The whole environment will clean up and become more healthy for the fish over time.

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6. 60

   my last breathposted 13 years ago

   its prolly the water. I had that problem til i moved to the country where the water was better.

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7. 39

   AquaNO3Removalposted 8 years ago

   One explanation may be your water quality.. I would suggest purchasing a water test kit to determine the problem. Many times high nitrates can have this effect on the aquarium water but can be resolved with a commercial nitrate remover. If this is the case, I've written a few hubs on the topic.
   http://hubpages.com/animals/Aquarium-Nitrate-FAQ
   http://hubpages.com/animals/X-NO3-Aquar … emover-FAQ
   
   You also may benefit from this link:
   http://www.aquariumnitrateremoval.com

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