"White-cloudy" fish tank after doing thorough cleaning. Please help.?

Question

I have had my 25 gallon freshwater tank for 8 months,and have been doing monthly water changes(25-30%)along with removing decorations prior to, as to siphon out feces and other sediment that settles in the rocks.Everytime I have cleaned it,the water has cleared right up within a few hours.Last week,after noticing that my pad filters were turning brown and causing water to flow right over them after only 2 weeks or less of replacing them,I decided to do a "deep clean" on my tank,which I had never done before.I did everything I normally do but also took apart the filter system and scrubbed all of the algae and gunk out that was stuck inside of it,thinking this was the reason for the filters turning so quick.W/in 3 days,the tank became (white) cloudier than it ever has been.I read some of the answers to previous questions and it sounds like this is normal and I just need to do 25% changes a few times a week until it goes away,but I just want to make sure. Plz let me know what u think.Thx.

Answer 1

It sounds like you cleaned too thoroughly and destroyed the natural bacterial levels in your tank...Right now it sounds like you have another bacterial bloom (not related to the nitrogen cycle). If you can add some bacteria that you can buy at a pet store for starting your nitrogen cycle..but keep on doing the 25% changes...but Don't clean your filter and sand and everything all at once...and be very careful about overfeeding right now...if anything underfeed.

Answer 2

well if your using the same water you always use and your just now getting cloudy water then probably during cleaning u might have destroyed some bacteria that was beneficial. Test your amonia and nitrite and ph. it could be starting a small cycle with amonia build up. Also rapid change in ph, or water temp. can do that most likely it will go away on its own. i would recommend checking your levels in the tank if they are all fine its probably just because of the temp. change. The only way to know is to get a test kit but i'm sure its no biggie really.

Answer 3

All of what you are saying will probably end up with your fish all dying. NEVER use soap to clean anything that goes in your tank. Buy yourself a gravel vacuum from the store (an appropriate size) use this then to stick in the gravel and siphon up any poop and waste. You will only want to do about 25% water changes weekly, and only cleaning the filter about every other water change. For cleaning the filter rinse the media in a bucket of tank water, then put back. You only have to replace your media every 6 months to a year, unless it is carbon (I never use unless after medicating tank) or polyfiber, which is best to change with every filter cleaning.

Answer 4

Test your water. You've messed up the cycle of the tank and it will have to reestablish beneficial bacteria. You'll have to do frequent water changes so you don't lose fish during this mini cycle. The cloudiness is most likely a bacteria bloom. Only replace filter pads when they are falling apart. If they need cleaning, just rinse them in a bucket of used tank water and put them back in the filter.

Answer 5

you might find that the water you are putting into your tank contains phosphates which can cause cloudy water, try adding a phosphate remover to your filter, these are available from most good aquarium stores. you should also replace the pads in your filter every three to six months

Answer 6

i would do a test on your water also, have a look at your ammonia readings, they should be 0. in deep cleaning a tank you kill all the good bacteria. bacterial blooms can go hand in hand with this.

instead of doing monthly changes, you should be doing weekly changes of 20-30% anyway.

Answer 7

My tank did the same, what I recommend is buying a Top Fin 10 gallon filter, that solved my problem ;)

Answer 8

get aqua - clear it will clear it right up