Cleaness???

Question

I clean my tank all the time; I have an:
Powerhead-50 gall
Whisper-31 gall
Hawkeye-5 gall
Lee's Undergravel- 20

I have a 30 gallon tank; what can i possibly do to remove organic waste, and MAKE MY WATER CREASTAL CLEAR 24-7 (I CLEAN ALL THE TIME)(1 every week)

Please help....

Answer 1

Carbon is the best answer to clear water. Be sure you are using a good quality activated carbon, not charcoal. Also use extra, over the little packs that come with the filter cartridges. Also change the carbon often, every two weeks is not too often.

MM

Answer 2

That's quite a filter system for a 30 gallon.

Is it possible that you're cleaning too much? Is this a new tank and the water is cloudy? As strange as this might sound, the best thing you can do is to stop cleaning as good.

If your tank is new, or you're doing a complete overhaul every time you clean, your tank is never going to look crystal clear. Your new tank is curently growing beneficial bacteria in the gravel and on the filter medium. It takes between 2 weeks and a few months to get enough bacteria that your water quality is good and the cloudiness goes away. All you should do is use a gravel vaccuum to get the visible "gunk" right at the front of the tank and about 1/3 of the rest of the gravel. Next time you clean, do a different 1/3. Keep rotating and this will give the bacteria time to develop. At each cleaning, you should vaccuum 20-35% of the water out of the tank, depending on the type and number of fish and how much ammonia/nitrite/nitrate is present. When you clean your filter pads, rinse them in the water you removed from the tank - if you rinse it under the tap, the chlorine will kill any bacteria in the filter.

Here are a few websites with info on cloudy water & causes/remedies, bacteria & wastes, and general tank maintenence - if I didn't get the correct cause, maybe these will help: http://www.fishlore.com/CloudyWater.htm
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
http://www.fishlore.com/Maintenance.htm

Answer 3

First off, it sounds like you are ready for world war 3 with that set up! You are definately prepared for the job at hand. There are many things that will contribute to a cloudy or otherwise not crystal clear tank.

Proper filtration is the key for any aquarium of any size. Ensure you are using a good carbon filter and change it accordingly.

Here are things to help keep your water crystal clear. Do not over feed, live plants, appropriate fish community to the size of the tank, water temperature and uneaten food.

I'm sure you know all of those things, one thing that is important is allowing the natural eco system to develop. Cleaning your tank is good and you should do it. I would only change 20% of the water at a time and 50% every 3 months. This will make sure that you keep the natural bacteria that grows in your tank.

This is how some people lose fish when they first start a tank.

Hopefully this helps.

Answer 4

As humans, we have a different idea of what clean and healthy are. We super scrub everything to death, stripping everything of every germ possible, but in aquariums, a little bacteria needs to be allowed to remain in order to create a healthy tank. When we do our cleanings, many people completely tear their tank apart, scrubbing everything so it's absolutely "squeaky clean," when in truth, we should only be rinsing everything. Cleaning once a week isn't too much. That's how often we should be cleaning, but it's how we clean that's important. Remove about 25% of the water once a week. Rinse the filter, any fake plants and decorations in the old water and just hand rub them "clean." Siphon/vacuum the gravel to remove the gunk, but don't disturb it anymore than necessary. Replace the water with treated clean water. It could be that your water doesn't seem clean because you're stripping the tank of everything that helps get it healthy. The other consideration is overcrowding. If you have too big a waste load, you will always be fighting this problem. Anyway, good luck and don't give up!

Answer 5

Try adjusting the flow rate down. One problem with filtering at a high flow rate is that the water is passing thru the filters too fast for bacteria to build up. I had the same problem in one of my 55 gallon tanks. I cut the flow rate down, the water cleared.

Answer 6

Do you do gravel vacs when you clean? Honestly, there is no better remedy than weekly 50% water changes with gravel vac. Use an algae magnet to remove algae from the tank walls, if it is bothering you. It's strange to have a problem with cloudy water with weekly water changes. Is your tank newly set up (in the process of cycling?) Is it overstocked?

Answer 7

you are cleaning the tank to much you should only clean it once a month you need to let a biological system set up so that it can sustain life so what like a lake you will never have a crystal clean tank just make sure that there is no brown algae growing

Answer 8

You don't have any mechanical filtration to remove particles from the water. You should get rid of the undergravel filter and whisper and get a canister filter with mechanical filtration.