The Puffer Forum

Why does my water never seem super clear?

55uk gallon BW tank with 2 small GSPs.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10

In the filter cannister, I have ceramic rings/the usual sponge/filter wool & at the moment some carbon.

Just doesn't seem to get that sparkling look, that some tanks have. No actual visible particles, just a general "hazey" look.

Any suggestions?

when my tanks look "hazey" it's because the glass (inside) needs cleaning

How do you clean the inside glass? When looking through my pictures there were water marks on the inside of the glass... Just a clean cloth?

these work really well for me, and can be cut up into convenient sized pieces

How long has your tank been cycled? I had that problem as well, it's a bacterial bloom. It will eventually clear up once they grasp onto something, such as filters, ornaments, etc. How often do you clean your filters and how do you do it?

I use one of these to clean the inside of my tank, they are great and my hands don't get wet.

http://www.aquariumguys.com/magnetic-cleaners.html

I don't use this brand but they all work the same way.

Its been cycled since October, so I would hope its nothing to do with that.
The glass is clean (inside & out).
I normally just rinse the filter media once a month, but only if there is green slimey stuff visible. It is rinsed in tank water.

Sometimes I look at the tank & its as if my eyes are blurry! My mum saw it for the first time the other day & she said the water looked clear to her. But you know how you see tanks that are so incredibly clear, that they sparkle? Well, I want that!!

We were just discussing that on another thread. Diatom filters:

RTR wrote:Vortex diatoms are a major PITA. Too bad they work like a dream and last forever. Talk about love/hate relationships...

If you want to do much tank photography, diatoms are your friend. Diatom the tank an hour or two, remove it for several hours, and take pictures in air-clear water.

Don't do this before the fish folk come by to see your setup - we all recognize a freshly diatomed tank.

I've heard good things about Seachem's Purigen, that it will make your tank sparkle, however, I've never used it myself and am really not sure what it consists of. I have thought of trying it though because I'm very happy with Prime, which is by Seachem, so that might be something you could try as well .... if you wanted to go that route. Just a suggestion.

Can you find the link to that thread please J-P. I had a quick look, but couldn't find it.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=19691&start=315

Easy enough

not very detailed other than what RTR said

What are Vortex diatoms? I never heard of that term before.

Another thing that may cause cloudy water, is the mirco filter pads in your cannister filter (if you have them) need to be changed!

I also find these work really well for cleaning glass


You can buy it at pretty much any LFS

Pufferfreak42 wrote:What are Vortex diatoms? I never heard of that term before.

sorry I was in the middle of replying when I Disco'd

Vortex in the brand. Diatoms are suspended particles in the water. Thus, Voretx Diatom Filters

http://www.diatomfilter.com/

I haven't tried it out yet because the hoses it came with are a little too short for me. Looks like an upside down blender

Clarification: diatom powder, the filter medium in diatom filters of any brand, is the cast-off tests (~shells) of ancient diatoms in shallow seas. These very small critters - microscopic - have micron-sized pores which produce very fine filtration. Their problem is that they clog. Clogging is inherent in any filter medium. Filtration in canisters traditionally has devoted the majority of the internal canister space to staged particle size filtration - graded pads/sponges from coarse through medium to fine - to capture as much as possible without clogging. A long time ago, canisters went for low upkeep with long intervals between opening for rinsing and cleaning, largely because the units available were not easy to use. With current sophisticated filter housings, opening and re-closing after cleaning is simple. They should move to finer filtration pads to improve water clarity. It has long been known that more frequent filter cleaning does improve water quality (lower nitrates most obviously, but also lower total dissolved solids and the tiny particulates that reduce clarity).

It is possible to have diatom-clarity water 24/7 by using multiple different porosity filters on a tank, down to micron-level pads. Very few hobbyists opt for that level of filtration (usually 3-4 different filters, not counting biofiltration), as it means a significant increase in tank maintenance -just on the filter pads/sponges.

But if you want better water clarity, use staged porosity filter pads and rinse them all frequently. Here frequently means weekly at least, the coarsest are best rinsed daily. Those coarse sponges are almost always in overflows, but may also be coarse sponge prefilters as canister intakes.

You might be very pleasantly surprised in how much clearer your tank looks, and in how much easier it is to maintain high quality water. And that is just from mindless work like rinsing filter pads.

Away from fact, on to philosophy and opinion:

Hobbyists tend to be hooked on what they see as simple filters such as HOBs. Such filters are simple and easy, but they do not approach a more thought-out and maintaained filtration process for improving water quality and clarity. Yes, it means more planning effort and costs upfront, but with care it offers far lower operating and total life cycle costs. Someday I hope more folks realize that lifetime costs are more more significant than low initial investment.

HTH

Thanks.