Water cloudiness information

Water Cloudiness Information

Below info sent in by various individuals:

I appreciate reading all the information on this website. It has helped me to manage my 29 gallon goldfish tank this past winter.

Cloudy water has been my biggest challenge. I have two filters going, one the original filter that came with the tank (the Walmart kit) and a Aqua Clear 200 filter with sponge, charcoal and ammonia media bags that are changed once a month. I have been doing 30% water changes (cleaning the gravel with a siphon),on a weekly basis and still struggling with a cloudy tank. I have solved the problem, finally, and this is what I did. My problem was due to a lack of understanding of goldfish habits. I discovered that after feeding my fish, they proceeded to root around in the substrate until every last scrap of food was found and eaten, sucking on the stones and throwing them aside in their search for food particles that fell into the gravel. In doing this, they also stirred up the gravel and disturbed the bacteria action that was going on down there (the source of the cloudy tank). I now call this habit goldfish "housecleaning". Here is how I corrected the problem and now enjoy a crystal clear tank from one water change to the next.

1. I removed all but a thin layer of gravel on the bottom of the tank so more of the bacteria action happens in the filter instead of in the gravel.

2. I feed the fish only twice a day, morning and night. This gives the filter more time to process the particles that are sucked into it during the goldfish housecleaning period.

3. Every night before I turn off the aquarium light I stir the substrate with a long-handled spoon to loosen the waste particles and bacteria working on them. By morning the tank is crystal clear and there is much less particulate lifted into the water after the fish have been fed when they do their "housecleaning".

4. I place a very thin layer of polywool between the last two layers of media in the aquaclear filter, which I change daily in the morning, when I feed the fish. The polywool filters out all the fine particles that the filter misses with just the media bags and sponge. This is so effective in filtering out the fine particles and producing crystal clear water that it must be changed often in order that the filter doesn't plug up and overflow.

5.The result is a crystal clear show quality tank and some very contented goldfish!

Barb Tougas

Rocky Mountain House, AB

email: ubtougas@teluplanet.net

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