# How to get crystal clear water



## vraev (Mar 29, 2012)

Hi guys,

I have been noticing that my tank is only crystal clear on the first day of a water change. Afterwards..the water starts becoming hazy. Not terribly hazy...but noticably hazy. The bacteria are established...parameters after 2 days post WC:
NH3: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 20-40
GH: 80
pH: 6

There are 18 fish in the 25GAL. 
10 cardinals, 3 oto, 5 SAE (1-2") and 5 Amanos

I have seen 60 cm ADA tanks in the youtube ADA channel with over 20 fish in them. My tank pics are http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34977

I am running a EHEIM 2213 which I now think is not sufficient. I might switch it to a 2215 or 17 in the future...but I haven't cleaned the filter since bacteria establishment. Tank is 6-7 weeks old almost.

ALso should I use some sort of activated charcoal in the filter? How do i do it without harming the bacteria etc? How can i get the water to look crystal clear like that u see in youtube videos from ADA.

thanks,

V


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## Jaysan (Dec 19, 2011)

I'll see if I can take a picture of my tank later tonight when I get home.
From the looks of it, if the water becomes hazy a day after a water change, it is the bacteria colonizing again.

I had this happen to me when I first set up my 25Gal. But after a few days, the cloudiness went away since I used a cycled filter. 

If you want the cloudiness to go away fast, I heard there is this product called Koi Clay?
Its a powder substance and its supposed to make the water clear


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## Jaysan (Dec 19, 2011)

This was probably taken last week.


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## vraev (Mar 29, 2012)

Good to know. People have also suggested purigen. I am going to give that a try as well. I think the bioload in my tank probably is a bit much atm. Also doesn't help that the nosy little and always hungry SAE keep trying to scrape the ohko stone which is full of clay that is impossible to fully clean off. 

Also how often do u guys clean ur filters? and how exactly do u do it? I have a eheim 2213 as I mentioned.


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## Jaysan (Dec 19, 2011)

vraev said:


> Good to know. People have also suggested purigen. I am going to give that a try as well. I think the bioload in my tank probably is a bit much atm. Also doesn't help that the nosy little and always hungry SAE keep trying to scrape the ohko stone which is full of clay that is impossible to fully clean off.
> 
> Also how often do u guys clean ur filters? and how exactly do u do it? I have a eheim 2213 as I mentioned.


Speaking of the clay, I've tried to get as much off as I could, but there are some on there that will eventually come off with the shrimps/sae.

I currently have about 10-15 CPD in there, with 2 Amano shrimps, maybe 5 cherry's, and 1 sae. 
I put them in slowly to slowly increase the bioload. 
I haven't had any Nitrite spikes but I've had Ammonia increase but thats probably from the leeching soil.

To clean the filter, what I do is after a water change, use the same water, take the bucket out of the 2213 and kinda rinse the bucket in the old tank water. Thats pretty much it. 

Are you still leeching ammonia btw?


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## vraev (Mar 29, 2012)

Nope! THe Nh3 is almost always 0. The most I have seen after water changes is 0.25 and the pH jumps to 6.8 because of the local hamilton water. But I think the leeching is done and bacteria is stable for a week or so now.

Thanks...good to know that I was thinking along the right lines for cleaning the filter. Do u also squeeze the foam pads to remove any particulate matter etc?


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## Jaysan (Dec 19, 2011)

Nope, I don't squeeze the foam pads. I just rinse them with the old tank water.


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## default (May 28, 2011)

i personally didnt like using active carbon or purigens, too much work and they apparently take out some nutrients from the water column. you the eheim for your tank can over handle your bioload, you might consider more flow though, i used a koralia nano circulation pump and or just some cheapo powerhead to help circulation.
a easy way to remove some haziness or the free floating clay would be to add some fine filter floss into the the canister near the top and it would remove a lot of the tiny particles that would be unpleasing to the eye. also by adding a sponge prefilter to your filter i find would also help with clarification, and with it, the filter can be cleaned way less often - ive had a fluval 205 with a sponge and after 3 months of running, i opened it and it looked almost brand new inside - sponge was dirty of course lol, shrimps loved farming it though. i've seen the same filters without prefilters and they are nasty, due to gunk build
up.
p.s one way to remove all the clay would be a pressure jet. used it on a couple of pieces. blew clay everywhere, but was completely clean after. only problem i find with those stones is that even with the clay gone, the stone is still very fragile and can chip very easily. tongs vs stone = lots of chips.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Fwiw, you might try giving your sponge a good squeezing out, just make sure it's done in tank water, not tap. Tap will kill your bacterial colony, unless treated first with chlorine remover. Over time sponge can accumulate quite a lot of crud, so I dunk them in a short bucket with old tank water from a WC and squeeze the heck out of them. I really beat them up, until the water stops changing colour. I do the same for the filter fluff media, until it gets so compacted it needs to be replaced. I was using that bonded water polishing pad stuff, but now I use the fluffier stuff that comes in big rolls. I rinse it and squeeze it out in old tank water too, until it's merely pale grey rather than blackish. 

I find my 30 G tank will tend to get a bit hazy if I let the filter go too long without cleaning. So I give the gravel a stir, do a WC, clean the filter media and the water clears within 24 hours

I have a 5 G tank that's always crystal clear. It has a double sponge & a corner filter that is covered in 100 micron filter felt, which prevents all but the finest of particles from getting inside. I did that so the shrimp larva would not get sucked in. So far, water stays perfectly clear, even though it's mainly bio filtered. I added a small HOB, also covered in 100 micron felt, to improve water flow, water stays like crystal. But I only use it for pregnant shrimp and shrimplets and a couple of snails, so the bio load is low.

I did once try a product that is supposed to clear up hazy water caused by too much suspended particulate matter, but it did not work at all. WC, gravel stir and squeezing out all the filter media did the trick.


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## Mlevi (Jan 28, 2012)

I had a similar problem with my 15 Gallon tank. It was already cycled and established, and the load wasn't an issue either. Figured it was bacterial bloom, but it wouldn't go away. Wasn't getting worse, but wasn't going away. 

My filter was HOB aquaclear 30, with coarse sponge, carbon, and ring media. I didn't want to add any chemicals, so I threw in one o' those cheap box filters, filled with filter floss (the ones where u put in a bubble stone), and it cleared up the water overnight. By the end of the second day, it was crystal clear. Have kept it in since. Added advantage is, when I needed to establish a hospital tank, I had a cycled filter.

Depending on the esthetics factor (let's face it...they're fugly!), you might wanna give it a shot. Cheap solution, if it works for ya.


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## vraev (Mar 29, 2012)

Thanks for the suggestions guys. @Fishfur....gravel stir is out of the question as I am still waiting for new plants like HC and DHG to root. Also...for a planted tank, I read there is no need. 
Regarding filter cleaning, I finally did it a couple of hours ago. Damn! You guys should have seen it, I took out the bucket of media stuff from eheim and rinsed it in old tank water....it became brownish green. I then took out the foam pads and swirled them around a bit as well and repacked it. I didnt add the purigen yet. I am waiting to solve the green water issue first. 

Yeah..Ideally I don't want to add any other apparatus in the tank. The whole purpose was to make this nice ADA-like display tank..so I am open to do anything to my filter to make it work better. I may also upgrade in the future when there are some sales on eheim 2217 or fluval G3.

Regarding stone and clay..lol! yes! I tried cleaning it with a brush and broke another stone into smaller pieces. lol! In hindsight, perhaps I should have gone with a Ryoh stone hardscape. But well...live and learn.


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## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

add a sack of purigen to your 2213. problem solved -_-


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## Jiinx (Apr 5, 2012)

Where would you put Purigen in your canister? Would it matter? I have an Eheim 2215 ..I think I need to rinse everything out and replace the sponges etc bc my water and gravel is getting noticeably yellow/brownish.


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## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

Diffinately put it at the end of your filter system (ie. top of the canister) so that the water is already 99% clean. Purigen should be used as a polisher I believe. Or it will get dirty super fast.


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## adrenaline (Jan 17, 2011)

activated carbon will help with cloudiness. not sure the effect it will have on a planted tank though. I have low-medium light plants with my cichlids and never go without it. 

Purigen is amazing stuff too. at the top of your 2213 will work. Purigen will however remove some nutrients as it's an adsorbant. I also use a Diatom filter, but it's not necessary. it does however polish my tanks so the fish look like they are floating in air!

What you can also do when it gets cloudy is add some filter floss around your intake on the 2213 for a day or two and it will trap a lot of detritus and prevent it from getting into your filter and crudding it up. simply remove the filter floss when it's time. This is what I do before i clean the glass on my tanks and before large water changes where i will be stirring up the bottom a lot.


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## vraev (Mar 29, 2012)

I think its officially a green algae bloom. Its just not as green as I expected it to be..but there is a green tint in the water.

Even after water change just yesteday, today it looked as if I hadn't changed anything at all.










ammonia still 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10..down half from the water change. phosphates couldn't detect anything. (Nutrafin master kit)


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## adrenaline (Jan 17, 2011)

add some Algone, or some form of phosphate remover. Fluval has a pretty good one available. comes in a 3 pack for around $9-10. If you know anyone with a Diatom filter, I would suggest that as your first option. It will not remove any nutrients from your water but will polish it crystal clean in no time. I've used it on a friends 20 gallon and cleared up green water in 40 minutes.

Constant water changes can fuel algae blooms (from what i've heard, so don't quote me on that one). use google for info. And I'm sure there are some people with more knowledge on the subject on the forum.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Maybe you could try adding something that just eats green water. Daphnia, for example, can clear up green water in just a few days. Fish will eat them, so they don't necessarily have to stay in the tank and if they have nothing to eat once the algae is gone, and you don't feed them, they'll die off. Or you can try keeping a culture of them for future use.


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## default (May 28, 2011)

fan shrimps FTW. i have a vampire with a gold bamboo in one tank and a single bamboo in another. they keep green water down quite nicely and they can grow into a very nice show species. very friendly and ellusive in a well planted tank. and you wouldnt need to worry about getting rid of them as they usually are worth a lot 
they also consume the free floating tiny particles of food your fish would produce when eating, so i always like them on my clean up crew.


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## vraev (Mar 29, 2012)

Thanks guys! Any idea where I can get Daphnia? I once saw fan shrimp (2-3") at local Big ALs. The tank was empty of them the next visit. I guess I can try to see if I can score some. But yeah...I don't know about phosphate...I can't detect any with the nutrafin kit. I tried increasing CO2, but the next day, the fish were all gasping for breath by the end of the day. I guess it was just too much and the plants weren't producing enough O2.


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