Can't clear my tank water

[CraftyNana]

I know that a lot of people have trouble with keeping their water clear, but my water is clear. I just have particles all through it and it collects on my plants and ornaments and then the gravel seems to grow this black smelly fungus type stuff that I have no idea where it comes from or what it is. I have a VEVOR 375GPH filter on it and it is a 75 gallon breedertank. I also have two large sponge filters in there and a separate UV light. I have the fish in my tank listed in my profile. If you need to see what I have in my tank, I have removed my angelfish. It seemed like they were picking on all the other fish and I thought that they may be the ones that's causing the fungus or whatever it is having too many fish in there. The water quality is very good. It's a little hard and I need to find out a way to soften it otherwise everything seems to go good with it. I just can't keep this debris from collecting on my plants and on the gravel.

I have tried the following things to see if it corrects it, but I haven't had any luck. I've tried different filters all canisters, API sludge, destroyer, Fuval sledge, removers, water, cleaners, etc., and they don't do anything that really helps. I've cut back on what I feed him and give them little bits about three times a day. I've noticed though that they're fighting more because they're hungry and it's hard for me to not give them anymore food any suggestions from anybody?

 

[FishDin]

What tank maintenace do you do and how often? How old is you aquarium? What is the Nitrate level prior to your regular water change. I assume ammonia and nitrite are -0-. How much water do you change? What are your actual test results for nitrate, GH, KH and Ph? Why do you want to soften the water? A UV light willl not kill algae attached to surfaces. I assume you have an inline UV light. Do you add fertilizer?

Your tank seems under filtered. That canister is probably achieving less than 200 GPH which is less than 3x turn over rate of the tanks volume. The 375/G is how it's rated with no media inside and with no head pressure. In real world conditions where the filter contains filter media and there is head pressure, canisters usually provide about half of what they are rated for. For example, my Fluval 207 is rated for 206 GPH, but fluval also lists it's actual output as 121 GPH with filter media in it. Then If I add the effect of head pressure the actual output is below 100GPH. To Fluval's credit, they are the only filter company that I have seen that tells the truth about actual filter output.

The sponge filters provide good biological filtration but will provide little filtering of the particulate in the water column.

I would start by doing 50% weekly water changes preceded by manual removal of as much of the gunk & algae as you can (including vac the substrate). I would invest in a larger filter or add a second one (canister, HOB or internal). You can try placing filter floss in your filter to remove the fine particles. If you do, be sure to check it weekly as it can clog quickly (you can observe the decrease in filter flow). You may also need to create more flow at the substrate level to keep things from settling. Keeping floaters suspended in the water column so the filter can pick them up.

Try the 50% weekly WC and cleaning for a few weeks first before investing in any new filters etc. It may be all you need to do.

 

[A201]

A simple solution would be to attach a pre-filter sponge to the intake tube.

Pre-filter sponges truly work miracles, but they will clog if not squeezed out weekly.

 

[CraftyNana]

What tank maintenace do you do and how often?
Water change 25% at least every other week if not more often skimming the substrate also when I do the water change.

How old is you aquarium?

The aquarium itself has been upabout 10 years old. I just changed out the substrate and the gravel about five months ago. I was having the same issues with the tank prior to changing the gravel out.

What is the Nitrate level prior to your regular water change. I assume ammonia and nitrite are -0-. How much water do you change? See attached picture for the levels that you're asking about I just did that right now. The levels before changing the water are just about the same.

What are your actual test results for nitrate, GH, KH and Ph? See pic.

Why do you want to soften the water? Some of my fish prefer a softer water.

A UV light willl not kill algae attached to surfaces. I assume you have an inline UV light.

Yes

Do you add fertilizer? I have added some iron to the water, but that's all and not much. I know it says on the bottle not to add a lot.

from what I've read about sponge filters, they say that they are the best for for getting the small particles out so this is the first I heard about it not taking out the particles. I'll have to do more research on that.

I can try doing the water change 50%. I don't know about every week but I'll do a 50% instead of the 25 I normally do and see if that helps thanks for your input and I hope that the information I gave you will help you determine if there's anything else I can do

 

[bgarthe]

A simple solution would be to attach a pre-filter sponge to the intake tube.

Pre-filter sponges truly work miracles, but they will clog if not squeezed out weekly.

I agree w what A201 said. Make the pre-filter intake sponge really big and course.

Also, as FishDin mentioned, you need much more filtration and perhaps more water movement. My 75g tank has a 8-10x turn over rate each hour.

You may elect to (to get things started clean) remove your plants and decor temporarily and gently brush off debris on plants etc. That, with a gravel vacuuming, should get you going provided you increase your filtration.

 

[CraftyNana]

I agree w what A201 said. Make the pre-filter intake sponge really big and course.

Also, as FishDin mentioned, you need much more filtration and perhaps more water movement. My 75g tank has a 8-10x turn over rate each hour.

You may elect to (to get things started clean) remove your plants and decor temporarily and gently brush off debris on plants etc. That, with a gravel vacuuming, should get you going provided you increase your filtration.

I have been cleaning the plants off periodically. I didn't take them all out to do that, but I did but how can I get more movement on the grave? I've got bubbles going all over the place and as far as on the gravel I've got bottom Fish down there to stir that up. I'm just not sure What else I can do but I agree that I do need more filtration.

I was asking the filtration people about my problem and they gave me the money back on my filter and told me to keep the filter so I've got that money to deal with and I just may go into the bigger one that they've got. I thought that was quite a big Customer Service move on their part

 

[CraftyNana]

I agree w what A201 said. Make the pre-filter intake sponge really big and course.

Also, as FishDin mentioned, you need much more filtration and perhaps more water movement. My 75g tank has a 8-10x turn over rate each hour.

You may elect to (to get things started clean) remove your plants and decor temporarily and gently brush off debris on plants etc. That, with a gravel vacuuming, should get you going provided you increase your filtration.

AquaMiracle Aquarium Filter 3-Stage in-Tank Filter Internal Fish Tank Filter Turtle Filter for 10-40 Gallon Fish Tanks with Dual Water Outlet & Aeration https://a.co/d/iiEkZDD

Would This be good choice for me to get to help my tank?

 

[bgarthe]

Others may disagree, but I’m not an internal submersible filter or canister filter guy. With my 75g and 65g tanks, I’ve been very happy using two HOB Aqua Clear AC 110s on each. They filter great, are very customizable, have a listed 500g hourly rate, have easy to get Repl parts, move water, are reliable, offer both aerobic and anaerobic bb potential, are easy to service, do not take up inside tank space, are adjustable, and (with a pre filter sponge on each intake tube) keep my water really crystal clear.
The one you referred to has a listed max 130g per hour rate which is likely not even close to that when full. It also has a carbonized sponge. I’m not a carbon user unless I need to remove chemicals. Removing the one in this unit would be a pain should you ever need to add medications to your tank water. I also feel you would find the unit to be an eye sore in your tank.

 

[DaveKS]

I know that a lot of people have trouble with keeping their water clear, but my water is clear. I just have particles all through it and it collects on my plants and ornaments and then the gravel seems to grow this black smelly fungus type stuff that I have no idea where it comes from or what it is. I have a VEVOR 375GPH filter on it and it is a 75 gallon breedertank. I also have two large sponge filters in there and a separate UV light. I have the fish in my tank listed in my profile. If you need to see what I have in my tank, I have removed my angelfish. It seemed like they were picking on all the other fish and I thought that they may be the ones that's causing the fungus or whatever it is having too many fish in there. The water quality is very good. It's a little hard and I need to find out a way to soften it otherwise everything seems to go good with it. I just can't keep this debris from collecting on my plants and on the gravel.

I have tried the following things to see if it corrects it, but I haven't had any luck. I've tried different filters all canisters, API sludge, destroyer, Fuval sledge, removers, water, cleaners, etc., and they don't do anything that really helps. I've cut back on what I feed him and give them little bits about three times a day. I've noticed though that they're fighting more because they're hungry and it's hard for me to not give them anymore food any suggestions from anybody?

Image 1955 I see what looks like piles of uneaten food just setting on substrate, looks like a reddish brown small pellet sized food. All of your fish look severely over fed with huge bloated bellies.

 

[Fishfur]

from what I've read about sponge filters, they say that they are the best for for getting the small particles out so this is the first I heard about it not taking out the particles. I'll have to do more research on that.

Actually, the very best water polishing media is floss. At one time it used to made of fibreglass but these days it’s polyester fibres.

Nothing else catches fine, finer & finest particles better than floss does.

Sponge isn’t just one thing and while it can be an excellent filter media it isn’t the best water polisher.

Much depends on the PPI (pores per inch) count of any given sponge and on what type of sponge it is.

The very best filter sponge is known as reticulated sponge and it comes in several PPI counts - 40ppm would be quite fine and would catch a lot of particles - then you might have 30,20 or 10ppi. 10ppi is quite coarse and wouldn’t catch a lot of small particles.

The sponge in many small filters isn’t reticulated. It’s open cell as opposed to closed cell but isn’t as good a filter media as an equivalent reticulated sponge.

It often has very fine pores and thus can do an adequate job of water polishing but it clogs faster & more easily than a reticulated version of it would.

If you can add some floss to your filtration you should see a very big difference.

Floss can be rinsed out and reused for months though eventually it gets shredded and needs to be replaced.

 

[Lucifer]

I'll second the floss. I have that running on all my canister filters. It does indeed make a difference. Specifically, for me, its in the first tray that the water hits, so for most basic canisters, the bottom tray, or for something like an FX6, the top tray. It does of course clog up a bit quicker than a coarse sponge.

The other thing I do nowadays is only have one tray for bio media and the rest filled with various sponges/floss. I know a lot of the top high tech aquascape guys who are far far more knowledgeable than I only use sponges/floss.

Also, ensure your filter is actually clean, along with keeping the substrate clean when you can.

Finally, feeding 3 times a day seems a bit excessive. I feed 5-6 times a week.

 

[Archtop]

Multiple filters are key. I have for decades used a canister paired with an HOB. Currently I use a Fluval 307 paired with a Tetra Whisper EX70 for my 65 gallon tank. Works well.

Assuming I Iive to see the Fluval reach the end of its useful life, I will replace it with a canister of comparable capacity with an integrated heater.

 

[bgarthe]

“ Multiple filters are key.” Yes, for sure. The types, sizes, and media selection are a matter of fish keeper choice……as long as there are, ideally, multiple filters. Cleaning one while leaving the other and one failing while the other still runs are two big reasons for having two filters.

I use the same thinking with heaters……never just one.

 

[DaveKS]

I'll second the floss. I have that running on all my canister filters. It does indeed make a difference. Specifically, for me, its in the first tray that the water hits, so for most basic canisters, the bottom tray, or for something like an FX6, the top tray. It does of course clog up a bit quicker than a coarse sponge.

I disagree. Filter media should always be staged from coarse > fine. Coarse foam>bonded filter pad/finer foam>200micron filter pad>bag of carbon (if actually needed) >filter output.

 

[ruud]

I reckon you unawarely (is this an actual term?) keep temperature at "fish breeding mode" and the lights as they came out of the box, causing biology to be in continuous overdrive. Plants exude organics, fish always hungry, algae having the time of their life.

If you'd dim the lights, and use a heater to avoid temperature from dropping below a lower limit, you can reduce fish feeding, de-stress plants and make conditions less favorable for algae.

 

[RayClem]

My "rule of thumb" for filters is that you should use filtration rated for 10X the volume of the tank per hour. Thus, for a 75 gallon tank, I would recommend 750 gph. I also prefer two filters rather than one. If your current filter is rated for 375 gph, I would recommend adding another filter rated for between 350-400 gph.

Adding prefilter sponges to the intake of both filters will reduce the water flow, but help keep your water clean. To remove small particles, you have to have sufficient water flow to keep the particles suspended long enough for their being trapped by the filter. I am not familiar with Vevor filters. Along with many others here, I recommend AquaClear filters. They do not use replaceable cartridges, but use semi-permanent filter media such as filter sponges and ceramic filter media. When used with a prefilter sponge, the AquaClear filters do a great job of removing debris and maintaining the nitrogen cycle.

 

[BlackOsprey]

You can make adjustments to your filtration later, but right now, you should focus on simply removing the existing particles. Aside from gravel-vac siphons, there's no better way of doing that than making a water polisher.

It's about as simple as getting a powerhead, slicing a water bottle in half, attaching the water bottle topside-first to the powerhead's intake, and stuffing the bottle full of polyester floss/filling so that the powerhead has to draw water through the floss. You can adjust the powerhead's flow and position so that its outflow will stir up all the remaining particles, keeping them suspended in the water column until they get trapped by the intake floss.
I let it run for a day or two before just taking it out.

It's a little inelegant, but I don't have to worry about having to open up my main filters to unclog the fine-particle filtration all the time.