Cloudy At Every Water Change

Seriously, if I change even 5 gallons of my water my tank gets a little cloudy. It’s a white-ish hazy cloudy. Reminded me of when the tank was cycling initially.

No other side effects...fish behave normally/normal breathing, snails, shrimp...all fine...

Has anyone ever encountered this before?

I admit my tank has been one of ‘those’ from the start...took me forever to fishless cycle...like 6+ months...I ended up giving up, buying live bacteria to get it started and clear the ammonia and nitrites so I could toss in 5 danios (who are still alive and in the tank today)...never had any issues when adding fish, except for one spike, but everyone survived as they were acclimated and it didn’t get THAT high. I actually believe that my tank is in good shape- my plants have always done alright, my shrimp breed (don’t shrimp need good water conditions to breed? I read that somewhere) and my fish have good color/behave happily...but yeah, for as long as I can remember, whenever I change my water my tank gets cloudy.

Test results come back normal every time.
0/0/20-40
PH 7.6ish
Temp 76

It’s only cloudy for the night of the water change, and it doesn’t get cloudy until a few hours after I change the water.:blink:

This started happening before I was even moderately planted, and before I was using any ferts besides an iron tab by Dennerle.

 

Could be a slight bacterial bloom. If it’s happening after your WC check the levels in your tap to be sure it’s not introducing a little ammonia and making the BB keep trying to play catch up.

 

It’s not from my tap I actually get my water from my LFS so that the fish I get from them don’t have to adjust when I bring them home. (Their water parameters are WAY different than what comes out of my tap out here)

Regardless, the water checks out. But while we’re on the topic, do you honestly think that 5 gallons of water, with trace amounts of ammonia, being added to 35+ gallons of aquarium water would still net enough ammonia ppm to cause a cycle? I know that sounds like a smartass question, and/or sarcastic, but I’m legitimately asking out of my own curiosity because I honestly know next to nothing, but I do like to learn.

Also, I believe that when municipalities put it in the water it’s ammoniUM, or something [more] harmless to fish and people, and will show up on API’s test indefinitely because the BB doesn’t break it down. This is why some people have a baseline of .25-.5ppm ammonia when testing their water.

 

Ammonium is the conjugate base of ammonia, so in acidic conditions ammonia will often become ammonium (and for alkaline environments, be the opposite).

'Trace amounts' can depend on the individual. So how trace are we talking?


A good dechlorinator will safely 'convert' ammonia to ammonium in small amounts (usually its under 1-2ppm) for 24hrs. As long as the filter can handle the sudden spike in a relatively timely manner (ideally under 24hrs, since after then the dechlorinator effect has worn off) then I don't think its much of a problem.

 

Ammonium is the conjugate base of ammonia, so in acidic conditions ammonia will often become ammonium (and for alkaline environments, be the opposite).

'Trace amounts' can depend on the individual. So how trace are we talking?


A good dechlorinator will safely 'convert' ammonia to ammonium in small amounts (usually its under 1-2ppm) for 24hrs. As long as the filter can handle the sudden spike in a relatively timely manner (ideally under 24hrs, since after then the dechlorinator effect has worn off) then I don't think its much of a problem.

Trace like .25ppm

That’s what used to show up in my actual tap water, and another reason why I started getting my water from them.

Does API make a good dechlorinator in their stress coat? That’s what I have always used

 

Trace like .25ppm

That’s what used to show up in my actual tap water, and another reason why I started getting my water from them.

Does API make a good dechlorinator in their stress coat? That’s what I have always used

I believe API also detoxifies ammonium, so that would be a good dechlorinator to use.

Tbh, your trace amount of ammonia isn't that bad, so if you have your heart set on going with tap, I would be comfortable doing it if I was in your shoes. Depending on the difference in water params you may find that you'll have to slowly mix in your tap water with the stores to avoid shocking the fish.... the important thing is remember to dechlorinate, and follow instructions on the bottle.

 

I believe API also detoxifies ammonium, so that would be a good dechlorinator to use.

Tbh, your trace amount of ammonia isn't that bad, so if you have your heart set on going with tap, I would be comfortable doing it if I was in your shoes. Depending on the difference in water params you may find that you'll have to slowly mix in your tap water with the stores to avoid shocking the fish.... the important thing is remember to dechlorinate, and follow instructions on the bottle.

It’s pretty different. My water is super hard and had a really high ph of like 8.6 or so. I don’t really mind using their water, tbh. It’s cheap.

But I still need to figure out why my water is getting cloudy when I’m only changing 5 gallons of water >.<

Any ideas on that? Lol

 

I had a similar issue with my 90 gallon tank, but not in my 125 gallon which was a head scratcher of a problem for me. Went on for months and months.

The only real difference between the tanks was filtration. Changed the filtration on the 90 gallon drastically increasing how many times the tank turns over in an hour, and quadrupled my biological filtration.

I no longer get that whitish haze after water changes that sometimes would never go away.

Have always used prime in both tanks when adding new water.

 

My tank gets a haze too. Usually just due to stirring up sediment from the waterchange and usually settles after a couple of hours.

 

It’s pretty different. My water is super hard and had a really high ph of like 8.6 or so. I don’t really mind using their water, tbh. It’s cheap.

But I still need to figure out why my water is getting cloudy when I’m only changing 5 gallons of water >.<

Any ideas on that? Lol

I've had the same issue, though mostly it's with the substrate I have (I have white sand), and if I even stir it slightly it will make the entire tank cloudy for hours at a time. It clears, but is a little frustrating.

 

It’s pretty different. My water is super hard and had a really high ph of like 8.6 or so. I don’t really mind using their water, tbh. It’s cheap.

But I still need to figure out why my water is getting cloudy when I’m only changing 5 gallons of water >.<

Any ideas on that? Lol

My water lines are aerated beyond belief. I always have the white "glow" after a water change which usually clears up in 24 hours, and I notice it becomes air bubbles on the live plants. When the filters were clogged and I have cleaned those, so it is helping with the fogginess.

Maybe it is just your water? I have come to expect it, until I move to the new house.

 

Also, this is what someone said in another forum...thoughts?

“Could be minerals interacting in the water, tap water contains lots of CO2, which drops pH, so as the CO2off gasses pH rises slightly, and could cause minerals to lose solubility / precipitate out of solution and make the water seem cloudy.

Just a hunch.“

 

Also, this is what someone said in another forum...thoughts?

“Could be minerals interacting in the water, tap water contains lots of CO2, which drops pH, so as the CO2off gasses pH rises slightly, and could cause minerals to lose solubility / precipitate out of solution and make the water seem cloudy.

Just a hunch.“

Could be. As long as it isn't hurting anything, effecting the fish or plants, you should be good.

 

I've had the same issue, though mostly it's with the substrate I have (I have white sand), and if I even stir it slightly it will make the entire tank cloudy for hours at a time. It clears, but is a little frustrating.

Heh, I still have ugly noob gravel. My plants hate me for doing this to them, but I swore I just wanted a simple aquarium and didn’t want to dive in to live plants

 

Could be. As long as it isn't hurting anything, effecting the fish or plants, you should be good.

That’s what I’ve been telling myself all these months, haha...but figured I’d post and see if it’s something I’m doing and/or can prevent. It still makes me a little nervous, ya know?

 

That’s what I’ve been telling myself all these months, haha...but figured I’d post and see if it’s something I’m doing and/or can prevent. It still makes me a little nervous, ya know?

I get you. I'm researching how to move 5 aquariums and we have NO clue about the water out there. This is going to be interesting.

 

By the way I just want to give a special shout out to all those involved in this thread.

Thanks for being here when I reached my “full” member status.

I couldn’t have done it without you. You’re my reason. My inspiration.

I get you. I'm researching how to move 5 aquariums and we have NO clue about the water out there. This is going to be interesting.

That’s crazy. My girl asked me that one day haha “so what do we do if we move”

I just looked at her w a blank stare

“Hopefully we don’t move that far”

 

That’s crazy. My girl asked me that one day haha “so what do we do if we move”

I just looked at her w a blank stare

“Hopefully we don’t move that far”

Feel my dilemma!