Cloudy Water? What could be to Blame?

I have noticed that in my freshwater tank I am having constant battles with cloudiness. I do frequent water changes but the water is never crystal clear like it should be. What can I do to get better quality water in my tank. Listed below is a list of the fish in my tank, and it is full. And By full, I mean I cannot put anymore fish in it. I just want crystal Clear Water. ;D

30 Gallon Tank

1 Dojo Loach
5 Mollies
4 Dwarf Gold Tetras
4 Swordtails
2 Male Gouramis
1 Platy
3 Ghost Shrimp (For snacks for the fish)
3 Snails
1 Dwarf African Frog

Please, some advice!

 

The tank is overstocked some and you've got a lot of good waste producers.. and that could be the source of the cloudiness and the water chemistry might be off. what is your nitrite, nitrate and ammonia readings?

- this might help the cloudiness.
- this is what we treat our tap water with.
- this is the testing kit that we use.

 

As BettaCouple said, your tank is full. I was having constant mini-cycles, which cause cloudiness, when my 20 gallon was the most over-loaded it has been.

 

Ok, I understand that may tank may be overcrowded, but I am taking care of that issue. However, now I have many questions.

I am in the process of getting another 30 gallon tank. I had thought of making it an aggressive tank(cichlids) but if you think that my tank is overcrowded what fish from my current tank could go in it? Also, I was thinking of using sand at the bottom of my new tank instead of gravel, is this a good choice? Also would it be a good idea to put some of my current fish in the new tank to start the cycle. And is there anything I can do to speed the process up?


Also BettaCouple, I do have that chemical that clears up the cloudiness and it worked, but I was afraid to use it again because I didn't want to poison my fish. The bottle doesn't have anything about overdosing.

Please Contact me back.

 

I'd only use the water clearing stuff every 2-3 days to be safe. Those are usually fairly benign chemicals intended to cause the tiny particles to clump together and get caught by the filter and back when we had gravel there were times I used AccuClear daily without any ill effects on the fish.

I'm not sure that any of your current tank's residents could go in with cichlids.. maybe the loach and snails, but i'd see what the cichlid owners say on those 2. the livebearers, gourami and tetras would mostly likely die in a tank of cichlids. i'm not certain on the ADF but I don't think it would be a happy tank for him either. :-\

You could seed the new tank with filter media or gravel hung in pantyhose in the new tank to hopefully speed that up on cycling.

 

My opinion: (and it is opinion. I'm not one to tell people too much about their tanks being overcrowded. My tank was double or triple its acceptable bioload at one point) Use your next 30 gallon to split your fish up.
I'd get the Mollies out of the tank, and then a couple of the other fish (maybe the guoramis) to keep the Molly population down. The dwarf frog and one or two of the snails could join them.
Again, this is just my opinion. Do what you think will work, and let us know how things work out.