Crystal clear water I wish

HI do any of you more wise and experienced fish keepers have any tips for crystal clear water .
My tank has now been running six months now but its still not brilliantly clear especially when viewed end to end . I do weekly water changes and my reading are all zero very slight nitrate ??

 

What does the water look like? Is it milky? Does it look like very dilute tea or cola? Is it pea soup?

 

Good afternoon,

I highly recommend Micron Filter Pads. However, they do clog after several days and they need to be cleaned or replaced with a fresh pad. Link below:



You can cut them to fit your filter and they last a long time. I soak mine in Bleach/Water for 48 hours, rinse them and let them air dry and they are ready to use again.

Note: These pads will remove an Algae Bloom but they will not remove a Bacterial Bloom.

Too, having Activated Carbon in the filter helps tremendously.

Ken

 

maybe its the water your changing it with? I know when I was getting "purified water" from a vending machine I kept getting algae, now that I get RO freshwater from the fish store its much better.

 

My water is clear but not crystal especially when viewed from one end to the other front to back looks fine .
Thanks for the link ken will have to see if I can find something similar here (uk) with 100 micron . I know that I can get the water looking clearer because I have seen it when I have added something to bind all the fine particles, trouble is I end end up with fish casualties as they are all small and sensitive !!

 

Good morning,

Hopefully you can find those or similar micron filter pads in your area.

Please do not use any chemicals claiming to clear your water. They really aren't necessary and as you've experienced, they may be harmful to your fish and critters too.

Another option is to use Diatom Filter. I have the Vortex XL and the Vortex D1. Amazing filters. They use Ditomaceous Earth as media. Talk about sparkling clear water! Wow! I've used them for many years and still do once every month or so.

 

Thanks Ken as ever very helpful next time I go to my aquatic shop I may also ask about the ro water do you use it and how is it different ??.
Just added some cucumber on a chop stick for my new otos I want to keep the bellies fat lol !

 

Good afternoon,

I use tap water. Having a well, I also have silt issues. So I prefilter, heat and treat all of my water for water changes 3 to 5 prior to it going into my tanks. I use a separate 29 gallon tank for this or either my 2 55 gallon drums for potable water.

Using store bought water can get pretty expensive. Too, if you use RO water or Distilled water you have to mix tap water in it to add nutrients back that have been removed that are beneficial to the fish plants and invertebrates.

Ken

 

Thanks Dang I am going to try this !