So last Friday my 10 gallon finished its fish-food cycle (which - side note - I have got to figure out a less messy way of doing before I try that again), so I went down to my LFS and got 6 CPDs and about $30 of dwarf hairgrass due to a misunderstanding (I only meant to get $10 worth). I planted the hairgrass while my fish acclimated, but, due to the quantity, this took a while and resulted in the substrate being disturbed quite a bit. By the time I added the fish, the water was a little cloudy, but I assumed it would settle withing a few days at most; I had done a 100% water change that morning and stirred up a bit of dust, but the water was clear before I left to get the fish. However, one week and 5 20% water changes later, the water is still not clear. The parameters still look like they are supposed to, so the cycle didn't crash, and the cloudiness was clearly initially caused by planting the hairgrass, and the fish appear perfectly happy (if shy) and healthy, so I'm fairly certain the cloudiness is either Fluorite or sand dust or caused by remnants of rotting food. Any tips on how to deal with this? During the cycle I had 2 major bouts of murky water, the first caused by the new Fluorite and the other caused by adding the food; I dealt with both by dosing with Acute F, but I've heard stories about that killing fish, so I'm hesitant to use a full dose now (although I did try a 20% dose with no effect). Since the fish seem unaffected, I'm not super worried, but... it's really ugly, and I want clear water.
If the fish are healthy and they are not gasping for air and as you say the water parameters are good, assuming 0 ammonia, 0 Nitrite and 10ish Nitrate then your not going through a minicycle. Try getting some filter floss, such as poly-fil. You can get this stuff at a craft store like JoAnns or at Walmart. It's bascially stuffing that you see in teddy bears. A whole bag is pretty cheap. Grab a wad of that stuff and then stuff it into the HOB. In a few days it should catch all the dust that you have in the tank and clear things up so it's crystal clear. It looks like dust from the substrate.
Is filter floss more effective than the floss pads they use in cartridges? I've got a cartridge with charcoal (plus some bio media) in right now, but it only catches some. It's an internal filter too until I can replace it, so there's not as much extra room as I'd like. Also, I'm ordering a sponge filter to run as extra filtration and also to seed in case I set up a breeding tank (the CPDs are still settling in and already the males are chasing and fighting); would a normal sponge filter be fine enough to trap the fine particles? Also, why does Fluorite dust just... never settle? Does this issue go away after it's been in the tank for long enough?
I am using Flourite in my 46 gal tank. And I also like crystal clear water. I tried everything to get mine to clear before I finally brought some Seachem Clairty, which cleared it up in a day.it will initially cloud more as it works. It is a flocculant which makes the tiny particles stick together so the filter can catch them. Hope this is helpful.
This cloudiness is a natural part of the nitrifying process ( a healthy sign). It will go away soon- be patient.
