HagenKB

Cloudy Water treatments

Why does my water look whitish and milky?

Why does my water look whitish and milky?
The main problem is probably overfeeding, since the aquarium is over a year old, the organic materials from overfeeding will build up and allow a bloom of bacteria to occur. In most cases the whitish cloud is a result of the human eye detecting the massive population of suspended bacteria in the water column.

Treatment can be through a variety of methods, some more harsh than others, but the primary thing I would do is to stop feeding the tank for three days and allow the bacteria to "eat" the excess organic wastes and then die back from lack of food. There are traditional clarifiers such as our product P-Clear which chemically bond to the bacteria and form "flocs" which get trapped in the gravel and thus clarify the water.

I don't really think this would help much as you simply move the flocs into the gravel with an undergravel filter. I do suggest a different course if you don't want to wait for nature to take its course and are unwilling to slow down the feeding of the tank - I would suggest in cases like this when feeding is resumed to feed as much as the fish can eat in TWO minutes with NOTHING hitting the bottom - once a day. Even then, most people still overfeed, so I wouldn't worry about the fish having any dietary defficiencies. Also you might consider moving to a low pollution food, such as NutraFin MAX, our Premium fish food.

I would also suggest B-Clear as a water clarifier for this application, since it actually will clean the UG filter as well as to remove the cloud in a relatively fast fashion. P-Clear will clarify in 1 - 3 hours, B-Clear is a whole different product that uses enzyme reactions to actually destroy the cloud, it takes 24 - 48 hours to do it, but the cloud most of the underlying substances that cause it are "eaten" by the enzymes while they clean out the gravel as well. I would recommend this as a fast fix, It is designed as a single use product, not for regular application in Fresh Water. But, after the clarification is accomplished, you might want to examine out other product, Waste Control for ongoing cleaning.

Sorry you got hit with so many new products, but I think your problem will be easily treated by one of them. Or with none at all but a reduction in feeding.

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