Cloudy water!?!

[medicblue]

Our water has been looking a little cloudy recently. I changed the filter and did a 10-15% water change with no improvement. In an earlier post about feeding and cleaning, I saw a note on wiping the inside walls. There is some algae buildup, could this be causing it? Were waiting for some Chinese Algae Eaters to come into our fish store to help but should we clean away some of the algae?

[Fine Fins]

cloudy water can mean that there is a bacteral bloom going on by changing water and filter you can add more nutrients making the cloudy water last longer. Look for old uneaten food or a dead fish they might have helped in making the water cloudy. Wait it out, I always like running carbon in hopes of eliminating the cause.

[Fallbrookguy]

I had that same problem when I was first getting started. I didn't have enough bacteria in my tank. Plus you shouldn't replace the filter when you're doing a water change. I was told it's best to do a water change then a week later replace the filter then. What type of filter do you have? I currently have the emperor 400 in my tank and it works pretty good also the aquaclear 110. Also what size of tank do you have? Do you know those alge eaters get huge and they're aggressive. I'd personal go with some plecos. If you were close I'd give you one as I have 3 right now.

[Techknowledgy]

When I was a fresh water guy I had a Vortex Diatom filter, it rocked the house on my FO 100 gallon. Super clear water.

[danz]

You may want to add a bacteria supplemental to boost it but if you have a single filter you do want to avoid a wc when replacing media. I run 3 filters and keep a sponge filter just to be a bacteria house.

[medicblue]

The tank is a 30 gallon showcase, the filter is a Tetra Whisper. The cloudiness started after the last water change, so I tried changing the filter cartridge and some water. (I didn't clean the sponge). I'd heard about not changing the water and filter at the same time. I'd also heard that it was ok, Guess I won't do that again Anyway, The cloudiness started before all that. So be patient and watch? It won't hurt the fish? And NO I did not know that Chinese Algae Eaters would get big and aggressive, we have a community tank, I guess we'll go look at a couple of Plecos. And look into the bacteria supplement. Thanks for the tips!