Why Your Aquarium Gets Cloudy and What You Can Do About It

When you first bring that nice new aquarium at home, you probably imagine beautiful bright fish swimming around in a nice looking, clear tank. The unfortunate reality, is that the tank will occasionally have the problem of cloudy water, as any aquarium owner can attest to. Here we'll take a look at the usual reasons why the water gets so cloudy, and the things you can do to resolve this problem.




Sometimes an aquarium will get cloudy the first time you fill it up with water, even before you put in any fish. Why would this happen? Most likely it's because of the new gravel you put in the aquarium. Oftentimes new gravel will have dust, so if you notice cloudiness in a new tank, dump it out and rinse off the gravel thoroughly. In fact, it's a good idea to rinse off any new gravel you buy before putting it in your tank since it will usually have some dust in it. If the water is still cloudy, then your problem is most likely the pH level in the water, in which case you can treat the water with conditioners found at your local aquarium supplier.



Cloudy green water in your aquarium is a sure sign of algae. If you notice this problem, your first step is to determine what caused the overgrowth of algae. It will probably be attributed to an excess of 1 of 4 different things:



Phosphates - this is caused by the type of water you have in your tank. The way you determine if this is the problem is by testing the water for phosphates, and if it is indeed the cause, you will need to treat the water with a phosphate remover.



Nitrates - this results from the waste that your fish produce. If this is the problem then it might be that you simply have too many fish in your tank.



Light - this one is easy, simply move the tank somewhere away from direct sunlight.



Nutrients - most likely the result of too much food in the water.



A cloudy aquarium doesn't have to be stressful when you have the right information. In general, partially changing the water every few weeks, not overfeeding the fish, and rinsing out anything new that goes into the tank will usually keep the cloudy water away.



Brandy has been an avid writer and blogger for the past 2 years. Some of her hobbies include bowling, hiking, and singing in a choir. In addition, she builds informational websites. check out one of her latest sites at http://www.antiquesideboard.org where she provides some great information on antique sideboard, buffet tables, cabinets, and hutches.



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