Hi

Its been a month since I setup my 20g tank (18X15X18 cu.in.)
i have a canister filter with sponge, activated carbon and ceramic rings
i have been doing around 15% water changes every sunday but never cleaned algae from the glass.

recently i found that my aquarium is loosing that crystal clear look. So this time when doing water change i cleaned the walls(inside) with my palm. but unfortunately i did that after water change :( Anyway... i also cleaned the outside of the glass with vinegar to remove hard water marks. Now it got lot better.

When there is no light, everything is clean and clear, but when I turn on the light I could see lots of small particles. Is this common? (I don't think so). I haven't cleaned my mechanical filter(sponge) till now. Do you think that is the problem?

hey,

Yes, id say its unclear at the moment because you just cleaned the mechanical filter for the first time. I clean mine every week, Id suggest doing the same..

do you hover the substrate?? If you dont clean the sand/gravel the water can get pretty cloudy after a water change.

Personally id do more then 15% weekly... 40-50% weekly is much better.

clean glass really makes a difference... you should buy a magnetic cleaner, makes cleaning the glass much easier.

I use easylife filter fluid in my tanks.. It makes the water crystal clear, its amazing stuff.

Hope that helped!

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211gal- 4 Clown loaches, 1 African butterfly fish,4 Dension barbs,2 Jewel cichlids,2 Firemouth's, Green Terror, sailfin pleco, L142, 2 cory's Candy striped pleco,4 Siamese algae eaters, 14 Black widow tetra's, Striped Anostomus, 3 Hoplosternum thoracatum, Fire Eel

I've got a pretty similar problem with my aquarium (Total beginner with forums and aquariums this, so sorry )....

Have been using water testing strips and everything seems fine, fish all healthy and happy etc.

The water takes on a 'milky' appearance even after twice weekly 25% water change. The filter is one in the top of the tank (not under gravel type) with bio rings and white filter wool and carbon sponges. Glass is cleaned each time I change water as described above.

I've tried everything just to have a nice pristine looking tank and now I'm lost for answers hoping somebody can give me some answers. Much appreciated if anyone can help?

as far as i know top filters do good.
Please let us know what kind of substrate/gravel you are using.
also, did you rinse the bio rings and sponges before placing them in?
i read that over-feeding fish also makes water cloudy.
i guess there are many reasons like this which makes water cloudy. discuss here and figure out.

aquarium clarity yes i rinsed bio rings and the gravel is a mixture of coloured and flurecent pink they have both been in the tank for many months

When you rinse the bio media in a filter you should be using old tank water that is being removed from the tank during water change otherwise you are killing off beneficial bacteria that is needed to keep the tank stable. To clear up the particles in the water you can add floss to the filter to catch the stuff, but make sure you change it often. Being a canister filter I would find a hang on back to use temporarily filled with the floss to make it easier to change it out. Then when particles are gone you can remove it.

Jennifer; your cloudy milky water is most likely a bacteria bloom which is usually caused by to much food and nutriant imbalance.

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Sounds to me like both of these tanks haven't cycled.

Ditch the testing strips and pick up a API master test kit. The strips are well known for not showing the entire truth and are inaccurate.

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re:aquarium clarity thanks i will try your idea of using floss