Tanks not cloudy but...

Definately needed the clean, its suprising what gets in there and how quickly it can happen.
Your filter was probably slowly turning into a Nitrate factory with all that yummy bio-gunk in there.
The Phoscleaner will be fine as long as you dont restrict the flow around it too much...if youve got a good output flow it should be fine.
These products are normally placed at the top of your filter cartridges,just before the water enters the impeller well.
When packing your filter,it normally goes (from bottom up) Biological,mechanical,chemical. Of course, some people alter this to suit their particular situation but that's the standard setup.
Throw a filter wool pad in between each layer and your water will be sparkling clean.
Have fun GG : )

Tanks beautifully clear! yay team

Knowledge gets results...give yourself a pat on the back.
Happy days GG

Emeraldtarpon said:

Knowledge gets results...give yourself a pat on the back.
Happy days GG

Click to expand...

I may have spoken to soon but it does look better, it's the oddest thing, at certain angles it looks completely clear.
Water change tomorrow.
I may mark myself as a moron by the next but I want to be clear that I undertand.
Biological filtration would equal, bio noodles, foam, or other type of filtration material, mechanical equals the pump itself, chemical would be like the PhosClean or other additives?

Persistance pays off, it'll come together GG
The water change will definately help.
Im actually wondering if your tank has gone through a mini cycle and the beneficial bacteria are re-establishing?
If that's the case, from your current description, it sounds like the bacteria has almost hit "critical mass" so to speak...you should see a big difference when this happens (maybe 1-3 days).
If you have some,it would probably pay to dose the tank with some nitrifying bacteria (beneficial bacteria) - you know, like API Quick start etc. That will help to boost your colony of good bacteria.

Forget the moron stuff...i bet i can out do you in that area LOL.
With your filtration, Biological would be a sponge or filter wool etc.
Mechanical is things like ceramic noodles, bio balls etc.
Chemical is activated carbon,Purigen, Phosclean etc etc.
Let us know how you go GG, take care.

If that's the case maybe I should hold off on the water change for a couple days.
I tested the water and all levels are normal. Zero Ammonia and Nitrite, about 15 Nitrate.
I do have some Nitrifying bacteria I can pop in there. It won't hurt and a good suggestion. Thanks so much for your support.

No worries GG, im always happy to help.
Actually youre right about the water change - See how your water is in 12 and 24hrs and if you notice an improvement,hold off on the water change for now.

I found this little snippet about Phosphate levels and thought you'd find it handy......

The ideal level should be 0.5 parts per million (ppm) of water. If the level is reading at 1.0 ppm, your tank is at risk of getting an algae outbreak.

Something i didnt realise, all living cells contain Phosphrous so a small amount is beneficial to the health of your fish and plants (as above, 0.5 ppm is the perfect level).

Hope this info was helpful GG, Cheers.

Yes, helpful and I came to the same conclusion after reading up on this phosphate subject a lot.
My conclusion is that I don't want to use chemicals to fix my problem.
After a lot of thought I think I did to much to fast in the 29 and caused an imbalance, by adding three snails in rapid succession, messing with the plants alot thereby stirring up stuff that was trapped in the roots and such.
I'm taking out the Phosclean stuff and slowly do some water changes, clean out like half of the sponge filter, (has two sponges).
I'm thinking as long as I don't mess with my HOB and clean the sponge in stages I'll be all good in a few days.
Thanks so much!!

It may pay to stop at the moment, step back and leave things alone for a while and just let the tank settle before going any further

Agreed, it looks 100% better today. Nearly crystal clear

Ahhh! the bacteria's finally hit "critical mass" so to speak.
Smooth sailing from here
My little 1-3 day prediction came true...Woo Hoo LOL.
Always a pleasure.

Hymnal music pipes from above...HA HA....Crystal clear and much happier.
The re-work starts pay day with new filter and some new plants.
It's odd the brown algae isn't as much on any decorations as totally going after a couple plants.
I may re-do almost all the plants.
fun fun but slowly so as not to disrupt things again

🎵🎶🎵🎶🙏