Why is There Cloudy Water in My Fish Tank?

Shannon Frye
One of the most annoying things about having a fish tank is when the water gets really cloudy. You cannot see your fish and the water looks filthy. Even doing a water change once every 2 weeks will not cure your water from getting cloudy at times.

Will this can be very annoying there are some things that you can do to make sure that you don't get cloudy water as much. If you want to keep the water from getting cloudy there are a number of things that you will need to keep up on such as cleaning the tank and doing frequent water changes.

One of the reasons for cloudy water is real plants in the fish tank. With real plants, pieces of them will break off and end up in the bottom of the tank. Some of them might even get up in the filter system and produce cloudy water. If you have real plants in your fish tank you will want to make sure that they are not starting to decay.

If one of your plants looks like it's dead and the water is starting to get cloudy you will want to remove the plant from your tank. Cloudy water is most often times caused by either medications or decaying material in the water. A very high ammonia or nitrate level can also cause the water to become cloudy.

One thing that often times helps the water from being cloudy is filter cartridges. If you don't have any filter cartridges in your fish tank that is probably the main reason that you have a problem with your fish tank. The carbon which is inside the filter cartridges is not working anymore. That's one reason that your water gets so cloudy when you medicate your fish tank or leave your filter off for a couple of days. If you do not have a filter system and you don't want cloudy water you will need to purchase a filter system for your fish tank.

Another thing that can cause your water to be cloudy is overfeeding. When you overfeed your fish most of them will eat and then the rest of the food will sit at the bottom of the fish tank and decay. The most likely cause of your water being cloudy is from decaying extra food or plants decaying in your water. You will need to stop feeding your fish as much as you feed them. This will take care of your cloudy water. You will also want to make sure you clean your filter and replace your filter cartridges as well.

Published by Shannon Frye

I am a stay at home mom. I have a 2 year old daughter.  View profile

1 Comments

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  • Guest12/7/2009

    Cloudy water will almost always happen when setting up a new tank for the first time ("New tank syndrome") and other contributing factors are bacteria blooms (from overfeeding/overcrowding/bad maintenance) and washing your filter sponge in clean tap water, as opposed to syphoned tank water.

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