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Friday, August 16, 2013

5 Reasons Why You Have a Cloudy Fish Tank

Every tropical aquarium owner knows the problem of a cloudy fish tank. But what causes your water to become cloudy and how can you correct or even prevent it?

Bacterial colonies in your tropical aquarium consume nutrients in order to live, grow and reproduce. If your fish tank is cloudy, you have in fact an overwhelming bacterial bloom. Those bacteria are a part of the nature to dispose leftovers and convert it into new resources - they are a natural filtration system! Although these bacteria are not generally harmful for your fishes or aquatic plants, it hinders a clear view on your aquatic life and spoils the fun of having fishes completely. Let's take a look at the main reasons for bacterial colonies to spread and how to prevent it:

1. Too much food

The food you're giving to your aquatic friends contains nutrients bacteria love. If your tropical fish don't eat all of the food, it dissolves in the water and becomes a perfect foundation for bacterial colonies. This can be prevented by taking a close look at how much food your fishes actually need and reduce the amount adequately.

2. Too many fishes

If you have a small fish tank only with many tropical fishes in it even the fish excrements contain nutrients that can destroy the fragile balance in your fish tank. Bacterial colonies gather their food in a relative small room and thus cause the water to become cloudy. Prevent it by moving some of your fish into a new fish tank in order to decrease the amount of fish in each tank.

3. Plant debris

Many fish tank owners decorate their aquarium with living aquatic plants. Although this is no disadvantage in itself, plant debris can also be considered nutrients for bacterial colonies. The only way to prevent this is to decrease the amount of plants in your fish tank or consider plants that are known to work with fish tanks. Ask a professional which plant might be the best for your fish tank and your fish.

4. Too much light

If you have an effective lighting system, you can accidentally cause a bacterial bloom. Many bacteria colonies react directly to the light as a source of energy. A strong light will provide them with an unnatural amount of energy to reproduce. This can be easily prevented by decreasing the light in your fish tank.

5. Defect filtration system

If your pump or filtration system is defect, it will not be able to filtrate the water in your fish tank with its maximum capacity. Once the expansion rate of the bacterial bloom is larger then the filtration rate, the amount of bacteria will largely increase! An example for a decreased filtration efficiency

Taking a close look at each of those 4 factors, you will find out easily why you have a cloudy fish tank. If the cloudy fish tank problem remains check your filtration system on its functionality and replace 10-30% of your water with fresh water.

Learn special techniques and tips from a real professional. Check out my review of a complete guide to fish tank and tropical fish care on my blog. Here's the link: http://best-tropical-fish-guide.blogspot.com/

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