What Causes A Cloudy Fish Tank

Keeping the water in your fish tank clean is a priority for any Aquarist. Despite water looking clean it may not be safe for fish to live in and can ultimately kill them. Thus water should be tested and replaced on a regular basis. You may notice at times that the water becomes unusually cloudy. This may cause you some concern that your fish may be in danger and that you can't see what's going on in the fish tank. This article will examine what causes cloudy fish tank water. Why and how it occurs and how to treat it.

The most common cause of cloudy water is what is known as bacterial bloom. Bacterial bloom is when there is an explosive growth in the numbers of bacteria in the fish tank. Bacterial colonies develop in response to nutrients in the water. These nutrients are often excess food, fish excrement or plant debris. The bacteria act as a filtration device in the tank to remove these waste products and make the water safe for fish to live in. When the bacterial growth occurs the water will appear cloudy or milky.

Bacterial bloom can occur when the tank is new. It occurs when the tank is new because there is an imbalance in the level of nutrients in the water to the levels of bacteria. This may be because there are too many fish in the tank. As you go through starting up a new aquarium the level of nutrients to bacteria will stabilize and the cloudiness should dissipate.

If the water becomes cloudy in an established aquarium then it might be because the filtration process has broken down or that you are putting too much food into the tank.

To remove the cloudiness you can do a few things.

You can wait for the tank to become established.

You could add a bacteria starter that will help to process the waste.

You can do a partial water change of 10-20% .

Bacterial bloom is generally not harmful to the aquatic life in the tank so the cloudiness of the water is more detrimental to the viewing of the tank than anything else. Having said this it is always a good idea to test the fish tank water regularly (as part of a weekly water change for example) for any pollutants so that you can take any remedial action necessary.

Starting a fish tank ? Find all the products you need at http://www.fishtank-supplies.com . The site has features on maintaining the filtration in a fish tank, including fish tank cleaning and fish tank filtration systems . Adrian Whittle writes about keeping both fresh and saltwater fish.