WHY is my water so cloudy?

[Bob Vento]

Levels seem to be within the proper range, however my water has become cloudy.

The temperature has also dropped during the past week and the water temperature went from the 80's into the 70's

Any suggestions or ideas?

Regards,
Bob

[Rob Nash]

you could just plumb the drain to the grass while you clean the media, and leave the fish in the tank. the plants can be removed and replaced with less stress than you might think,,,, i move them often, they act like it never happen.

im going to say its time to add more grow bed. if you build something like a 4x8 grow bed and add the media you have to inoculate the new, it should be ready for plants right away. ...you get more filter, and more grow space.... and an excuse to build some new ap.

[Bob Vento]

I could always do as you suggest Rob and plumb out to the grass and leave the fish in the tank.

Then maybe I can power wash the rocks in my grow bed, flushing out the tiny crap that's in there until the drain runs clear. That way I would not have to totally dismantle my grow bed.

What do you think about that? I think that could work if I flood the bed and flush out the small debris to the ground.

Any others out there with other suggestions or comments?

Regards,
Bob

[Rob Nash]

no need to power wash. just flood it, pull out the plants, leave the root balls intact, set them in a bucket. 

then massage all of the debris loose from the media while spraying with the hose( you need to hurry if it is chlorinated) and let it drain out... you dont want to wash every bit of it, and dont wont to over expose it to chlorine. Remember, a slightly dirty filter works better than a brand new filter. 

 

PS- if you only have chlorinated water, you should dechlorinate some and use buckets or a pump, and only use dechlorinated water... you dont want to wash out most of your good stuff, and then kill the rest with chlorine. 

[Bob Vento]

What about well water instead of city water? No chlorine or other additives however there are some minerals I am sure

Rob Nash said:

no need to power wash. just flood it, pull out the plants, leave the root balls intact, set them in a bucket. 

then massage all of the debris loose from the media while spraying with the hose( you need to hurry if it is chlorinated) and let it drain out... you dont want to wash every bit of it, and dont wont to over expose it to chlorine. Remember, a slightly dirty filter works better than a brand new filter. 

 

PS- if you only have chlorinated water, you should dechlorinate some and use buckets or a pump, and only use dechlorinated water... you dont want to wash out most of your good stuff, and then kill the rest with chlorine. 

[Randy]

Hi Bob. Curious how your cloudy water is doing. I too am having trouble with cloudy water which I am blaming on cheap feed from TSC. My water has the same tint as the feed. After Thanksgiving I think I will try to construct my own MFB and run it until I can get some better feed.

[Bob Vento]

Randy,

The MFB is working well but you need to change the filter material regularly. I haven't been able to take Rob's suggestion because water, other than city water is not good for the system. We have not had rain and my fish tank level is very low.

I need to get my well finished by adding a pump and then I will clean the grow bed as he suggested. In the mean time I will continue to keep the water clear with my MFB.

I think you might be correct about the feed being an issue, I have been using rabbit feed (Timothy grass pellets) for my Tilapia because they seem to like it and it is inexpensive. This may be causing the small particulates going through my grow bed. I did not have any problems until recently and think that maybe my red wigglers have broken down the material in the grow bed causing this issue.

Regards,
Bob

Randy said:

Hi Bob. Curious how your cloudy water is doing. I too am having trouble with cloudy water which I am blaming on cheap feed from TSC. My water has the same tint as the feed. After Thanksgiving I think I will try to construct my own MFB and run it until I can get some better feed.