Every one of us who keep aquariums eventually notice that a tank is not as clear as it used to be. We have all asked ourselves “Why is my tank cloudy?”

First step is to figure out what color the water is starting to take on. The best way to determine this is to look straight down into the tank.

• Is the water green? This is an algae bloom. This is typically caused by having too much light over an aquarium or having a planted tank that is not balanced with lighting, fertilization and carbon dioxide supplementation.

• Does the tank water look like someone poured milk into it? Is there white swirls in the water? This is a bacterial bloom. Either the tank is new and cycling or the tank is unstable and having a hard time processing all the generated waste.
  • No intervention is needed as once the cycle stabilized the water will clear on its own.
  • However, closely monitor the parameters.  If ammonia is over 2ppm or if nitrite is over 1ppm, use a detoxing water conditioner such as Seachem Prime to protect your livestock from the excessive waste levels.
  • OR, do a water change big enough to get the ammonia under 1ppm and the nitrite under 0.5ppm.  If ammonia is at 2ppm or nitrite is at 1ppm, water change should be greater than 50% to get these levels under toxic levels.