Cloudy water

[frootbats]

Im pretty diligent about changing half of my axies water every week. Recently, though, the tank water has been becoming slightly cloudy after a few days of the water change. I dont want to change all the water, since i know this upsets the cycle. I have a 20 gallon tank.
I add dechlorinator every time i do a water change, but should i be adding something else ? I have a bottle of natural bacteria that someone recommended i use when i change water, but i wasnt sure if that would be beneficial for my axie (with the possibility of fungus, etc).
Sometimes when he eats his worms, the worms "poof" out a bit of white liquidy stuff. Could that be contributing to the cloudiness? If so should i take my axie out of the tank when i feed him?
The water quality doesnt seem to be bothering my axie but it bothers me. I would prefer to have a clean looking tank!

 

[eglochk]

Presuming your tank is properly cycled, there could be a number of causes for this. What's the GPH on your filter and when's the last time you cleaned your mechanical filtration (sponge, filter floss, etc), and how often do you vacuum the gravel?

For GPH, a good rule of thumb is that you want the pump to handle 5 times the volume of the aquarium per hour. Clogged mechanical filtration can slow this down.

Another cause would be higher, or lower, levels of bacteria. If you aren't performing additional cleaning, there may be a bloom in response to some of the bacteria being removed from the tank. If you've not been cleaning the gravel, this would be a good time to do so as well as a bloom wouldn't occur in response to the greater availability of particulate.

 

[frootbats]

I have a carbon filter and I change it every 6 weeks. I usually rinse the carbon cartridge off every week though because it gets dirty. My brand is an Aqueon 50, and it has a 250 GPH (which is fine because I have a 20 gallon tank). I have sand so I don't vacuum it, but I do clean up all of Chimi's poops with a turkey baster asap.
Is it possible that the water isn't cycled all the way? I recently moved and had to drain all the water and fill it back up completely. I added API tap water conditioner and API quick start, which is supposed to start the cycle. However, should I be doing something else? I don't exactly have another tank to keep Chimi in while his aquarium is cycling.
If the aquarium isn't cycled all the way, how should I go about fixing it so the water clears up?

 

[eglochk]

My apologies for the oversight. Yes, the restart of the tank cycle could be the cause. If your water tests show ammonia or nitrites above zero, proceed with daily water changes of about 20-25% until the tank can establish itself properly. (You'll also want to ensure nitrates are 20-40ppm.)

Please post back with the test results. Hope your axie is managing just fine in the interim!