Question: Grr cloudy water

[ladygodiva35]

During my last partial water change (I do it every Saturday.) by siphoning all grossness from on top of the sand and this time cleaned off the decorations in a separate container. I had to clean my filter since it got clogged but didn't replace the filter media. After I turned on the "clean" filter it gushed all this gross stuff to my frustration since I had JUST cleaned it and had re-added the fresh water.

So I had to again siphon the water and sand and replace some of the fresh water again.
Since then my tank has been cloudy but at least the filter is unclogged.

My questions:
1: When to do a complete water change?
2: When to replace the filter media? I read not to replace it until it's falling apart and to place the new media by placing it next to the old one for a few days so the good bacteria transfers to the new one.
3: When to take the sand out and clean it fully?
4: When to completely replace the sand?
5: Is it okay to do a partial water change twice a week? My plants keep losing those darn leaves and turning into gross plant matter. It's ludwigia.

 

[seagull]

it happens to me too
i clean burrito's tank and the water is nice and clear but it clouds up within 48 hours
i let it be and within a few days it clears back up for a while
i dont use sand or a filter
i do complete water changes every 4 or 5 weeks and 1/3 water changes every 10 days or so

 

[HayleyK]

My questions:
1: When to do a complete water change?
2: When to replace the filter media? I read not to replace it until it's falling apart and to place the new media by placing it next to the old one for a few days so the good bacteria transfers to the new one.
3: When to take the sand out and clean it fully?
4: When to completely replace the sand?
5: Is it okay to do a partial water change twice a week? My plants keep losing those darn leaves and turning into gross plant matter. It's ludwigia.

Did you kick up the sand? Has it settled?

1. I wouldn't do a full water change - wait for it to settle or do a large water change.
2. If you're concerned about it now, get new media and put it next to the old one. What media is it?
3. Don't take it out and clean it fully. The good bacteria also live in this and may cause it to crash. Just siphon it every water change.
4. Again don't completely change the sand. If you do you'll have a chance of crashing the cycle. If you do you have to keep an eye on water parameters.
5. I sometimes do twice a week if he's a grub.

 

[Boomsloth]

During my last partial water change (I do it every Saturday.) by siphoning all grossness from on top of the sand and this time cleaned off the decorations in a separate container. I had to clean my filter since it got clogged but didn't replace the filter media. After I turned on the "clean" filter it gushed all this gross stuff to my frustration since I had JUST cleaned it and had re-added the fresh water.

So I had to again siphon the water and sand and replace some of the fresh water again.
Since then my tank has been cloudy but at least the filter is unclogged.

My questions:
1: When to do a complete water change?
2: When to replace the filter media? I read not to replace it until it's falling apart and to place the new media by placing it next to the old one for a few days so the good bacteria transfers to the new one.
3: When to take the sand out and clean it fully?
4: When to completely replace the sand?
5: Is it okay to do a partial water change twice a week? My plants keep losing those darn leaves and turning into gross plant matter. It's ludwigia.

1: I would invest in a water testing kit, and you would do a water change of about 30% in a fully cycled aquarium when it shows your NITRATES about 40ppm. In a tank that is not cycled you would do over 80% water changes every time either ammonia or nitrite goes up.
2: You are correct, basically if you see a lot of gunk on it, soak it in a bucket of your aquarium water to get the debris off then put it back in. When replacing media, try to keep a much of the old as possible to transfer the bacteria to get the tank back to being fully cycled.
3: just use a gravel vac or turkey baster to remove most of the debris. You should be doing this quite frequently if you don't want ammonia to spike up. Some people will just agitate the sand but i've found that all this does is allow muck to fall under the sand.
4: You shouldn't have to replace the sand unless it is beyond cleaning, which only happens if it is improperly maintained.
5: If your tank is not cycled, you will need to be doing partial water changes every DAY. If you have a heavy amount of nitrates being produced it is okay to do more frequent water changes. it is also very important to make sure the water has no chlorine because this will kill your beneficial bacteria. If your plant keeps falling apart I would just get rid of it. decaying matter fouls up the water fast and looks unappealing. Maybe switch it for something like java fern?

how large is your aquarium?

 

[ladygodiva35]

how large is your aquarium?

My aquarium is a 20 gal long.Yeah I just siphon the surface of the sand. Thanks everyone for the help!

 

[HayleyK]

Just the surface? Or do you dig it in the sand to kick everything up side the siphon tubing? You may lose a bit of sand this way but it efficiently cleans it this way.

 

[ladygodiva35]

Just the surface. My siphon has a stopper thingy on top which I suppose is so gravel and stuff doesn't get sucked up. When I try to dig in the sand then the stopper thing gets clogged and I have to pop open the top, bang the sand out and wash the stopper.

 

[HayleyK]

Get one that allows the sand to go inside the tube and get "kicked about" in the siphon cylinder. The wider the siphon cylinder the more the sand will get kicked up and not sucked down the actual tubing into the bucket. You really need one you can dig in the sand it will greatly improve your water quality