Dusty Water...

[DefStatic]

So I am not really sure where to go with this, and I tried to describe it to some people and they seemed confused.

 

Maybe it is the use of the term dust. I am not sure how else to describe it. My water seems, well, dusty. In my 30 gallon planted fw, I have some "dust". Very minor amount. Before I upgraded my filter, and before it was what I would call more established, and before I started using Purigen, it use to be worse. Now it is quite minor, in fact I would say anything you saw would be a micro air bubble at best. Pretty crystal clear.

 

But my BC29, not so much. From about 6 feet away you cant tell. But once you get up close, it seems very dusty. Like if you see the sun shinning through a window and dust flowing through it.

 

I am doing weekly or bi-weekly 5 gallon water changes. I have a skimmer. You can see a link in my sig to my build. DIY media basket with either floss or a sponge followed by purigen. I have tried an AC sponge, pillow floss, and water polishing pads. The pads and floss are quite brown after a couple days. But the problem never really improves. Oh, also chaeto in the 2nd chamber as well. Also, upgraded stock pump to the MJ1200.

Any thoughts? I can take a quick video of the filtration. I have my concerns about how it flows into where it should. But even as perhaps poor as that is, I wouldn't think it would cause this problem.

[AZDesertRat]

An easy way to tell if it is actually dust or debris in the water column versus microbubbles is with a flashlight. After dark, turn your tank lights off and shine a flashlight through the tank side to side or front to back. If the water shines or sparkles like millions of tiny diamonds it is microbubbles, if it just looks milky it is dirty water.

Your floss, sponge, pads and purigen may be causing the bubbles when the water has to force itself in, around and through all those restrictions. You are causing the water to change directions multiple times versus a nice laminar smooth unimpeded flow. It could also be your skimmer, unplug it for a few hours as see if there is any difference.

[HarryPotter]

So I am not really sure where to go with this, and I tried to describe it to some people and they seemed confused.

 

Maybe it is the use of the term dust. I am not sure how else to describe it. My water seems, well, dusty. In my 30 gallon planted fw, I have some "dust". Very minor amount. Before I upgraded my filter, and before it was what I would call more established, and before I started using Purigen, it use to be worse. Now it is quite minor, in fact I would say anything you saw would be a micro air bubble at best. Pretty crystal clear.

 

But my BC29, not so much. From about 6 feet away you cant tell. But once you get up close, it seems very dusty. Like if you see the sun shinning through a window and dust flowing through it.

 

A picture would be really helpful. If there are floating particles, you should try to identify WHAT they are. Bubbles, sand, mess from your DIY basket, etc

 

An easy way to tell if it is actually dust or debris in the water column versus microbubbles is with a flashlight. After dark, turn your tank lights off and shine a flashlight through the tank side to side or front to back. If the water shines or sparkles like millions of tiny diamonds it is microbubbles, if it just looks milky it is dirty water.

 

+1, could be micro bubbles.

[CJJon]

If not microbubbles (easy to check, turn off skimmer) then maybe bacterial bloom. Does it look like white, grey smoke?

[DefStatic]

If not microbubbles (easy to check, turn off skimmer) then maybe bacterial bloom. Does it look like white, grey smoke?

No, I turned off the skimmer, it reduced it a little. I have seen the foggy kind of bacteria bloom before. It just looks like dust in the air in direct sunlight.

 

When the lights are out, it looks very clear. I did not try the flashlight trick last night, but I have before and if I recall correctly I do not see anything.

 

I will see if I can get a video.