Archived message board.

filter tube

I have a question about my water and my filter. My tube that runs up to my filter got really dirty looking, but my water was clear, so clear you coudln't tell I had water in the tank. But I didn't touch a think, I didn't want to ruin my nice clean water. But I noticed the stuff in my tube was dissapearing...and now my water has a hazy cloudly look to it. I was wondering if any one could explain what happened, and what I should do to get it clear again. Thanks

• hi bob....how long is your tank been up?..the up tubes do collect some algea growth which is perfectly natural...you can clean them once and a while if they get too bad...the cloudiness my be due to a bacterial bloom..which should resolve itself..although it is funny you should say the stuff is disappering...usually you have to brush it out..are you using water conditioners?...just be sure you are not killing your bacterial bed from somewhere....

• My tank has been set up since the first week in January. I've been having problems with the water getting cloudy. One of the times I cleaned to tube and it got cloudy, thats why I didn't touch it this time. But it has gone away on its own and the tank has become cloudy again. It looks a little bit clearer today, and I noticed some of the dirty stuff on the tubes again. I was just wondering what was going on and how to I get the stuff from leaving so my tank will always be clear.

• bob..your good guy bacteria lives all over your tank,the gravel,those tubes and your filter media wich is the big holding area..just be sure you are not cleaning out all media and geting rid of your bacteria....that's why I was curious that you where using adequate water conditioners to rid the chlorine etc.maybe recheck your tank parameters and see what your water is up to to get a better idea..

• Bob...a little late i know...but what color is the cloudiness...if it is green, it is probably a volvox (unicellular algae) bloom. Green plants, including photosynthetic algae directly compete with volvox, and if is is removed, the volvox can flourish....just a theory, if it fits your situation we'll see if we can do more.
  curt