Smoky water

Question
Dear Chris,
I had witten to u  a couple of months back. My goldfish are doin just fine. One of my black moores had tail rot but is recovering very well and already has a new tail growing. My question was that since the past week my tank water has started to look smoky and cloudy. we make a 30% water change every 10 days n everything seems to be goin well otherwise. when we remove the filter and clean the sponge(in the tank water itself as u had recommended) & insert it back in the tank a few fumes appear when it is restarted. Is there something wrong with my filter? The water remains very clean without any particles or deposits but its just cloudy and smoky and even with the light on the fish are not clearly visible. Please suggest a way I can solve this problem..
Thanx as always
Sanam Rabadi
India

Answer
Hi Sanam;

I am so glad your fish is doing well!

It could be you are cleaning the filter too often or are overfeeding. Try not to rinse the filter any more often than once every two weeks and not the same time you make a water change. Wait a few days afterwards. When feeding, make sure the fish are finishing all the food you give them within 5 minutes from everywhere in the tank. Or, maybe the food you are using has too much filler or undigestible additives in it.

You might want to add an airstone hooked to an airpump to be sure there is enough oxygen in the system too. Sometimes tanks are chronically cloudy from lack of oxygen for the beneficial bacteria to be able to do it's job effectively. They will often clear up overnight from just air bubbles added.

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Chris Robbins

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