smokey whater

Question
QUESTION: i upsized from a thirty gal to a 75 gal six months ago. i transfered all the water and the fish to the new tank i have 7 cichlids ranging from 1 inch to 4 inches an two cleaners and two leopard bush fis 1 in and less....
the fish are all happy i can tell by there colors, ive had them for a while now but the water has fine bubbles that hook up and look like smoke when you see a beam of light threw it. i dont know y?

ANSWER: Hi Joel,

I need more information.

What kind of gravel do you have and how often is it cleaned?

What kind of filter are you using and how often do you clean it out and change the filtration media?

How often are you doing water changes?

Thankyou,
Renee

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: ok the gravel is a natural medium size,that i vacuum once a month

i have a 400biowheel(2 biowheels,2 carbon filters,2 inserts filled with fluval pre-filter medium)cycles about 300 gl an hour
and i clean that once a month

as for the water all i change is what comes out when i vacuum the gravel,1/4,1/3

ANSWER: I'm going to have to say that it's probably related to the filtration but there can be other issues as well.

Food can cause cloudiness, and it could look smokey in a beam of light.  Is there a way to take a video or post an image so I can see what you are talking about?  

If using a dry food, I would caution that foods fed should only be what the fish eat in 2 minutes, without any hitting the bottom.

Please double-check the fluval.  It could be causing nitrates to pour back into the tank, causing a bacteria bloom.  When this happens (it's common with canister filters) the regime of changing the filter media needs to be changed.

The media in a fluval needs changed bi-weekly, and monthly at the least.

:)

I certainly hope my input helps.

Renee

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: well renee i feed them all types of thing,flakes,sinking pellets,frozen shrimp,frozen blood worms,bag full of guppies.....

it only looks like smoke from a distance.when you look really close it is very very small bubbles

Answer
Your fluval may be returning what are called Micro Bubbles to the tank.  This is another issue where air is getting into a return hose somehow and filtering into the tank.

There is no other reason I can really think of, but incase you have still not found the culprit, here are a few really good articles that may help. :)

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-89292.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f60/microbubbles-124111.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3EuQ3UVPBQ

I really hope this helps and you can find some answers from others who have had the same issues.

I, personally, just had microbubbles in my saltwater tank, but it was caused by a return hose sucking air, and then a powerhead blowing the bubbles throughout the tank.

Be sure only to feed what they will eat in 2 minutes, once a day.  Anymore than that is too much food.  That is another possible cause, but not of bubbles.  That would be a water quality issue - cloudy water.

Please feel free to write anytime and I hope this has helped you out.  

Renee