Weird Water Help...

Question
Hi Alex,

I was just wondering if you might possibly be able to help me out with a question regarding the water in my 10 gal tank.

I have had this tank set up for a few months now, did the whole nitrogen cycle, added the fish, etc. etc. Things have been going good soo far.

I recently realized that the tanks filter was getting a little dirty, and because I couldn't dish out the money at the time to get more filter packs i did some research and realized you could pretty much rinse the filters out and have it last a little extra longer (until I get paid).

I did a quick wash of the filter, rinsed it out, it looked good. I put it back into the tank, and everything seemed to be going okay. A few days later i had to move the tank in a different room to make more room in the bedroom it was in. Everything still seemed fine. A few days after that (today), I am noticing that at the top of the water it looks Extremely "milky" per say. Looks like there is a cloud ontop of the water, although the water itself looks crystal clear. I can see like a milky type of water swirling around at the top. I have no idea what it is from though :S

I am completely baffled as I have set up a few tanks before and never had this "problem?" :S It is very strange... I just have 2 tiger barbs in the tank at the moment, and there has been no change in their behavior. They still seem to be doing great. So i have No idea what the problem could be... Do you have any idea what could be causing this?


Thanks!!


- Tj

Answer
Tj,

Hello, it sounds like your tank is recycling itself due to the over cleaning of the filter. When rinsing a filter the best way to do it is as follows:

1. Take some water from the tank before you remove your filter.
2. Remove the filter and swish it around in that water. you can even squeeze the filter gently and then place it back into your tank.
3. Since you have fish in that tank right now. Some people would leave the fish in the tak while it recycles, but I never do.

I hope this helps.