dusty looking water.

Question
QUESTION: Hi I've been having some issues with dusty looking water in my tank, and I can't for the life of me get rid of it.

Its a 60 gallon tank, running a Fluval 305 and Emperor 400.  I keep about 2 inches of gravel at the bottom and plastic plants.  I normally do a 25% water change once a week, and also do regular filter maintenance.  Someone had suggested that I try wiping the inside of the glass, which I did.  I also tried changing filter media in my Fluval.  For the last stage of filtration I put in these pads that have 50 micron holes in them, the guy at the store said they are the smallet holes available, and it should catch anything coming through.  I also used this tetra water cleaning product, which supposed to bind any particles together so that they get sucked into the fitler or fall into the gravel.  And finally for the last week, I've been doing 20% water changes everyday.  I've also been sticking the gravel vacuum into the gravel which has been pulling up lots of waste.  

I keep doing water tests, and have a constant zero ammonia, zero nitrite, and 20ppm of nitrate.  

ONce again, the water doesn't really look cloudy, it just has like a more dusty look to it if that makes sense.

FYI I have 6 zebra danios, 9 harlequin rasboras, and 6 matae cory cats.

thanks!

ANSWER: by dusty... do you mean on the surface? or do you mean throughout the water ... like a muddy river kind of???? What color is the cloud?  dave

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

QUESTION: Its throughout the water... If you're a few feet back it just doesn't look right... The stuff in the back isn't sharp looking, but not quite as bad as it was when I had cloudy water a few months back right when I first setup the tank.  But if you get closer and look at the water through the lighting, its like you can see stuff moving around... almost like when sunlight shines in your house and you can see dust in the air.  Clearly its not actual dust since There are no holes for anything to get in... but for a lack of a better description, that's all I got.  As far as coloration goes, I would say pretty light colored.  Not white but maybe off-white?

ANSWER: Hi Rob:  That is a lot of filtration that you have going on there... and what I suspect is happening is that the filters are causing the tank to have current which keeps every small particle in your tank from settling down.  I would turn the 400 for tonight and check the tank in the morning.... Here are the clues:

60 gallon tank
Fluval 305 = 70 gallons per hour
Emperor 400 = 60 gallons per hour
The cloud is whitish
you can see things moving in the water

What these tell me is this...

The fact that you can see things moving indicates the tank has current that is circulating the water.

The filtration would be appropriate for a 125 gallon tank so... too much

The whitish cloud is usually indicative of bacteria and occurs when bacteria are reproducing.  This further tells me that the filtration along with the water clarifier (clumping fluid) is probably taking out beneficial bacteria but not enough to cause the tank to fully cycle just what I would describe as a "lite" cycle.  If you turn off one of the filters and the tank begins to clear up then we are on the right track... It may take several days for the tank to clear fully... so give that a try and report back... dave

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

QUESTION: Hey Dave... thanks for the repsonses!  I've had the Emperor off for close to 18 hours now, and the water looks exactly the same.  all the dustiness is still there with no improvement, although the top of the water isn't moving anymore... Do you think it would help if I moved the intake valve of the Emperor down nearer the gravel?  I had it less than halfway down because the extender arm was a little too long... I'd have to cut it with a saw or something... but I was thinking it may help if its down lower cause the intake is kinda close to the surface.

Answer
no... I wouldn't move the intake valve...  hmmmm how old is the gravel?  and what color is it?  do you have any driftwood in the tank???? Is there an algae film on any of the glass surface??? Is the back of the tank see through or is there a background that is part of the tank ????   You might be able to get an extension tube for the intake... Sometimes I have uses a piece of hose to extend the intake tube... But if its in the middle of the tank is should be fine.... let me know... dave