Cloudy Water- Solution

Question
Hi there.  We've had milky looking water in our planted 30 gal for a few weeks now and finally found the culprit- a dead Phantom tetra behind our CO2 diffuser.  We pulled the carcass out on Saturday and did a partial water change.  The water was still cloudy Sunday so I did another partial water change.  Today, (Tuesday) the water is still cloudy to the point where if someone is standing on the other side of the tank, I can barely see through to them.  We checked Nitrites and Ammonia as well as PH and they are all normal (zero nitrites or ammonia and PH of 7- 7.5)  Will the cloudiness go away on its own with time or is there something else we should be doing?
Thanks!

David

Answer
Hello David
Cloudy water is caused by bacteria blooms feeding off decaying plant (and in your case fish) matter... How long it actually takes to clear up is rather open ended and sometimes it persists over a period of a few weeks. You are on the right track with water changes; I recommend going 20% daily for a week, which turns over your tank's entire capacity, but that's a lot of buckets :) Your other (chemical) option is Tetra's water clarifier (or whatever brand you are comfortable with). This is a flocculent - meaning that it clumps organic waste together and makes it easier to get filtered out. Results with that are promised within hours but I would give it a day or two. They are safe to use with plants  for the most part.
Hope that helps - please feel free to ask any further questions you may have.
Shawn