coludy water and high ph levels

Question
do i need to remove the carbon filters from my tank for the clear to work properly?
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
hi Chris,
my 30 gallon tank is doing better now the ich turned out to be a fungus, I didn't explain the effects on the fish very well and was mistreating. Its better now but, my next issue is my pH level is about 7.5 or a touch higher and the water is very cloudy,  i treated the water pH with bulleseye 7.0 but it seemed to make my water cloudy i treat with stress coat and amquiel for the tap water but the pH is still high and now cloudy what am i doing wrong? I like my fish and enjoy them so much.  I use a carbon filter system that is good for up to 50 gal. and keep the water temp. at 76-78. The tap water is a little hard but the test strips i use say all  other levels are in good standing .  Please help i hate using chemicals so much they cant be good on the fish, am i trying to hard i just want a nice fish tank and feel iam not doing a good job  with it.  Thank You so much Mike
-----Answer-----
Hi Mike;

It's best not use pH altering chemicals. It causes fluctuations in the pH that are very harmful to your fish, as well as causing the bacteria balance to become unstable. That could cause cloudiness too. A pH level of 7.5 is not bad at all so just let it be. Just make a 25% water change each and every week and vacuum the gravel at least every 2 weeks. Your fish are used to what the pH is already so trying to change it just causes the fish stress. Stability is what's important. Not a certain measurement.

You could also try a product to clear the water, but wait until you are done treating the sick fish, if it still needs meds. Water clarifyers can seriously affect the medication's effectiveness. When you shop for water clearing additives, get one that is a brown liquid, not the clear liquid. The brown liquid is a plant extract, safer and works much better. Accurel-F and "Clear" by Aquarium Products are two that I have used. These products are called "flocculents" and what they do is bind the microscopic particles together that make the water look cloudy. It makes the small particles become bigger miscroscopic "clumps" and they either fall to the bottom of the tank or get sucked into the filter. I usually do a gravel vacuuming with a 25% water change a couple of days afterward to get rid of the clumped tiny particles from the gravel and rinse the filter media too. Keep in mind that when you add the product the tank will look worse for a few hours. Give it time to work. I have found that adding extra aeration via bubbles from an airstone hooked to an airpump helps it clear faster too, with or without a flocculent.

Hopfully, you and your fish will be "seeing things more clearly" very soon!...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

Answer
Hi Mike;

The carbon should actually help with eliminating cloudiness so leave it in. The trick is that carbon only works for a week or so after you first put it in. You have to replace it weekly for it to work well in correcting problems with the water. You can't "clean it out" or re-charge it like ammo-chips and other types of granulated filter media. It just has to be replaced.

Carbon and charcoal have teeny little microscopic pores on every surface. Once it's little tiny micro-pores fill up, they don't absorb any more "stuff". The best to use is carbon that looks dull on all it's surfaces. The cheaper and less effective stuff is often labeled as "charcoal" and has little shiny spots on each little piece. More shiny spots means less pores to absorb impurities. More dull means more pores to absorb more impurities. That's why carbon is more pricey. It's better quality.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins