# Suddenly cloudy water



## Gail1226 (Feb 24, 2010)

72 gallon bow front - fresh water, tropial community.

Hi all - I was having some troupble with my filter yesterday (FLUVAL 404 canister) - it just seemed to stop working for a bit. Took it apart, eventually got it to work. Clean out the canister, kept the 'noodles', and replaced the carbon and poly-fiber. Squirted in some bacteria stuff.

When I got it all running again the water was very cloudy (yes, I rinsed all the new carbon before installing). 

Today (~18 hours later) still cloudy. The fish seem happy - no one is swimming up-side down at the surface.

Suggestions?


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## FishFarmer (Jan 20, 2010)

Its just a guess but it may be an algae bloom.. i am not familiar with canister filters because i use the oldschool hangons. as long as everyone is okay. give it a few days. see if it doesnt clear up. if it doesnt. do a partial water change no more than 25% and see if that helps a little.


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## flyin-lowe (Oct 3, 2009)

I am not sure how quickly a bacteria bloom will start. What did you rinse the filter media in? You could have caused a mini cycle. Just replacing ayour media can do this. If you washed the new filter media in tap water that can cause problems as well. If the water is chlorinated it can kill bacteria. So filter media added to a filter that is soaking with tap water can also kill some of the existing bacteria in the filter.
Have you tested your water since it became cloudy?


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

Bacteria bloom. Will go away once it catches back up.


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