How to get Crystal Clear Aquarium Water: 6 ways to get clear water in a fish tank
All fishkeepers dream of crystal clear aquarium water. After all, one of the great joys of owning an aquarium is watching your fish explore their environment, whether investigating your carefully placed castles or beautifully landscaped aquarium plants.
However, murky tank water can quickly take the fun out of your fishkeeping experience and, in the worst cases, pose a health risk to aquatic life. With this in mind, learning how to dispel murky algae clouds and discolouration is essential to creating the crystal-clear paradise you strive for and ensuring a habitable environment for fish.
If you’re new to fishkeeping, crystal-clear water in a fish tank can seem like a pipe dream. However, it can easily be a reality with the right maintenance and attention. Learn more about how to get crystal clear aquarium water below, including our top tips on tackling the most common tank water problems!
Table of Contents
- Firstly, what causes cloudy tank water?
- How to determine the reason your fish tank is cloudy
- 6 ways to make fish tank water clear
- Maintaining crystal-clear water in a fish tank
Firstly, what causes cloudy tank water?
You might think you’re doing everything right – so why is your fish tank cloudy? Here are the two main reasons you might struggle to achieve crystal-clear aquarium water.
Algae
Algae blooms are extremely common in newly set-up aquariums and are often the result of overfeeding fish. This is because when uneaten fish food naturally decomposes, it releases ammonia and nitrites. This, combined with too much light, creates high phosphate levels and can cause your tank water to look green.
While green tank water will not kill your fish, it does create an unsightly appearance and does not provide the best environment for aquatic life to thrive.
Bacterial blooms
Bacteria are an essential component in any fish tank. However, too much bacteria causes bacterial blooms, leading to cloudy tank water. Luckily, bacterial blooms usually resolve themselves anywhere from two days to a few weeks and are not threatening to aquatic life. However, if the problem persists, it may indicate unhealthy nitrogen levels in your tank water.
How to determine the reason your fish tank is cloudy
Cloudy aquarium water can be a problem for even the most seasoned fishkeepers, and it can be difficult to pinpoint the exact reason it’s happening. However, determining when your tank water first turned cloudy can be a great step to identifying the root cause.
Cloudy tank water in a new fish tank
Cloudy tank water is extremely common in new aquariums and can indicate that your aquarium gravel has not been rinsed properly, leading to dust clouding the water.
Cloudy tank water after adding fish
Fish, fish food, and fish waste cause a natural build-up of organic material, which can lead to a bacterial bloom. This is normal in new fish tanks, and the bacterial bloom usually resolves within a few weeks.
After a water change
If your tank water turns cloudy after an initial water fill or partial water change, it could signify that there are too many minerals in your tap water.
After cleaning your fish tank
Organic materials are often disturbed and released during tank cleaning, causing a bacterial bloom. This can occur when cleaning your fish tank and filter or if your aquarium substrate is disturbed during the process.
Once you have identified the reason behind your cloudy tank water, tackling it is easy. Read on to learn more about how to get crystal-clear aquarium water!
6 easy ways to make fish tank water clear
Read on for everything you need to know to get crystal-clear aquarium water, including how to clear fish tank water naturally!
- Regular maintenance
Regular maintenance is essential to crystal-clear tank water, as regularly removing dirt and waste will prevent it from building up and causing problems in your tank. It is also essential to ensuring healthy, happy fish and a clean, thriving tank, so you must create a consistent cleaning schedule catered to your aquarium’s needs.
What should be included in routine maintenance in aquarium tanks?
Routine maintenance of your tank should include:
- Cleaning your tank’s glass
- Maintaining the gravel in your aquarium
- Regular water changes
- Cleaning your filters
In our aquarium cleaning range, we have all types of tank cleaning equipment that will assist you in making regular tank maintenance an easy task rather than a chore.
By taking some time to maintain a routine, you can keep your water looking clean and clear.
To help you, we’ve put together more comprehensive advice on Routine Aquarium Maintenance to help you create the perfect cleaning routine. Alternatively, you can also learn how to clean aquarium sand and gravel and discover tips for cleaning and maintaining your tank filter.
- Choosing the right filter
Ensuring you’ve got the right filtration system for your aquarium is key to keeping your tank water as clear as possible.
For the best results, you should implement three levels of filtration: mechanical, biological and chemical. This will help rid your tank of unwanted debris, toxins and chemicals and provide your tank with quality, balanced water.
Fear no more if you’re overwhelmed with the choice of available filtering systems and unsure whether you want an internal or external filter. We’ve broken down your options in our How to choose the best aquarium filters blog to help you decide based on your tank and budget.
You can shop our full range of aquarium filters online now!
- Eradicate algae from your aquarium
Whether brown or green algae plague your tank, both are a roadblock to your dreams of crystal clear water.
Algae can be caused by chemical imbalances, incorrect aquarium lighting, and not regularly cleaning your aquarium. By incorporating regular algae cleaning into your routine maintenance, whether magnets, scrapers or scrubbers, you can keep algae at bay and ensure you can achieve crystal-clear water without the concerns that algae bring.
Find out more about algae in our guide, ‘Why have I got brown algae in my aquarium?’
- Reduce nitrates and phosphates
If you are experiencing cloudy water issues, this could be due to nitrates or phosphates messing with the chemical well-being of your tank’s water.
When waste isn’t broken down correctly, this releases phosphate into your tank’s water. Nitrates are created when your filter breaks down the ammonia from fish waste. These two chemicals can not only disturb the clean aesthetics of your water but can also create a harmful environment for your fish.
If you’re worried chemical imbalance could be causing issues with your water, then regular use of water test kits is necessary to stay on top of it.
Luckily, we’ve also written an in-depth guide on keeping these levels at bay and what to do to avoid them. Check out our guide on How To Keep Your Nitrate and Phosphate Levels Down.
- Use a water treatment or clarifier
Water treatments are a great way to achieve optimum results with the clarity of your water, as they help remove small fine particles by clumping them together to create larger particles that can easily be removed with the help of your aquarium’s filter system.
Fast-acting and easy to use, water treatments cause no harm to your tank’s inhabitants while helping to clear their home.
- Reduce waste in your tank
One of the most detrimental factors to your aquarium water’s well-being is the effects of excess waste, whether from overfeeding your fish or from their excrement.
By making sure you undertake regular maintenance, as well as ensuring you don’t overfeed your fish, you’ll create great foundations for crystal clear water right in your fish tank.
The key to getting crystal clear water in your fish tank is to zone in on what could be causing it and fix the problem from the root.
Maintaining crystal clear water in a fish tank with Pond Planet
By following these steps, you should be able to eliminate the key problems that can cause any cloudiness in your tank, and they will help create a thriving environment for your fish to inhabit – making that crystal-clear paradise a true reality.
If any discolouration or cloudiness returns, don’t rush too quickly to fix it, as this can often fix itself naturally as part of your tank’s cycle.
Explore our full aquarium range and get stocked on everything you need to sustain your tank’s clean water!
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The Pond Planet Guide To Aquarium Ph Levels
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