MichaelJ
Member
Hello, the water in one of my 150L (40 US Gallon) tanks is starting to get somewhat hazy and I am trying to understand why. The tank is heavily planted and plants and livestock (shrimps, tetras, otos and snails) are doing great. This is a mature and very clean tank. Maintenance is 40% weekly WC. In addition to tons of plants the tank have lots filtration: Two Tidal 35 HOB filters and two Aquael Pat Mini internal sponge power filters for additional flow and circulation, a surface skimmer and a UV filter (GKM) on a timer, as I only run it a few hours per day. Now, I used to filter over Purigen, and the water was always neutral and insanely clear. A couple of months ago I removed the Purigen as I was starting to add Almond leaves to the tank, mainly to the benefit of the shrimps, and having the Purigen in there would essentially cancel out a lot of the beneficial effects of the Almond leaves. However, even with the expected tinge from the tannins released from the Almond leaves the water remained crystal clear - for a while at least... over the past couple of weeks I've noticed that the tank just won't clear up to the level it did in the past after WCs. It bugs me to the point where I am considering going back to Purigen.
The water in my other tank, which is essentially identical to the tank above, heavily planted as well but without shrimps, as I have Rams and Angles in that tank, remains clear and neutral and I still filter over Purigen in that tank, so I would rule our my water source, minerals, fertilizer etc. as I treat both tanks identical except for the Almond leaves and Purigen.
I am rather new to using Almond leaves so I am wondering if they could be the culprit?
Cheers,
Michael
The water in my other tank, which is essentially identical to the tank above, heavily planted as well but without shrimps, as I have Rams and Angles in that tank, remains clear and neutral and I still filter over Purigen in that tank, so I would rule our my water source, minerals, fertilizer etc. as I treat both tanks identical except for the Almond leaves and Purigen.
I am rather new to using Almond leaves so I am wondering if they could be the culprit?
Cheers,
Michael
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