cloudy water in aging barell

[Kyla]

Did you end up getting clear water or is it still cloudy? I just did a wc with aged, aerated and heated water and it was cloudy, but it's not usually cloudy. After a while in the tank it's clearing up. Strange, but the fish don't seem to mind so I'm not super concerned about it.

[matt2426]

Did you end up getting clear water or is it still cloudy? I just did a wc with aged, aerated and heated water and it was cloudy, but it's not usually cloudy. After a while in the tank it's clearing up. Strange, but the fish don't seem to mind so I'm not super concerned about it.

No its still cloudy when I first add water but it clears up within a hour so I'm not really concerned about it anymore my fish don't get stressed out so all is good I did try to use new air stones to my airpump and clean by water aging barrel and that seemed to help a little

[bluelagoon]

Where do you get your water from,maybe a well or some other surface water?Try not heating your aging water and when your ready to do a change,try adding a few buckets of hot water straight from the tap to the barrel to bring it up to temp.I'm thinking there is organic matter in your tap water and when heated it is causing a slight bacterial bloom.When the cloudy water goes in the tank the BB clears it up within hours.

[brady]

Matt
Could it be micro bubbles? I know when I first put the water in the aging barrel
it appears cloudy but with vigorous aeration the bubbles dissipate in about an hour.
My Water is well water.
Jay

[matt2426]

Where do you get your water from,maybe a well or some other surface water?Try not heating your aging water and when your ready to do a change,try adding a few buckets of hot water straight from the tap to the barrel to bring it up to temp.I'm thinking there is organic matter in your tap water and when heated it is causing a slight bacterial bloom.When the cloudy water goes in the tank the BB clears it up within hours.

I have well water and I think your right about being some kind or organic matter when heated because I usually put the water in the aging barrel slightly cold and there is no cloudy issues in the barrel its 24 hrs later after its heated and aerated is goes cloudy but it gets filtered out pretty quick when it goes in the tank but I may try not to heat it and add a few buckets of warm water thanks for the tip

[DJW]

Is the water still cloudy? I thought of something you can try. Its harmless but it looks chemical, not bacterial.

[matt2426]

Is the water still cloudy? I thought of something you can try. Its harmless but it looks chemical, not bacterial.

it is still cloudy but it honestly doesn't stay cloudy long I did what blue lagoon suggested and tried not heating my water and that actually did make my water not cloudy but would rather have it match my tank temperatue if possible but whats your suggestion let me know thanks

[DJW]

Next time the ageing barrel is empty, add a teaspoon of epsom salt before you fill up the barrel. If it stops the cloudiness, you could try less and less to see how little it takes. I don't know if it will work, but it would be interesting to find out.

Epsom salt has magnesium in it, and magnesium interferes with the crystallization of calcium carbonate. The cloudiness is probably tiny crystals of CaCO3 that form as the water warms up. After a few hours in the tank it dissolves again.

[matt2426]

Next time the ageing barrel is empty, add a teaspoon of epsom salt before you fill up the barrel. If it stops the cloudiness, you could try less and less to see how little it takes. I don't know if it will work, but it would be interesting to find out.

Epsom salt has magnesium in it, and magnesium interferes with the crystallization of calcium carbonate. The cloudiness is probably tiny crystals of CaCO3 that form as the water warms up. After a few hours in the tank it dissolves again.

I will definitely give that a try to see what happens so only a teaspoon I have a 50 gallon ageing barrel but thank you

[DJW]

In changing the chemistry you run some risk of doing more harm than good, especially since this cloudiness is harmless to begin with, only frustrating. So this is really just a test to find out if an insignificant amount of epsom salt will prevent it. There would be no harm in trying more, like a tablespoon, but not very promising as a long term solution if it takes that much.