Cloudy Water and Medium in External Filter in New 2Ft Tank Start-Up

[ryanchong]

The water in the 2ft start-up is still cloudy after two days? Is it normal? How long does it take for the water to clear up? What kind of medium do you put inside the filter? Is the ceramic rings good enough or I need to put in activated carbon? I have been advised by the LFS to put in aquaclay if I want crstal clear water, is this valid?

[|squee|]

Welcome to AQ ryan! Is this your very first time into the hobby or have you kept fish-only tanks before?

I assume your 2ft tank is a planted one. Cloudy water is normal in a new tank setup, give it time and it'll eventually clear up. It'll take longer because your filter is new, meaning the filter needs time to get established with bacteria so that your water can be clear. In my case, it took me about 1 week for the water to be clear, but results vary with different people.

Ceramic rings are good enough, activated carbon is good in the beginning. Take the AC out once your tank has finished cycling, typically one month's time.

I don't know about Aquaclay... =/

Read up: Cycling a new planted tank

[julescity]

ya, mine's been cloudy for a week liao!

[cawanmushi]

mine 3 weeks

[taz_boy]

for me, i still placed activated carbon inside my cansister, dun noe wat for, but i just put inside...heha...
but need to change every 3-4 months

[ryanchong]

My new 2ft tank starts to clear up after two weeks. Did 2 times of water change in the 2nd week and increase light wattage to hasten the water cleraing process. I think the light factor is very important, it accelerates plant growth and biological balance in the tank. The other tip is put in a few fast growing plants. In summary, light, water change, and plant growth(CO2 assisted)are important factors for water to clear fast. My 5cts worth.