Trouble keeping tank clean

[Mr.Dropp]

I'm having trouble keeping my tank clean, it keeps getting very cloudy and has like a yellowish tint to it. We've done a water change and it still looks nasty afterwards. I've also treated the water with some tetra aquasafe for tap water, and tips would be great to get my tank looking clear.

 

[Guppysnail]

Do you have driftwood or Indian almond leaves. The yellow would be tannins leeching. Boil the driftwood rinse repeat until water is clear   Cloudy white may be bacterial bloom if recently established 

[lefty o]

agree with the above, how long has the tank been set up?

[Mr.Dropp]

36 minutes ago, Guppysnail said:

Do you have driftwood or Indian almond leaves. The yellow would be tannins leeching. Boil the driftwood rinse repeat until water is clear   Cloudy white may be bacterial bloom if recently established 

We have drift wood I boiled it till it was clean. I added another smaller piece I did not boil. the tank was Established May 14. this is our second time to vacuum and do the 1/3 water change after we vacuum it just looks nasty, are we suppose to vacuum it multiple time or just once. a lot of debris was floating around and after the new water was added it still looks dirty and kind of has a smell to it. i just have a hob filter i plan on up grading to a canister filter set up.  

[lefty o]

probably bacterial bloom, and some tannins form the wood. time is going to be your friend with the cloudiness.  id personally let it runs its course, then over time with water changes you will get ahead of the discoloration form the wood.

[Guppysnail]

Agree. Let it run its coarse. I very lightly vacuum all exposed substrate each time....I’m very heavily stocked in most of mine but all are long term established. each time I pick one section to deep vacuum and make my way across the tank. Add some ACO carbon filter pad or any activated carbon in the hob for the smell and poly filter pads for small particulate debris. The cloudiness will only get worse and stay cloudy longer with excess water changes on new tanks. Add an extra air stone to replace the oxygen the extra bacteria are using. After a month or two you will notice it looking cleaner and clearer Mother Nature has this down to a science our involvement usually messes it up. Test your water daily let the test tell you how much water and how often/much to change. The floaties and such will go away.  When adding water after water change do not dump it stirs up tons of floaties diffuse the stream with your hand. Fast growing stem plants will also reduce smell. 

Adding a canister will not help with either of these issues. I add hobs to the tanks I use cans on to improve clarity of fine particulates stuffed with poly filter pads. 

 

[NanoNano]

Where was the driftwood sourced from and can you describe the smell in more detail (is it sulfurous like raw sewage,  moldy,  swampy, sweet smelling ,  etc.)?  What type of substrate do have in with it?

[FriendlyLoach]

yeah I would just wait, it should fix its self. Tannins are good for fish but they dont look the best, they can even treat mild fish disease. The cloudiness will clear soon.