Dirty tank never clears up

[Jaap]

Hi,

the past few weeks I have seen my plants getting covered with detritus matter....might be diatoms might be dirt...so I have decided to do plenty of water changes. I have been doing 3 water changes a week for the past 3 weeks and still the tank is as filthy as it was when this phenomenon initially showed up.

I clean my filter every 3-4 weeks and I have 2 ottos and 2 guppies in a 40L tank. If you need more info about my tank which I don't think you will, its all here:
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/natural-aquarium-attempt-19-11-2014-day-114-pics.33795/

So if its diatoms what do I do and if its dirt will it go away eventually with water changes?

Thanks

 

[Jose]

Without pics of the actual problem its hard to say. All I know is I had that same driftwood and my tank was full of detritus. Anyhow water changes should solve it I would think.

 

[tam]

How stuck is it to the leaves? If you waft a bit of water at them does it fall off - implies detritus, or is it more like a thin layer that you need to physically wipe away? I'm surprised the Otos haven't taken care of it - mine did a 30l tank that wass looking grungy in a week, but if it's diatoms maybe it's growing faster than they are eating. You could try upping the Otos or adding some algae shrimp. Or reducing the lighting (or adding floating plants to decrease the light naturally).

 

[Jaap]

Its not stuck at all....it flies off if I shake the leaves...ofcourse I have some that need wiping off which that should be diatoms but thats not the problem...its the the detritus matter....and I am telling you each water change is 70% and the water is literally brown from the dirt....but it just keep on going....its never less, never clears up...

 

[Jose]

Then unless we are missing something thats the driftwood. You know the options hehe.

 

[Ghosty]

I had the same problem today, I ended up emptying the tank of all water, adding more gravel, and filling up very slowly,

I added trays to cover the gravel and poured into them, over the a bloom, tank is clear, in a day