I am thinking about buying a reverse osmosis unit, but I am concerned about dealing with the large amount of water wasted. I noticed that DI units don't waste any water. Is one better than the other, or should I just stick with a ro/di unit and deal with it?

Heres the pros and cons of reverse osmosis and deionization systems respectively. RO systems have a much lower maintenance cost, do a better job of removing impurities and hardness, and are easier to maintain. DI systems do not remove as much impurities, and do not soften water as well, and do not waste any water. Cartridge replacement is inexpensive with RO systems when compared to DI units. The ion resin exchange media used by DI systems can be re-charged, but you have to buy re-fillable cartridges and the media separately as all DI systems come initially with sealed cartridges that cannot be re-filled. The re-charging process is also quite messy and requires the use of Muriatic acid. The only drawback to an RO system is the wasted water, but because of the hassles with DI systems, RO units are still much more popular. How important is not wasting water to you? That is the question.

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Is it safe to use purified water from a grocery store vending machine for a saltwater tank? In this case it's GlacierWater. They use RO to purify their water and I'm not ready to purchase my own RO unit yet. However, GlacierWater's web site advises against using their water in an aquarium. Can this be right?

We have never heard of any store-bought water that is not safe for aquaria. If it isn't safe for aquaria, why would anyone want to drink it? I would contact the company and ask them WHY they don't recommend their water for aquaria use. My guess is that because RO water has a slightly acid pH, that they don't want to get sued when someone does a bad water change and kills their fish.

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I have an established 33 gallon freshwater aquarium which I maintain weekly. Do weekly 25% water changes and filter cleaning(this includes vacuuming gravel) hurt the aquarium? I now have a cloudy tank and cannot get the clear crystal water I am seeking. Am I over-feeding the tank?

You broke the one question rule, but we'll make an exception. The answers are YES - and - YES! Over-stocking and over-cleaning may very well be your problems, as your filtration seems more than adequate. You should not have more than one inch of fish per gallon of water, as that will lead to a build-up of ammonia which causes cloudy water. You should not clean your aquarium that often or that thoroughly. If you have also been including changing the filter media when you do a water change, that is also not a good idea. You should do a 25% water change every three to four weeks, with a gravel vacuuming. You may also do a 10% water change every two weeks. The canister filter media should never be thoroughly cleaned, and power filter cartridges should be changed every two weeks. Carbon should be changed in the canister every month. Keeping a tank too clean will disturb the beneficial bacteria colonies that keep your water clear, and then you'll get a bacterial bloom, which causes white cloudy water.

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I have a 30gal. tank that contains five beautiful African ciclids. I also have a six inch ghost fish and a tiny kuli kuli loach. I use 2 hanging filter units and a bubble wand for aeration. I've had this same tank which contains all these fish for a little more than a two months. Recently, the tank is getting very cloudy and there are tiny white things crawling on the glass. What's wrong?

There are several reasons for cloudy water, and all of them have been addressed already in our FAQ here several times. If you do a search under the keywords "cloudy water" on our FAQ, you will come up with lots of possible explanations. We can only answer the same questions so many times. From your description, there could be several reasons. If your fish have grown and you've exceeded 30" of fish, the tank is now over-crowded. If you are not changing 25% of the water, vacuuming the gravel, and changing filter media every three weeks or so, that's another possibility. Poorly-maintained tanks can go a long time without getting cloudy, and one day, you get a bacterial bloom. This may also be a problem with over-feeding. Once again, see our FAQ to learn how to feed correctly. We're willing to bet it is one of these issues, as the small particles on the inside of the glass are most-likely copepods, tiny scavenger crustaceans that inhabit dirty tanks. We're also willing to bet that your African Cichlids will eventually start atacking the Ghost Knife. Afr. Cichlids are aggressive, Ghost Knife fish are very peaceful as long as they are not kept more than one to a tank.

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I have a four week-old 30 gallon aquarium (external power filter) with two silver dollars and two red eye tetras. Recently my nitrite level has been very high, which I believe is normal for a new aquarium but should I be treating it with anything besides doing water changes and using water conditioner?

Partial water changes are uaually sufficient, though we have found that freshwater NitroMax works very well in speeding up the ecological balance of an aquarium. It can take up to four weeks for the nitrites to come down to zero in freshwater. It takes a lot longer in a marine aquarium.

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We purchased a 20 gallon tank about 3 1/2 weeks ago. We have six fish. The tank has an undergravel filter and a bio-wheel filter,a thermostat/heater that hangs from the side of the tank, and an overhead florescent light. The water is cloudy and today we see white fuzzy stuff all over the rocks and gravel.

You are over-feeding the tank. Proper feeding means taking a few minutes and feeding very small amounts (a few flakes or pieces) of food at a time, and letting all the food get eaten before offering more. The food should go inside the fish, and very little or none should fall to the bottom, where it will rot and grow fungus which is the white fuzzy stuff you see. This also causes cloudy water. Get a gravel vacuum and a siphon and change 50% of the water, vacuuming the gravel well to remove the fungus and uneaten food. If you don't get it all, don't worry. You can do another water change in a week. thereafter, you should change 25% every three weeks. Change your filter cartridge, and that should be changed every two weeks. Eventually, if you don't over-feed, change the water and filter when needed, the problem will go away.

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I have a 55 gal. tank with 5 fish, 4inches each. I have been doing 10% water changes weekly for years with no problem, have a Whisper filter. The water has started to get cloudy all of a sudden, the fish won't eat, and they are staying at the top of the tank gasping for air. What should I do?

Do yourself a favor and install an undergravel filter and continue using your Whisper Power filter. Installing that undergravel, driven by two powerheads will eliminate the possibility of this ever happening again. First, you'll have to get that tank clean. Sudden cloudiness means the ecology of the aquarium has been compromised, and you are now getting a bacterial bloom. You may also eventually get an algae bloom (green water) if you don't act quickly. Change 75% of the water and vacuum the gravel thoroughly while removing the old water. Add the new water back very slowly to the aquarium so you don't shock the fish, and make sure you use a good water conditioner to remove chlorine. Also, change your filter cartridges. Wait a week, then install that undergravel filter. You can do this by moving all the gravel to one side of the tank, installing one filter plate, then moving all the gravel over that plate to install the second plate. You will be very glad you did! Also, check your water temperature, the tank should be 78 degrees F.

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I have a 230 gallon tank, thats been set up for 6 months. I have an adult Oscar about 12 inches, 2 Jack Dempseys, a large Pleco and an albino Channel Catfish. I know my tank is not over stocked and I certainly don't over feed them. I probably underfeed them in fact. I have one large plant in the tank which the fish don't seem to bother for some reason. The tank is filtered by two Eheim 2228 canister filters. My problem is that recently the water gets very cloudy. Water changes do not seem to help for long and the water tests fine. Please give me some suggestions.

White milky cloudiness in aquarium water can be due to high ammonia, fine particles, a bacterial bloom, or occasionally from a chemical reaction with either some decoration, plant or the tap water being used. Assuming that the ammonia levels are zero, that leaves the other possibilities. Given that you do have adequate filtration, the clues here for us are the larger carnivores you keep, your cleaning methods, the tap water or your decorations. If you do not vacuum the substrate when you remove old water, a lot of waste has built up in the gravel, and almost all of the fish you have like to stir up the bottom. Cichlids and large Plecostomus dig, and the Catfish will root around the bottom at night in search of food. This would cause a particulate cloudiness in the water. Gravel should be vacuumed with a gravel vacuum device attached to a siphon as you remove old water during a water change. Not changing filter media that often would also clog your filters and would cause this problem. The other possibility is a bacterial bloom. A bacterial bloom occurs for several reasons, but we are going to assume that you are not over-feeding, you don't feed live goldfish (uneaten goldfish parts decaying will cause this), and the aquarium does not receive direct sunlight from a nearby window. When nitrifying beneficial bacteria are unable to find a good place to thrive and breed inside a filter, they simply float freely in the tank, causing a milky white appearance to the water. One major cause is over-cleaning of the filters or not using good high-surface-area media in the filters. Hopefully you have plenty of Efimech and Ehfisubstrat in those Eheim filters. If not, you need to make sure that both filters are filled at least half-way with porous media that offers plenty of surface area for nitrifying bacteria. If you have been rinsing this media in tap water, that is the cause of your problem. The other two possibilities are remote, but definitely should be investigated. If you have any rocks in the tank that are reacting to either a low or high pH in the water, they may be dissolving or reacting with the water, leaving a particle residue in solution. If you are using well water, you may be getting a chemical reaction with some chemical or water conditioner you are using. Another remote possibility is the plant in your tank. The fact that the fish you have are leaving the plant alone indicates that they find it bad-tasting and the plant may not be a true aquatic and could be releasing chemicals into the tank (rare but it has been known to happen. The Cichlids and the Pleco ordinarily reduce ANY plant to a tiny stub so the fact that they are leaving it alone could be significant. If all of the other factors we mentioned (vacuuming gravel and not over-cleaning filters) are covered, then you should be looking long and hard at your decorations, rocks and that plant. You should also take some tap water, and add a small amonut of any chemicals/water conditioner you ordinarily use to it, allowing it to stand for 24 hours and see if it gets cloudy. If that is the case, it's time to buy a reverse osmosis system because the problem is your tap water.

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My LFS sells a 'water softening pillow' containing ion exchange resin beads. I've heard that these resins replace calcium and other ions for Na and Cl. Does that do me any good if I'm trying to create a soft, acidic tank?

It depends on how hard the tap water is. Water softening pillows will work fine for a small amount of water, but they do get used up fast. The best solution is to purchase a reverse osmosis system and make your own soft water. It's a larger investment up-front but far less than continually buying water softeners.

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Can you use "Crystal Clear" solution in a saltwater tank to clear cloudiness?

We don't know what "Crystal Clear" is, but we'll assume it is one of the dozens of clearing agents on the market. New chemicals sprring up every day it seems, and we can't keep track of all of them. All clearing agents work in about the same way. They bind tiny particles together so they become heavier larger particles that either sink or get removed by the filter. Such a treatment is usually a temporary solution. The best bet is to find out what casused the cloudy water and correct the conditions in the tank. See our FAQ on cloudy water.

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Frequent Aquarium Questions