Re: VERY cloudy Water, Part 2 (The saga continues)

[Paul Krombholz <krombhol at teclink_net>]

     * From: "Kevin Sheller" <kevmo at arenafan_com>

If it is really bacteria, I would expect there to be growths of 
bacteria attached to surfaces---jelly-like or soft pale white films. 
Surfaces should get slippery from the film.  I would also expect 
there to be a big increase in protozoa feeding on the bacteria. 
There should be ciliates visible to the naked eye or with a small 
magnifying glass moving about at the surface and on the sides of the 
tank. If it is really bacteria, you should be able to draw off some 
of the water, let it sit in a glass jar for a few days and the 
cloudiness should clear up.  Daphnia should feed on it, multiply, and 
clear it up quickly, if you have access to them.

I looked at your pictures, and I am thinking that the cloudiness is 
so dense that if it really were bacteria, there would be a bad smell 
and oxygen would be so low that the fish would be gasping at the 
surface.  I am thinking that it could be some kind of chemical 
precipitate, although I can't imagine why the diatom filter didn't 
clear it up.  In your first post you said that you raised the pH 
during week 2, but you also said that the CO2 supply wasn't enough to 
lower the pH.   Just what chemical or chemicals did you add, and did 
you raise or lower the pH?  Did the cloudiness appear soon after you 
changed the pH?
-- 
Paul Krombholz in cloudy central Mississippi