Carbon Cartriges

[Alen]

My 45gal tank has been cloudy for about 2 weeks now so I went to the lfs and asked for a solution to fix it. The guy there told me that it was either my carbon cartriges to my filter or the affects of the tank still in the process of cycling. The guy said that during the process of cycling the tank will be cloudy one day and clear the next, but it hasn't cleared up so I don't think that that is what my problem is. About the cartriges I don't think they need to be replaced yet because they aren't that dirty at all because I only have a few fish in the tank at the moment. The guy said that I could shake the filter pads really hard and then rinse then in some of the tank water to reactivate the carbon which would clear up my tank. Does this seem like a good way to solve my problem. Won't I loose some of my filter media in the process, which would be bad for my fish's health?

[t_chelle16]

Is it a white cloudy or green coudy?

It's likely because the tank is cycling. Since you're cycling with fish, it's going to take longer and will stay cloudy longer.

As for reactivating the carbon, you can't. And carbon really doesn't do anything about cloudiness. All it does is remove some chemicals and odor from the water (most people don't even use carbon in their filters). But it is a good idea to rinse out the filter media in a bucket of tank water (not tap water). It will get some of the debris out.

-Chelle

[Alen]

It's a white cloudy. How longe should expect the tank to stay like this? The tank has been running for over 7 weeks now, but it's only been cloudy for the last 2.

[OneWolvesDream]

just let the filter run for awhile it is the "good" bacteria colonizes

[J_acon]

UV lights might help

[raghu_gg]

Also,
Note some kinda pellets are gonna cause this problem, Overfeeding and remaining food in the water for long with filter running can also cause this problem.