call or color me crazy i have two oscars one albino sugar and a tiger spice. they are currently about a month old and living in a 55 gal home. i have a 125 gal for when they get a little bit larger but for now it saves on space and money. i do a water change25% every week. the water conditions seem to stay perfect ph,ammon,temp,etc. the problem is the water seems to look a little cloudy. could it possibly be the the lights or the fact i am not using a background. any advice will be appreciated.

thanks

possibilities: 1)not enough filtration; 2) bacteria bloom; 3) washing your filter media at tap water; & 4) algae in the inner glass wall.

what type of filter system do you have?
when you do water change, did you clean the filtering media?
did you clean the inner wall of your glass tank?

the slimy materials in the filtering media actually help to keep your water clear. however, we always thinks it should be washed and cleaned. in doing so, particularly in washing from tap water, we kill the good bacteria resulting into cloudy water.

another thing is the algae formation at the inner wall of the glass tank. please check.

i didn't clean the inner walls but i did clean the filters in tap water. my mistake. i've been reading about it all week. i did the last water change on this past thursday. i am using a filter built for a sixty gal tank. and right now that i look at it the seems to be clearing more since cut back on their feeding since yesterday another helpful tip i picked up here. now how do i clean the inner glass safely.

some hobbyist uses magnetic scrubbing pad,
but in my case, i do it by hand using dish
washing scouring pad. i just scrub the wall
and let the filter system do the cleaning.

i suggest you do the scrubbing before water
change so that only few algae remains in the
tank after w/c. do not use any detergent or
cleansing chemecals.

thank you so much i woke up this morning and my tank is clear as a bell.

I USE A ALGAE MAGNET FOR THE GLASS IT CLEANS BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE IN SECCONDS ...they are readily available in pet stores and i get them from ebay..the best ones i found are called MAG FLOAT as if you manage to part the two magnets the half in the tank floats to the top to ease recovery hence the name ...the one half that goes in the tank has the material that paul mentioned on the scourer and the half for the outside is faced with velvet/felt ...they are verry easy and i highly recomend them as it keeps your hands out of the tank ....just my opinion tho

i'll pick one up tommorrow thank you for that advice.

i have and use the mag float glass cleaners on occasion however i find the best way to clean the inner glass is to use a cloth and wipe it down by hand.
my oscars dont mind to much(an occasional oscar kiss) but its starting to hurt when i do the jags tank

i do agree with necro and paul about manual scrubbing being most effective..(FOR DIRTY) glass but i run the magnet over once or twice a week to stay on top of it and it doesnt get a chance to build up ....its far easier i find to do it this way