Keeping your aquarium water Crystal Clear?

[Quietman]

Yes...been very lucky with water being crystal clear...now if I can just do as well with corals...and fish...and dinos...sigh.

Filter sponge (blue white), UV filter (although to be honest I didn't see much improvement in clarity with the UV - maybe just the little bit extra - it was mostly for dino), Chemi-pure Blue. That's it.

 

[ScottB]

Odd one out again.

No way is my water crystal clear. I have far to much flow, food, tang turds and detritus flying around. Maybe for a small period post WC, post CaCO3 along with a canister filter it looks pretty clear, but the other 99% of the time junk is flying.

I run socks, a few hours carbon per day, and a good skimmer on 110G display. Add 2 X MP40s and 2 gyres and stuff is always in suspension. My frag systems are even "worse", but you get used to it.

If I wanted to take a picture, I guess I could turn off the flow and let it all settle and get a "clear" water picture.

 

[fishface NJ]

Filter soxs and BRS Rox carbon

 

[Cwentz758]

My water clarity is always good, I just have algae on the glass issues...

 

[Mike from TN]

Crystal clear? YES!
13.5 gal Evo , no skimmer, sump, fuge etc.
InTank media basket with bio balls, ChemiPure Elite, carbon 24/7/365.
I guess the “trick up my sleeve” is 2 layers of carbon infused filter pad AND a 50 micron polishing pad. Small UV lamp in chamber #2 running constantly.
Im actually pretty proud of my water clarity.

 

[Jgerm]

Yes and I was struggling to get it clear in till I setup a power filter. I ran carbon and it did not really help. I put on a UV and still wasn’t what I see on here as clear water. Then I built a power filter and started running it at night and haven’t had any issues since. This is obviously not a solution for many as it takes up space in the display tank but it did the job for me.

 

[Sleepydoc]

Hands down... filter socks will make your water column clearer

But.... the quality of your front glass has a lot to do with that as well. Betting the pic above is low-iron starfire glass


.

The 'clarity' of my water has more to do with how often I clean the glass on my tank than anything else!

 

[LDog74]

Socks, heavy skimming, UV & carbon as needed. I also vacuum the sand bed at least 3-4 times a week. Ok perhaps a little OCD I admit

 

[SPS2020]

1. Would you consider your aquarium water to be "Crystal Clear?"
Yes, pretty darn close.

2. What are the best ways to keep your water consistently clear?
Filter socks changed often, low iron glass, clean the glass often, protein skimmer, carbon reactor using Red Sea carbon, very adequate UV sterilizer, LOTS of flow. Not sure if this is a plus, but it is a bare bottom.

 

[kaylajoy]

No but I don't care about the particulates

 

[Reef Tripp]

Ozone and uv.

 

[John A!10]

Crystal clear for me. Whenever I feel like it isn’t I scrape all four sides of my tank and it looks clear again. In my case 99% of the time it’s algae on glass that makes it look dirty yet my water is always clear.
30 gallon tank with 10 gallon sump. Big fuge no skimmer. Felt filter sock. Carbon monthly water changes.

 

[RMS18]

I have noticed the largest change in clarity once that UV is on. Outside the UV I also use filter pads. I do not run carbon and when I have in the past along side UV I did not noticed any difference in clarity. I personally believe UV has the largest effect outside cleaning your glass

 

[HoldensReef]

it’s 100% filtration, quality of glass, and water movement.

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

For a long time my water was crystal clear until I had a massive bacteria bloom that overwhelmed even a UV sterilizer....

 

[Conrad Noto]

Ever see those reef aquariums where it looks like there isn't any water in the tank? How in the world do people get their aquariums so CRYSTAL CLEAR? Like there's no water at all in there! Let's talk about that today.

1. Would you consider your aquarium water to be "Crystal Clear?"

2. What are the best ways to keep your water consistently clear?

image via @Marco A. Martins

Yes, my water is pristine, my ph can be a pain but water is clear. I use carbon, skimmer, run u.v and ozone. I wish I could say the same about my glass lol, the tank was made in 1987 custom in Miami. I bought it used in the 90's. Unfortunately the glass back then wasn't exactly starfire, but the tank is 1'' glass on all panels and sturdy as hell. & 72''L x 24'' high x 30" , stand is 46'' high which I love, puts things at eye level.

 

[GHOSTLY]

my tanks crystal clear. I use chemiclean and activated carbon along with water clear every water change.

 

[GHOSTLY]

Tanks cloudy now because of a chemical

 

[HookedAquatics]

I run a 17 gallon nano tank with no skimmer. From my experience, although limited; frequent waterchanges, low nitrates and phosphates, surface agitation, and carbon all help keep water clear and clean!

 

[Raj2306]

Bubble scrubbing method really works great and keeps water crystal clear. I do it everyday for about an hour connecting an airline to the wavemaker to create micro bubbles.