I recently switched to Pro-Gold food and have been noticing that my water is more cloudy than usual.

Water readings:
ammonia - 0
nitrate - 5ish
nitrite - 0
pH - 7.2

So last week I started Pro-Gold (or late week before last). I've been noticing that the water is more cloudy than usual. First few days on Pro-Gold I was feeding in the gravel, and I think that they weren't getting it all. Did a 50% w/c and made a 1/3 of the tank bare-bottom. Have been feeding there and ensuring all food is gone after feeding time. The water is still more cloudy than usual.

Tank is a 20 gal with an Emporer 280 with 2 filter cartridges. Two fishies.

For starters, what color is the cloudiness? Sometimes its harder to tell in the tank than you think, so next time you do a water change, put a gallon or so in a glass bowl and take a look. In my case, I thought our cloudiness was white, but when putting it in a bowl it was clearly a brown-ish green.

If you're dealing with a white cloudiness than there's an issue with a bacterial bloom or something. Keep a close eye on your parameters and do water changes.

If its greenish-brown or brownish-green its probably an algae bloom... consider giving the tank fewer hour of light and do a water change as well.

In the tank it looks white. When I did a wc on Saturday it looked white with brown haze/bits -- I'm thinking this is the Pro-Gold that I got when using the gravel vac.

I've also noticed that Pro gold is a little more apt to cloud the water, the long pellets seem to crumble quickly when wet, and when it sinks into the gravel the fish seem to make a bit of a mess, but they sure love it ! what I do is leave a bare spot with no gravel in the corner for feeding, this way it wont leave small uneaten particles in the substrate, I think the benefits to this food being easily digested far out weighs the problem.

Good idea on clearing a space for the food - also wondering about taking out 1/3 rd of the gravel. This can remove beneficial bacteria by the handful -are those water readings after that? A cloudiness happens when bacteria bloom & are free floating /not attached and is not a big worry if your readings are good. It does mean your cycle may be "threshold" not really strong...as bacterial blooms don't seem to occur in long established very strong cyled tanks IME. You may want to add more media in the filter box to compensate for the removed gravel( as a bb breeding space).

I added an additional filter cartridge when I took out the gravel...so hopefully that will help with the bb. I did a water test just now:

ammonia - 0
nitrate - 10
nitrite - 0
pH - 6.8

Haven't had the pH dip like that in awhile. It's been steady at 7.6, so that's a little troubling. I added some baking soda to up it a bit for now. I don't have time to do another wc until Saturday.

I'm thinking I might be overfeeding the Pro-Gold. How many pellets should they be eating approximately? (Fisher, a common, is about 5 inches incl. tail; Starbuck, an Oranda, is about 2.5 inches incl. tail).

Finally got to do a water change. The water is definitely a brown-ish color. Looks white/cloudy in the tank, and sandy-colored in the bucket. And on the hood -- the clear part where the light shines through -- there was green smudgy.

So, I'm thinking algae bloom at this point?

The tank isn't in direct sun light, but it's in a room (dining room) that has a sliding glass door and does get a good bit of natural light.

Do either fish have diarrhoea ? It's a funny question sorry but sometimes if you haven't seen any new poop, it can be just a brown liquid that makes the water like that. New food and a change in diet can do that. just a thought.

Anyway, the pH is worrying again. You may find that plunges during the week w/o another w/c. Double the baking soda and when you can, get hold of some Buff it up think it's called - I have heard that's a better pH buffer.

Hmm...now that you mention it, I haven't seen Fisher poo in awhile. I think last I remember was early last week, and it was a bit white and stringy. But I haven't seen him go since. Starbuck's seem fine. Interesting thought.

I've been keeping an eye on pH and will continue to. I fed peas today, so maybe that will help Fisher out if he's got a funny tummy. Will this sort of thing (assuming that's what it is) fix itself, or should I be doing something?