Help Aquarium with never ending particles 90% of time

[Sekiro]

Hello everyone! I have a mature 450 liter tank that's been running for about 2 years.
I can never seem to achieve crystal clear water permanently.

The tank is filtered by an 180 liter sump.
First chamber has a coarse net and 10 ppi sponges.
Second chamber has floss and 2x 30 ppi sponges
Third chamber has a floss pad + 4x 30 ppi sponges
Forth chamber has moving hel x and siporax.
Final chamber is the pump chamber and it has some floss to catch the dirt produced by the bacteria.
The pump is rated at 3500 liters per hour. I tried a 4500L one and everything was even worse.
The intake is bottom style and the return from the pump is on the same side as the intake.
Ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0 and nitrate 10-15
I have only calm bottom dwellers that do not dig in the sand.
The first chambers get clogged with dirt every 2-4 days and require a clean nuing.
What am I doing wrong ?

 

[Kwyet]

It’s a gorgeous tank! The sand looks like it could use siphoning though, and maybe there are fine algae particles in the water? Have you tried a UV filter? I think they usually aren’t necessary, but one might help in this case.

 

[CincyScaper]

This is a great looking tank!

I’ve heard that certain types of wood used in hardscape can start to break down over time. I’m not sure how old your hardscape is or what type of wood you’re using, but that could potentially be one source.

 

[JacksonL]

Really love the layout of your tank and the use of wood!
Just a theory, with so much mechanical filtration in the sump, could it be catching a lot of larger items such as leaves, stems and wood. Then those larger pieces stuck in there are breaking down into the particles you are dealing with?

 

[Clare]

I have the exact same problem. Larger leafed plants are constantly covered in fine dust and debris. It is such a headache!! (I’ve put in two gyros to optimise flow etc but it hasn’t made a difference).

I’ll be interested to see any advice you get!

 

[Sekiro]

It’s a gorgeous tank! The sand looks like it could use siphoning though, and maybe there are fine algae particles in the water? Have you tried a UV filter? I think they usually aren’t necessary, but one might help in this case.

Thank you! This is an older picture, I siphon religiously every week now . I did try a huge UV filter, thing is the hater is not hazy, it just has large particulate matter

It’s a gorgeous tank! The sand looks like it could use siphoning though, and maybe there are fine algae particles in the water? Have you tried a UV filter? I think they usually aren’t necessary, but one might help in this case.

 

[Sekiro]

This is a great looking tank!

I’ve heard that certain types of wood used in hardscape can start to break down over time. I’m not sure how old your hardscape is or what type of wood you’re using, but that could potentially be one source.

Now that you mention it, the particulate matter is somewhat kinda brown and in the past this type of wood started breaking down really fast, not to mention I have 2 panaques.

I'll try switching out the wood and see how it goes

 

[Sekiro]

Really love the layout of your tank and the use of wood!
Just a theory, with so much mechanical filtration in the sump, could it be catching a lot of larger items such as leaves, stems and wood. Then those larger pieces stuck in there are breaking down into the particles you are dealing with?

I clean up said large particles daily! They all gather in a coarse net

 

[Sekiro]

I have the exact same problem. Larger leafed plants are constantly covered in fine dust and debris. It is such a headache!! (I’ve put in two gyros to optimise flow etc but it hasn’t made a difference).

I’ll be interested to see any advice you get!

I don't have dust settling around or debris on the plants, your issue seems like a lack of flow / not enough turnover per hour, try to aim at 5x 8x times per hour

 

[hamfist]

not to mention I have 2 panaques.

I suspect there is the answer. Lots of wood plus panaques = lots of wood debris.

Personally, even without panaques or similar, I have found that tanks with a lot of wood in do suffer more from cloudiness of water. My assumption has been that this is due to slow breakdown and the associated release of organic nutrients in the water, which will feed suspended bacteria.