About to give up on saltwater...

[Mike1995]

I did a water change yesterday because the water was really cloudy. I filled it back up with rodi water and salt. Mixed before hand. Now the tank is even cloudier and looks terrible. I plan on new equipment this week because mine sucks. What am I doing wrong? Why is the water cloudy? I'm about to give up... Freshwater tanks are so much easier.

 

[N2theUnknown]

Any corals? What are your parameters

 

[PDR]

Detailed information about your tank parameters, inhabitants, equipment, and maintenance schedule would be very beneficial in helping us figure out whats going on.

 

[sfin52]

How long has the tank been set up. Are you carbon dosing .

 

[scott11106]

its all about the setup and some time. i dont know anything about your system but most startup problems are due to us trying to force everything to happen fast.

did you use ro/di?
did you mix salt and then let it mix for a while before adding to system?
what else is hooked to system?
are you running carbon?
any livestock? if so any dying?
any additional chemicals added?

 

[scott11106]

by the way, once you get the system going there is no comparison between fresh and salt. You will never go back but things do need to be detailed and done right as salt is not as forgiving

 

[Mike1995]

Parameters- ammonia 0nitrite 0 nitrate I think about 10-15.. ive been trying to lower that with water changes .
No fish . Tank has only been up for 2 months. I'm not dosing carbon. Not really sure what that means. Only equipment is a skimmer, heater, pump and a few power heads and wavemakers.

 

[Mike1995]

by the way, once you get the system going there is no comparison between fresh and salt. You will never go back but things do need to be detailed and done right as salt is not as forgiving

Please don't assume im doing everything wrong. Im trying or else I wouldn't be on here asking for help. I don't completely understand how to cycle a saltwater tank . I don't understand this cloudy water. Im getting frustrated. I see people on YouTube with these new tanks that are crystal clear and look awesome... I just would like to do that but i dont know how.

 

[Mike1995]

How do I do carbon dosing? What equipment will I need in a sump?

 

[Retro Reefer]

It’s most likely a bacterial bloom.. get yourself a cheap UV system, 9w mean green killing machine is like $40. Water changes will typically just make it worse

 

[MTBake]

Sounds like a bacteria bloom to me as well.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Please don't assume im doing everything wrong. Im trying or else I wouldn't be on here asking for help. I don't completely understand how to cycle a saltwater tank . I don't understand this cloudy water. Im getting frustrated. I see people on YouTube with these new tanks that are crystal clear and look awesome... I just would like to do that but i dont know how.

Cloudy water is just part of new tank uglies that you may experience.. 99% sure your issue is bacterial related. Make sure you are getting lots of oxygen into tank.. point your return nozzle up at surface and run your skimmer if you have one.

 

[MTBake]

It should clear up in its own. Could take several days. Every saltwater tank I've ever setup has gone through at least one bacteria bloom. As mentioned, run your skimmer and point a pump towards the surface of the water. Bacteria bloom can strip oxygen out of the water. This will help.

Is there any livestock in the tank at all?

 

[SPR1968]

Hi Mike, I understand your frustration but don’t give up yet, because the guys on here can help you.

I wouldn’t worry about carbon dosing just yet, and the following articles may help you understand cycling a saltwater tank and a general understanding of saltwater tanks.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cycling-an-aquarium.306554/

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

Assuming your not getting some form of precipitation from the salt mix, as said above it may be a bacterial bloom. You say you have no fish, but do you have corals or what’s in the tank ?

Maybe post some pictures of the system so we can see what’s happening

And don’t give up!

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Please don't assume im doing everything wrong. Im trying or else I wouldn't be on here asking for help. I don't completely understand how to cycle a saltwater tank . I don't understand this cloudy water. Im getting frustrated. I see people on YouTube with these new tanks that are crystal clear and look awesome... I just would like to do that but i dont know how.

@scott11106 never implied you were doing everything wrong. They never implied you were doing anything wrong at all. They never implied you weren't trying. All that they said is that salt is not as forgiving, which is absolutely true. It's possible to infer from that statement that you made a mistake, but I personally wouldn't take it that way. Even if you did make a mistake, there's nothing wrong with that. Even the pros make mistakes. At the National Aquarium in Baltimore this weekend, we had an issue where one of the aquarists left the fill valve open on our chiller vats. An entire backup area flooded with dozens of gallons of saltwater. It took forever to clean up. But, that's how aquariums work. It's impossible to know everything, so you're going to make mistakes. Even when you know a lot, you're still going to make mistakes.

Having said all that, this sounds like a bacterial bloom of some kind. Dosing organic carbon will not help. How did you start this tank? What kind of rock did you use? Did you add an ammonia source?

 

[Mike1995]

Alright. I have a skimmer .its used and only rated for 50g so I need something better . Only thing in the tank is nerites (15) and hermits .I had an algea problem and they dealt with it in a week .
I have a return thing that comes out of the overflow and it forks off into two flexable nozzles . Were should i point them. I also have a wavemakers. Should I point that at the surface or?

 

[marvelousone]

How do I do carbon dosing? What equipment will I need in a sump?

First off stop and take a deep breathe. It will workout. I think scott is asking running carbon is not dosing carbon. Instead do you have carbon media. Like others have said it probably an algae bloom. You are doing water changes to lower nitrates correct. what did you do to start the cycle with no fish. Tell us about you equipment you have. Do you have sump or not. That will help us better to help you. I know it can be frustrating. You will learn how to deal with issues as you going.

 

[Mike1995]

@scott11106 never implied you were doing everything wrong. They never implied you were doing anything wrong at all. They never implied you weren't trying. All that they said is that salt is not as forgiving, which is absolutely true. It's possible to infer from that statement that you made a mistake, but I personally wouldn't take it that way. Even if you did make a mistake, there's nothing wrong with that. Even the pros make mistakes. At the National Aquarium in Baltimore this weekend, we had an issue where one of the aquarists left the fill valve open on our chiller vats. An entire backup area flooded with dozens of gallons of saltwater. It took forever to clean up. But, that's how aquariums work. It's impossible to know everything, so you're going to make mistakes. Even when you know a lot, you're still going to make mistakes.

Having said all that, this sounds like a bacterial bloom of some kind. Dosing organic carbon will not help. How did you start this tank? What kind of rock did you use? Did you add an ammonia source?

I used pure ammonia. I started it with dry live rock and a bunch of reel reef rock stuff that was live.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I used pure ammonia. I started it with dry live rock and a bunch of reel reef rock stuff that was live.

Do you have an ammonia test kit? Do you know how much ammonia the tank currently has? It could be that there was a lot of ammonia in the water and a big bacterial bloom is feeding on all the ammonia.

 

[Rattzreef]

Ahh, the 2 month bacterial bloom.. I just experienced the same thing a few weeks ago.. I did a good sandbed vac and 5g water change and changed out the carbon and it cleared up in a day. Its a pretty common thing in a newly setup system. Like stated above, take a deep breath and welcome to the salt life.