Cloudy tank - unsure why

horsin144 · May 17, 2017

Hello all! We have a 75 gallon tank that is corals and fish for about 6 months. About a week ago I had red slime and used the red slime remover and it cleaned it completely out. I also, at the same time was trying to slowly get my PH up. It has always been 7.8 I used 4 tablespoons of PH buffer and it went to 7.95 and was adding a tablespoon a day and it was steady at 8.1 when I treated it for red slime. I changed water on sunday, 20 gallons that is 0 tds. Monday night it suddenly went cloudy. I cleaned my black filter on the pump that pumps out of the sump box and found it was not circulating well and once cleaned it was really pushing through. My protein skimmer is yellowish colored what is being caught. I retested the PH and it is saying it is 6.1 which I believe is impossible. It is a digital reader. I will buy another after work to verify but assume things would die. Only issue I have with corals is my bubble tip has split 2x in a month or so. Zoas don't do well but hammers, frogspawn and rest are healthy and growing. All fish are eating and acting normal as far as my new eyes can tell.

Here is my water testing from last night prior to me again changing 20 gallons.
PH 6.1 on meter

API test kits
KH 214.8+
Calcium 380
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10 +
Phosphates 0-.25

Any ideas? I read on other posts that cloudy means a bacteria bloom which makes a bit of sense since I treated for red slime and that may have offset the balance?

Thanks in advance!

saltyfilmfolks · May 17, 2017

Wow, weird!

#reefsquad

Tahoe61 · May 17, 2017

Hi and welcome to R2R.

Stop using the buffer a pH of 7.8 is perfectly fine. A buffer is only going to cause more issues than it may possibly solve. If everything in the tank is growing and doing well do not chase the pH number.

dkh is almost 12, that is the high range. The carbonate may be precipitating secondary to the high value.

If this is a bacterial bloom instead I would run some new charcoal.

An image could help.

Brew12 · May 17, 2017

horsin144 said:
Hello all! We have a 75 gallon tank that is corals and fish for about 6 months. About a week ago I had red slime and used the red slime remover and it cleaned it completely out. I also, at the same time was trying to slowly get my PH up. It has always been 7.8 I used 4 tablespoons of PH buffer and it went to 7.95 and was adding a tablespoon a day and it was steady at 8.1 when I treated it for red slime. I changed water on sunday, 20 gallons that is 0 tds. Monday night it suddenly went cloudy. I cleaned my black filter on the pump that pumps out of the sump box and found it was not circulating well and once cleaned it was really pushing through. My protein skimmer is yellowish colored what is being caught. I retested the PH and it is saying it is 6.1 which I believe is impossible. It is a digital reader. I will buy another after work to verify but assume things would die. Only issue I have with corals is my bubble tip has split 2x in a month or so. Zoas don't do well but hammers, frogspawn and rest are healthy and growing. All fish are eating and acting normal as far as my new eyes can tell.

Here is my water testing from last night prior to me again changing 20 gallons.
PH 6.1 on meter

API test kits
KH 214.8+
Calcium 380
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10 +
Phosphates 0-.25

Any ideas? I read on other posts that cloudy means a bacteria bloom which makes a bit of sense since I treated for red slime and that may have offset the balance?

Thanks in advance!

Do you run a filter sock? If so, the sock clogging quickly with a slimy substance is a good first indication of a bacteria bloom. If you run socks and they aren't getting clogged it is more likely a precipitation issue.

Oh, and Welcome to Reef2Reef!

redfishbluefish · May 17, 2017

First off, welcome to R2R.

I strongly agree with @Tahoe61 .....throw that "buffer" away. Simply maintain proper alkalinity and calcium (and magnesium) and pH will take care of itself....and pH 7.8 is fine. If anything, run an air line outside your house to feed your skimmer.

And yes, pH 6.1 is impossible unless someone dumped a strong acid into your tank.

horsin144 · May 17, 2017

I read too much and saw that the PH needed to be higher for corals so I was trying. Lesson learned to leave close enough and stable alone. I off and on run a sock but it seems to fill even after it is cleaned quickly and it worries me that it will some how overflow and drain my tank. It has been off about a month. I do have 4 or 5 live rocks where the sock was. Nothing is slimy or slimier than usual. The filter on the out pump had chaeto (sp) jammed in it so it wasn't circulating. I finally thought I had a stable tank and the cyno cropped up. I did put the airline over the winter to my skimmer and it makes no difference to the PH. I am at work and will post pic when I get home. With the anemone splitting multiple times and the gunk skimmed being different I thought there was something I am missing. The anemone was not big but all three appear healthy and are always full and will eat when I feed them. 6 months in and hubby is going to tear out a wall and build a custom tank that will be much larger. Bug has bitten!

I have a small sack of charcoal and also a small sack of purigen in the sump. They are about 3 months old. I can change them tonight to help.