Cloudy tank

jman9331 · May 28, 2016

Hey guys and gals, I added a biopellet reactor about a week ago and I came home last night and the tank was cloudy. First thought was the sand so I looked around and none of the sand was blowing around. I looked down in the skimmer and the pellets weren't tumbling because the foam pad floated up. So I removed that and then they started tumbling again. Is it normal for this to cause the tank to cloud up? If so how long does it take to clear up? Oh and I guess because of it everything in the sump is slimmy.

nervousmonkey · May 28, 2016

It's bacterial overgrowth, or at the very least, a microbe that has proliferated. You don't need to do anything, but I would say that you should take your BP reactor offline, for a couple of days until it clears up. Personally, I would do a giant water change, since the bacteria will consume oxygen quickly and leave your fish and coral with nothing...

What kind of reactor? It's pretty important to take off *any* foam pads that would impede flow coming out of your reactor. A mesh screen works way better.

jman9331 · May 28, 2016

f.lloyd.taylor said:
It's bacterial overgrowth, or at the very least, a microbe that has proliferated. You don't need to do anything, but I would say that you should take your BP reactor offline, for a couple of days until it clears up. Personally, I would do a giant water change, since the bacteria will consume oxygen quickly and leave your fish and coral with nothing...
What kind of reactor? It's pretty important to take off *any* foam pads that would impede flow coming out of your reactor. A mesh screen works way better.

I'm using a reef octopus mf-800b

nervousmonkey · May 28, 2016

jman9331 said:
I'm using a reef octopus mf-800b

Cool, that's a good reactor. If you want to help tumble the pellets in a reactor, it may be of use to take a look at the @AVAST Marine website to take a look at the Spyglass reactors. I have two on my own tanks, they are incredibly amazing and super efficient, pumps are all Sicce pumps that can be adjusted at the pump, or the intake feed water.
http://www.avastmarine.com/collections/avast-built/products/spyglass
Man, sorry to hear that the biopellets aren't working so well, but they need time to populate anyway... In the meantime, is the output from your reactor going to intake of your skimmer? If not, see if you can get it least close so the skimmer can skim the waste bacteria out of the water column quickly without causing a microbial overpopulation/explosive growth in the DT... So.. two choices are to remove the BP's (I wouldn't even follow my own advice, I run BP's on all tanks), or to direct the reactor output to the skimmer pump input. Second one is what I do, and I don't even know if I need to add some pellets to replace the old ones, etc.., the reactor simply does its' job and it works well for me, but I've read horror stories about BP's, or at least anecdotal evidence of bacterial/algal explosions in reef tanks. This is advice that even I would follow: water change to get the stuff outta the water column, although the bacteria will just repopulate as long as they have ample food supply (the main reason why the skimmer should catch the stuff out of the reactor before it gets to your DT). So, this is one of those things that you just happen to have to ride out. Water changes help, but the microbes will simply multiply again. Also look our for ammonia and nitrite spikes, since when those bacteria die, you'll have some level of ammonia in the tank... Don't add anything at this point, such as Amquel or the Seachem equivalent (I think it's Prime, correct?), just do water changes if you see ammonia, nitrite, etc...

jman9331 · May 28, 2016

YeahI moved the output to the intake of the skimmer. After I removed the foam pads from the bottom it tumbles again. I may just have to give it time and water change some of it out

nervousmonkey · May 28, 2016

Sounds great man! A water change will help, but only if you limit nutrient supply. If you can do about half the water volume that should help. The slimy sump is a definite indicator of bacterial growth...

jman9331 · May 28, 2016

Figures though right when people come over lol

nervousmonkey · May 28, 2016

Man, that bites.. But, like anything reefer, we know how to cover up our tracks, esp., when a person's significant other is in the same room when you bring home a box or corals.
In this case, you're OK, but never hurts to have an explanation at the ready! When my tank doesn't especially look great, or I have a a cloudy tank

, I just tell people that I synced my aquarium lights, flow patterns, etc., and that there is a big storm in Bali, which is where your tank is re-creating what Mother Nature does best, etc. etc. etc., You can give this your own special twist, asking your wife to recall that moment a few month ago when "dinner was the most amazing", but that she didn't know that there was a new moon out that night.
OK, enough of Lloyd's explanations that work quite well. Hope the tank clears up in a couple of days.. This would be a fantastic time to have a cheap UV sterilizer... HAHA!