Cloudy water. 2 weeks old tank

[gambell125]

Hello!

New to the hobby and I have a 15 gallon tank that is 3 weeks old.

I woke up this morning and my tank is pretty cloudy and murky.

Parameters are all good. Nitrates are low at 0.
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0

I added one fish 4 days ago. A clown.

I have a HOB filter (tidal 35) with filter foam, Chemi pure elite and bio max.

Should I do anything? Any advice

 

[KrisReef]

Feed less.
So a water change.
Post a picture.

Edit: Curses from the eternal pit with fire and swear words that make Satan cover his ears with dread, I typed “Do a water change,” and the dumb smart phone edited my message to make its internal algorithms happier and once again completely ruined the conversation I was trying to take part in.


YIt doycyclyrgeufidig kbgifudyfujf- you Apple/Google/AI- Artificial Idiots!

(My apologies to the op and the Board for this loss of civility.)

 

[Propane]

Make sure your surface is properly agitated as well.

 

[Nano_Man]

If your tank is cycled you would have some nitrate . Your reading should be as below.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate should have a reading
Ammonia should rise and fall to 0
Nitrite should rise and fall to 0
Nitrate should always have a reading and can be reduced by water changes. Keep this reading up off 0

 

[Lavey29]

How did you properly cycle your new tank?

 

[robotrash]

If your tank is cycled you would have some nitrate . Your reading should be as below.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate should have a reading

Wouldn't this depend on how they cycled? (live rock vs dry rock). I started my 20G with proper live rock and basically had a skip cycle. I haven't had nitrates in the 2 months the tank has been running, which is a separate issue I'm addressing as my tank is consuming nitrates/phos too fast.

Otherwise, I would tend to agree as most people go with dry these days + the die off from "live" sand should cause a decent ammonia spike then continued nitrates.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I'm not sure the tank is cycled.

But make sure the water is oxiginated at least. There should be a powerhead pointed at the water surface to create agitation and help put oxygen in the water.

Are there any rocks in the tank?

 

[hexcolor reef]

Did you start with dry rock? That usually what does it and it becomes bacteria bloom, you would want to run a UV sterilizer and it will clear up

 

[Nano_Man]

Wouldn't this depend on how they cycled? (live rock vs dry rock). I started my 20G with proper live rock and basically had a skip cycle. I haven't had nitrates in the 2 months the tank has been running, which is a separate issue I'm addressing as my tank is consuming nitrates/phos too fast.

Otherwise, I would tend to agree as most people go with dry these days + the die off from "live" sand should cause a decent ammonia spike then continued nitrates.

Yes you are correct with very mature live Rock sometimes you can skip a cycle . But you should have a nitrate reading sometimes you have algae and corals that consume your nitrate witch zeros your nitrate which is called bottoming out . And of course dry rock takes longer to cycle in a tank . Live rock imo is the foundation of your reef it’s a filter in its self.

 

[robotrash]

Yes you are correct with very mature live Rock sometimes you can skip a cycle . But you should have a nitrate reading sometimes you have algae and corals that consume your nitrate witch zeros your nitrate which is called bottoming out . And of course dry rock takes longer to cycle in a tank . Live rock imo is the foundation of your reef it’s a filter in its self.

That is 100% what's happening to me right now lol too small of a CUC so algae got big fast + heavy coral load a bit too early. I've got neophos and neonitro enroute and feeding heavily to counteract.

I would imagine in the case of this tank it may not be cycled though just based on the majority of cases on this site. Would be interested to know if an ammonia spike has been clocked on this tank at all?

 

[Mr. Roboto]

The tank could have not cycled at all in 3 weeks to sufficiently support a fish.

However the OP seems to be MIA

 

[KrisReef]

That is 100% what's happening to me right now lol too small of a CUC so algae got big fast + heavy coral load a bit too early. I've got neophos and neonitro enroute and feeding heavily to counteract.

I would imagine in the case of this tank it may not be cycled though just based on the majority of cases on this site. Would be interested to know if an ammonia spike has been clocked on this tank at all?

Amen. We need pictures to see what is happening in this tank.

I edited post #2 for clarity and entertainment. iPhones and algorithms have gotten worse with every update.

 

[Lavey29]

Wouldn't this depend on how they cycled? (live rock vs dry rock). I started my 20G with proper live rock and basically had a skip cycle. I haven't had nitrates in the 2 months the tank has been running, which is a separate issue I'm addressing as my tank is consuming nitrates/phos too fast.

Otherwise, I would tend to agree as most people go with dry these days + the die off from "live" sand should cause a decent ammonia spike then continued nitrates.

Yes and no. New tanks should show nitrate production either way if cycling properly. Typically with fake rock you add your ammonia source and nitrifying bacteria and manually start the cycle. If using real live ocean rock there will be some die off in the tank and the live rock already has nitrifying bacteria on it so there is an instant cycle. Either way nitrate production should be present unless something like coral or algae is using up available nitrates.