Cloudy Water

[BrotherReef]

I have been fighting this issue off and on for about 18 months now. More on and off. Parameters are

Here is a pic of my tank?

I do carbon dose nopox 40 mls a day but slowly decreasing it as I've added a refugium.

Any ideas?

 

[redfishbluefish]

Do you have a skimmer? Carbon dosing doesn't work if you don't have a skimmer to export the excess bacteria. I've got a hunch you've got a bacterial soup there.

 

[BrotherReef]

Yes I do have a skimmer. I might need to run it wet.

 

[miyags]

How about UV?

 

[twilliard]

Mechanical filtration?
a good mechanical filtration method will polish that water right up.
is it a green color cloudiness or white?

 

[BrotherReef]

How about UV?

I've thought about it.

 

[BrotherReef]

Mechanical filtration?
a good mechanical filtration method will polish that water right up.
is it a green color cloudiness or white?

It's white.

 

[miyags]

Yep bac/bloom. I use an 18 watt to get rid of mine, it took about 3 days or so. You look to have a large tank there. maybe 36 or 55 watt would do the trick. I used a cheap ebay one from cll-petsupplies 36/55 watt ones are around 65-75 bucks.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I might switch from NOPOX to just vinegar or vodka to try to get a species of bacteria growing that is mostly benthic and not so much in the water column.

Better skimming would help, but isn't inexpensive. Wet may help.

I don't really like the idea of a UV when driving bacterial growth, but it will likely clear the water.

 

[BrotherReef]

I might switch from NOPOX to just vinegar or vodka to try to get a species of bacteria growing that is mostly benthic and not so much in the water column.

Better skimming would help, but isn't inexpensive. Wet may help.

I don't really like the idea of a UV when driving bacterial growth, but it will likely clear the water.

Just curious, is no pox producing the wrong bacteria?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Just curious, is no pox producing the wrong bacteria?

NOPOX is primarily a mix of vinegar and vodka.

There are untold numbers of different bacteria that can consume any given organic we add. If the "wrong " species begins to predominate (such as bacteria in the water column rather than growing on surfaces), then we might get into a situation where we don't like what is happening and want to change the type of bacteria. You can possible do that by adding new bacteria, killing the existing ones, or switching to a new organic which that undesirable species of bacteria might not readily thrive on.

 

[BrotherReef]

NOPOX is primarily a mix of vinegar and vodka.

There are untold numbers of different bacteria that can consume any given organic we add. If the "wrong " species begins to predominate (such as bacteria in the water column rather than growing on surfaces), then we might get into a situation where we don't like what is happening and want to change the type of bacteria. You can possible do that by adding new bacteria, killing the existing ones, or switching to a new organic which that undesirable species of bacteria might not readily thrive on.

So n I should good all vinegar or vodka?

 

[WetWhistle]

How are your doing your chemicals like calcium and alk? Are you dosing them slowly manually or with a doser or just dumping them in? If you are dumping them in they could be precipitating out of solution. I have seen this before.

 

[BrotherReef]

How are your doing your chemicals like calcium and alk? Are you dosing them slowly manually or with a doser or just dumping them in? If you are dumping them in they could be precipitating out of solution. I have seen this before.

Got them on a doser dosing multiple times a day.

 

[twilliard]

NOPOX is primarily a mix of vinegar and vodka.

There are untold numbers of different bacteria that can consume any given organic we add. If the "wrong " species begins to predominate (such as bacteria in the water column rather than growing on surfaces), then we might get into a situation where we don't like what is happening and want to change the type of bacteria. You can possible do that by adding new bacteria, killing the existing ones, or switching to a new organic which that undesirable species of bacteria might not readily thrive on.

Are you speaking of the red sea nopoX?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So n I should good all vinegar or vodka?

Either one is worth a try. I personally prefer vinegar slightly, but folks are successful with either.

 

[WetWhistle]

Got them on a doser dosing multiple times a day.

How far apart are they dosed? If they are to close they can react and cause cloudiness. Is your output from the doser in higher or lover flow? Higher flow area is better in my opinion as it mixes with the tank water better and doesn't cause local areas with higher concentrations of them.
I would also look at the bacteria bloom as a possible culprit till you figure out for sure. Try and making the dosing of them a little more apart and see if this fixes the issue. If you have one of the pre-filters that polish the water I would toss one in. If it is small enough micron it might take out some of the bacteria if this is the issue.

 

[BrotherReef]

How far apart are they dosed? If they are to close they can react and cause cloudiness. Is your output from the doser in higher or lover flow? Higher flow area is better in my opinion as it mixes with the tank water better and doesn't cause local areas with higher concentrations of them.
I would also look at the bacteria bloom as a possible culprit till you figure out for sure. Try and making the dosing of them a little more apart and see if this fixes the issue. If you have one of the pre-filters that polish the water I would toss one in. If it is small enough micron it might take out some of the bacteria if this is the issue.

Higher flow 20 min apart

 

[twilliard]

I think this is being WAY over thought

 

[BrotherReef]

Imma back of the dosing slowly and go from there.