Help me decide if I let it be or take action
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Sabellafella
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Ohhh man havnt seen something like that sence i was dosing racing fuel (sorry to rub it in) but imo i would keep a bag of carbon on the sump so it could grow on, thats usually what ive done in the past when i had blooms and it acually worke, i dont think filter socks or fluidized carbon are going to do anything , the 10 times that this happened to me it would go away in about 10 days. All i did was watch ph and went about my regular routine . Times like this makes you wish you kept an oldschool diatom filter on handWhenever it does clear I'll put the lights in coral acclimation mode. If it clears. [emoji17]
Not sure if photos help, but here's a couple
nelson.jdautobody
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WOW! i never seen that much cloudiness before. there are a lot of good ideas/tips for fixing the issue on here for sure. my vote....when in doubt, water change it out. i did dosing one time with vodka to get my nitrates down off of 40ppm and it caused some big cloudiness for me. i put my HOB protein skimmer from the sump to my main display to create more air in the tank, and did a 50% water change and it was gone within a couple of days but that was when i only had a 40gallon breeder. i will never dose for nitrates again. if 50% water change scares you then do 20-25% every 3 days until it starts to clear up. i think your right to think that cloudiness to that degree must effect your corals ability to receive the light, maybe im wrong on that though. i have a 66gallon main with a 30gallon sump and do a 10 gallon water change every week religiously, and my corals ALWAYS look happier by the following day
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Lenny_S
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Hmmmm that is an interesting idea. Just so I'm clear... Are you suggesting I put a mesh bag of like bio pellets in the sump to attract and "house" the bacteria?
Sabellafella
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Im not 100% sure if pellets would work but i do kno that ive kept a nice size bag of large pellet activated carbon in my sump because the bacteria tend to grow in it, time by time i would take it out and rinse it but just food for thought
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Lenny_S
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I'm willing to give anything a shot. Usually 3-4 days max and the bloom clears. This one is rounding day 8.
I put about 300-400 ml of matrix carbon in a mesh bag in the sump, had it on hand, so did it.
A few of the other earlier posts also suggested a UV sterilizer. I did some research and it seems they are effective for this sort of thing if you use them with the correct flow, etc... So I ordered one... I'll give it until the thing arrives on Saturday. If the tank is showing any improvement by then I'll just return it, if not, I'll use it.
Sabellafella
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By the time it comes in the mail the bloom will prob be gone, but its also good to have uv on hand, i have unions so wenever i need to i can stick my uv in, ive tryed it before while having a bloom and i cant say wether or not it helped but it didnt clear over night so i dont kno. Also if the carbon starts to grow white blobs on it you can just rinse it off
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Lenny_S
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I sure hope so. But I do have a spare outlet on my EB-8 and a utility pump that already feeds my media reactor... So I can just put it in line with that and it should be the right flow rate. Will let y'all know what happens.
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Lenny_S
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Day 11, UV sterilizer did the trick, 24 hours later. [emoji3]
There is still a little cloudiness, but it is many times better than the previous 10 days.
I don't know a whole lot about UV sterilizers. Does anyone know if they should just run 24x7 ordinarily, or just a certain number of hours a day?
There is still a little cloudiness, but it is many times better than the previous 10 days.
I don't know a whole lot about UV sterilizers. Does anyone know if they should just run 24x7 ordinarily, or just a certain number of hours a day?
jetmaker
Valuable Member
I run mine 24/7Day 11, UV sterilizer did the trick, 24 hours later. [emoji3]
There is still a little cloudiness, but it is many times better than the previous 10 days.
I don't know a whole lot about UV sterilizers. Does anyone know if they should just run 24x7 ordinarily, or just a certain number of hours a day?
jetmaker
Valuable Member
Looking goodDay 11, UV sterilizer did the trick, 24 hours later. [emoji3]
There is still a little cloudiness, but it is many times better than the previous 10 days.
I don't know a whole lot about UV sterilizers. Does anyone know if they should just run 24x7 ordinarily, or just a certain number of hours a day?
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Lenny_S
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I guess I'll leave it running 24x7. It's on one of my Apex outlets, so I could program it at any point.
After all this I did end up losing a Milli frag, my first loss.
Everything else pulled through fine.
After all this I did end up losing a Milli frag, my first loss.
Everything else pulled through fine.
Sabellafella
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Oh wow looks good i perasonally run my uv over night about once or twice a month thats it, if its permanently plumb in you can try programing your apex to run over night a few times a month, im not sure the effects of running it 24/7 but people say not toDay 11, UV sterilizer did the trick, 24 hours later. [emoji3]
There is still a little cloudiness, but it is many times better than the previous 10 days.
I don't know a whole lot about UV sterilizers. Does anyone know if they should just run 24x7 ordinarily, or just a certain number of hours a day?
Sabellafella
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Yup but who really knows , unless alot of people are running uv 247 and their tanks arent crashin then why not. I personally love uv but i rather just run a little carbon and gfo, my uv takes up to much space and is a pain to keep puting it in and out. From seeing all the different stuff about killing algae, bacteria ect at different flow rates/wattage its to much for me
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Lenny_S
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All I know about UV is book learned, this is the first time I've ever used it.
I bought one of the Coralife Turbo Twist 18 watt units. I plumbed it off the auxiliary pump I use to feed my media reactor. It is a 350 GPH pump that is probably only hitting about 200 GPH now that it has the UV and the reactor on it. That is what the manual says is the "zap everything" flow rate.
For me, adding phytoplankton, pods, or any other kind of beneficial zooplankton is pretty easy. I have a mini farm I'm setting up to grow both phytoplankton and zooplankton.
But this experience has once again taught me it is much easier to put things in your system than it is to take them out.
So in the case of my newly acquired UV sterilizer, I'll start with running it 24x7 and only cut it back if I see any negative results.
I bought one of the Coralife Turbo Twist 18 watt units. I plumbed it off the auxiliary pump I use to feed my media reactor. It is a 350 GPH pump that is probably only hitting about 200 GPH now that it has the UV and the reactor on it. That is what the manual says is the "zap everything" flow rate.
For me, adding phytoplankton, pods, or any other kind of beneficial zooplankton is pretty easy. I have a mini farm I'm setting up to grow both phytoplankton and zooplankton.
But this experience has once again taught me it is much easier to put things in your system than it is to take them out.
So in the case of my newly acquired UV sterilizer, I'll start with running it 24x7 and only cut it back if I see any negative results.
