Help with new tank cloudiness please...

[Poisns1]

Recently setup a new Waterbox 105.4 frag tank.

Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Ellenton Florida Posts: 983

So confused and I've never had this issue on several of my previous reef setups. I used Caribsea "Arag-Alive Fiji Pink sand, Marco Rocks and Bio-Spira. I'm currently going on week 7. My tank has been crystal clear after an initial cloudiness for a few days. The past 3 days show the tank completely clouded. I have 4 blue tail damsels that are doing fine, eating well and seem to be unaffected. I was proceeding slow and was not looking to increase the bio-load in the tank for quite some time but I'm baffled as to why the tank became cloudy almost overnight and has remained that way for 3 full days. My skimmer is running and filter socks are non-clogged and clean. I was adding some Microbacter 7 at about the 2-3 week mark to add some bacteria diversity and aid in the cycling process but stopped just short of the suggested "new tank" period of 2 weeks (stopped at day 11) because there were several small 1" patches that appeared on sand. I reduced the photo period from 5 hours to 3 and the water remained clear up until 3 days ago. I still have Microbacter 7 on hand as well as Vibrant. Anyone know what is causing the this cloudiness and what if anything I should do at this point?

 

[brandon429]

unrinsed new sand is known to cloud, can we eliminate that part from the possibilities

I see it was once clear, that may eliminate the sand guess unless something stirred it up. you can try installing a temporary canister filter from wal mart packed with carbon to try and clean it out of suspension, if that's bacterial aggregates from dosing that wouldn't be surprising.

a big water change is ideal, but pouring back in over unrinsed sand might stir up a little or a lot depending

 

[Alexreefer]

Has your tank started to grow algae? I'm thinking its a diatom bloom but cant be for sure

 

[vetteguy53081]

I upon using carib sea live sand had the hazy appearance for about 3 days.
To help alleviate, you can have your return empty into a filter sock and clean the sock daily. I would not go chemically with stuff like Pro-clear. Did your sand come with aragaMilk ?

 

[HB AL]

Probably a bloom of some kind. It will go away on its own if its a bloom and if the reason its happening is taken care of. Also adding a uv filter isn't a bad idea as it will keep your water clear among other benefits.

 

[Poisns1]

Has your tank started to grow algae? I'm thinking its a diatom bloom but cant be for sure

I had a few small patches of something growing on the sand. It didn't really have any color and was more translucent. Wouldn't adding either Microbacter 7 or Vibrant help if it's a diatom bloom?

 

[Alexreefer]

I had a few small patches of something growing on the sand. It didn't really have any color and was more translucent. Wouldn't adding either Microbacter 7 or Vibrant help if it's a diatom bloom?

If it truly is a diatom bloom, let it be. Its a sign that your tank is maturing, You could always add microbacter but I would hold off on the Vibrant for now

 

[Rmckoy]

What do you have for flow ?
Even unrinsed sand will cloud at first and clear after days as you said it has .

if something like a power head or wake maker is stirring up the bottom it might contribute .

I’d add carbon and if possible pick up a canister filter to filter suspended particles .
id personally remove all other media and not dose anything until it clears .

 

[Poisns1]

Just the return flow on the main circ pump which is a Sicce SDC 7.0 running on minimum (~ 800 GPH). Not much flow in the aquarium at all and definitely not enough to kick up the sand..

 

[Poisns1]

Well it has now been 7 days and the tank is still completely cloudy and has not changed. The tank is now approaching 8 weeks old. The tank's only circulation is from the Sicce SDC 7.0 return pump which I know is not alot of flow but do I really need high flow at this point since the tank is new and there are no corals etc, just the 4 damsels? It was crystal clear for about 6 weeks and flow hasn't changed so it's not the sand getting kicked up etc.

It definitely seems to be a bloom of some kind but I have no way of knowing which type, whether it's good or bad and more importantly how to fix it at this point?

 

[Rmckoy]

Have you seen the fish swimming since it’s been cloudy ?

 

[Greg P]

I had a bacterial bloom a couple years ago that wouldn't go away. I ran GAC (carbon) in a reactor and it cleared in I think 24 hours - 48 at most - don't recall exactly.

 

[CMMorgan]

I'm betting bacterial bloom. I'd run carbon.... consider getting some more flow in there as well. Hang in there as this is all about the tank maturing. Next year, you'll be telling someone else how to fix this.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I had a few small patches of something growing on the sand. It didn't really have any color and was more translucent. Wouldn't adding either Microbacter 7 or Vibrant help if it's a diatom bloom?

Vibrant would

 

[vetteguy53081]

Try chemipure Blue. Will polish the water and reduce the atoms that are causing the haze

 

[Poisns1]

Well I checked out my supplies on hand. I have 1 bottle of original chemi-pure unused. I also have some BRS bulk large particle activated Lignite carbon.

I'm contemplating either adding the chemi-pure or Lignite carbon to the mesh filter sock in my sump versus adding a Green Killing Machine 24W UV sterilizer which is in stock from local Petco???

 

[Poisns1]

Well I added the GKM 24w sterilizer and low and behold, the tank cleared within 6 hours. I don't know what was causing the cloudiness though, was it bacterial or algal and more importantly how do keep this from happening again?

I'm hoping that I can take the UV sterilizer out of the sump at some point as I didn't intend to be running it 24x7. Is this the wrong decision?

 

[Poisns1]

Water is clear but the light grey, light brown whispy spots are still on the sand throughout the tank. I've only been using the lights for about 10 minutes a day so the damsels can come out and eat a bit of the flake. The tank has no direct light yet the patches are not going away. This scares me and leads me to believe that it is truly Dinos. I feel like I'm in prison and can't enjoy my tank being held hostage by whatever this stuff is. If it is dinos, I definitely don't want it to get a foot hold on my new tank.

I'm still running Lignetic carbon in the felt fitler sock, skimmer on and the UV is still running. I also added a few doses of Vibrant the past 2 weeks, no change.

I also can't seem to find anyone that will borrow me a microscope. I Downloaded a Mangifying Glass app and was able to snap a few more pics.

ID, advice, suggestions please????

 

[bickouder]

did you disturb the substrate more than usual this time? sometimes the sloshing can kick up a lot of things in between the gravel or in sand. id do a few more smaller water changes for the next few days maybe. that way you can dilute it out into clarity again while letting the new water cycle again since itll be smaller changes.

 

[bickouder]

did you disturb the substrate more than usual this time? sometimes the sloshing can kick up a lot of things in between the gravel or in sand. id do a few more smaller water changes for the next few days Nox Vidmate VLC maybe.

that way you can dilute it out into clarity again while letting the new water cycle again since itll be smaller changes.