Keeping your aquarium water Crystal Clear?

[GillMeister]

Microbubbles. Clear except for microbubbles. How do people get rid of them?

 

[Kapachuka3]

I use carbon

 

[lakemagic11]

It’s crystal clear. Activated carbon and a W model oxydator running two catalysts @ 10% H202 help achieve this. I also use a roller filter, it’s easier to see floating detritus when the waters is super clear.

Dave

What kind of roller filter are you using? I have a Water Box tank and my fish man is not sure if the one I want will be compatible.

 

[Alex Cataldo]

Filter floss, carbon, and even having a bare bottom with a lot of flow can keep garbage out of the water column.

 

[Bubbagump69]

Proper aeration and water movement has almost totally cleared my water up recently. Not sure if its because I'm getting more particulates to skimmer or if its the movement and aeration with less stagnation or all of the above.

I think the trouble I'm having with my water movement is there seems to be dead spots where it doesn't push the detritus and stuff out of the crevices of the rock scape. I have two pin cushion urchins and a large CUC of snails, conchs, and hermit crabs.

 

[LRT]

I think the trouble I'm having with my water movement is there seems to be dead spots where it doesn't push the detritus and stuff out of the crevices of the rock scape. I have two pin cushion urchins and a large CUC of snails, conchs, and hermit crabs.

I run bare bottom. I had a real issue in my sump when I had puffer in it. I had to set my rock up and position pumps in it so there where no dead spots or he could gets things out of hand real fast.
On my tables when I had fish in them. My hermits, super sized bristle worms and nassarius snails made fast work of anything that made it to floor.
If I was in a deep tank I'd make sure I had a hidden submersible pump in dead spots that came on periodically during the day or that I could turn on during feeding. I know a cpl reefers do that here.

 

[Paul B]

My reef is gin clear. Of course it is gin but I digress. Much of my tank is sponges which micro filters the water but even before I had those my water was always crystal clear. I am not sure why anyone;s water would not be clear unless they had something dead.

I also run a reverse undergravel filter and my gravel is full of tiny red feather dusters that I am sure help filter the water.
The blue stuff behind this cowfish is all sponge.

 

[Damon Jensen]

Everyone's ecosystem is different. I am on a roll for Crystal clear water, but it declines as the week goes.
I use filter socks, uv sterilization, carbon chemi pure blue, vibrant and recently added poli filters.....it takes all of this.

I will try to add a video after my next cleaning this weekend

 

[Damon Jensen]

Dont have any puffers or triggers?

Interesting comment, what about the Triigers and puffers? I have both and it is a monumental effort to keep clear water. What are they doing to my water

 

[Arthur_Dent]

Which UV do you run?

A really small one. The 9 watt coralife 3x. Came with the tank. I added the carbon reactor and the uv at the same time, and the change was nothing short of amazing after about 48 hours. I feed the uv and the reactor with a sicci 1.5, and I think I have it set for about 120gph.

I'm not sure whether it was the carbon or the uv that had the biggest impact since I added them at the same time.

 

[prdubois]

Interesting comment, what about the Triigers and puffers? I have both and it is a monumental effort to keep clear water. What are they doing to my water

They pick at the rock and sand and filter it thru their gills. Sometimes in clouds the water a little but they are worth it.

 

[hans4811]

Hands down... filter socks will make your water column clearer

But.... the quality of your front glass has a lot to do with that as well. Betting the pic above is low-iron starfire glass


.

Have to disagree with that one. I dont have any socks but my water is every bit of clear as the one shown. I run UV for algae and activated carbon along with my skimmer is all I run.

 

[ReefHomieJon]

Last august, I bought 60 gallons of water that I was gonna use for a water change(160 gallon system) the weekend before my st. Thomas vacation. I looked at the LFS tropic Marin water in the bucket next to my water. Needless to say. That water never made it in my tank, and it’s been like a year and a half now since my last WC. Chemi pure blue, refugium, GFO....

 

[bReefedBaker]

Ever see those reef aquariums where it looks like there isn't any water in the tank? How in the world do people get their aquariums so CRYSTAL CLEAR? Like there's no water at all in there! Let's talk about that today.

1. Would you consider your aquarium water to be "Crystal Clear?"

2. What are the best ways to keep your water consistently clear?

image via @Marco A. Martins

In the words of Adam Sandler as the Waterboy...
“That’s some high quality h..H2o”

My Tip: Do your water changes - Don’t be lazy
That’s probably the best tip I can give so far and as I proceed with the aquarium.

Daily Everyday Tank Exam —-> I look everything over at minimum once a day. Equipment checks, LiveStock checks etc.

I’m simply a beginner here, so for filtration I’ve been very happy x8 to start out. Simple HOB filter w/ added pre-filter foam and bio media.
*following thread

 

[ZoWhat]

Hands down... filter socks will make your water column cleaner

Have to disagree with that one. I dont have any socks but my water is every bit of clear as the one shown. I run UV for algae and activated carbon along with my skimmer is all I run.

So your no need for socks means no one should even consider socks?

Interesting thinking....

 

[Don Lidtke]

I run a Pentair Aquatics Smart High Output UV 50 Watt along with a ClariSea filter system.

 

[Mr Mumblez]

Crystal clear 46g bow! Activated carbon/gfo in brs reactor. Filter sock every 2-3 days. Dragon goby keeping sand clean, flipper glass puck.

 

[dsloan]

.2 microns sock filter and phosban.

 

[RickSanford]

Yes.

Filter floss in cups (vs. socks), skimmer, Brightwell Carbonit-P, 24x7 low flow UV.

 

[Canyon08]

I consider my water to be clear. Maybe not quite as clear as the tank in the post but my tank is acrylic and not glass. Which I think makes a difference. But I run filter socks, gfo, carbon and skimmer and it’s crystal. Before I only had a skimmer and water was bad cloudy added carbon and filter sock it got better then added gfo and results were outstanding!