Milky water....again....

[Koh23]

Ok, this tank looks doomed from start......

Why my water gets white/milky after few days of not using uv.....

So, i run uv lamp, water is crystal clear, so i turn off uv, two-three days later water begins to cloudy, and turning white......

Not sure why, whats happening, never had sinilar probkem.... Tank is now 6 months old, all parameters are in good range....

More and more i think to kill everything and start over.....

 

[Miami Reef]

You can kill everything with bleach, but then you’ll get even more cloudy water from the new tank cycle.

Your tank is so young, just be patient and it will go away when the tank is established.

One of the main purposes of the UV is for cloudy water, so why do you keep turning the UV off?

 

[Quietman]

Ummm....keep UV on. Mine runs 24/7/365. You probably have some colony of bacteria that will take off when allowed to. Once your tank matures more with UV running, some other organism may consume same and be less visible.

Check food though make sure it's clean and maybe rinse frozen.

 

[Tamberav]

Don't start over... starting over when you hit problems... especially in a young tank is a bad idea. You just end up with new problems in the next tank. It is still working itself out.

It is a bacterial bloom so guessing there is extra food or organics coming from somewhere. You said in another post you were feeding heavy to bring up nutrients. That may be part of the cause. It takes time for food to break down vs just dosing straight nitrate or po4. This food ofc feeds the bacterial populations and such.

Just keep the UV running, it is not harmful. Stop feeding in excess, feed what keeps your fish and corals healthy. You can dose straight Nitrate and PO4 if these are 0 or cut back on filtration if you run a lot.

 

[Miami Reef]

Why my water gets white/milky after few days of not using uv

The reason UV works is because it’s killing the free floating bacteria. The heterotrophic bacteria in particular. UV kills the symptoms of cloudy water, but doesn’t address the causes of the cloudy water in the first place.

Dosing carbon (not activated carbon) I.e. vodka, vinegar, prazipro etc will cause an abundance of carbon for the heterotrophic bacteria to grow in numbers to the point where you can see it the bacteria colonies with a naked eye. I’m sure there are other sources of carbon too, what are you dosing in your tank?

 

[Koh23]

Thank you all..

I dont dose anything, yes i feed a lot due to undetectable no3 and po4......

I'd rather have clear water without using uv... As i stated before somewhere, never run uv on any previous tanks, and didnt have such problems......

I agree that uv in this case is just masking a problem, i'd like to adress and solve problem rather than masking him with uv lamp......

Yes maybe this is caused by overfeeding, i could try to feed less, with only two fish that is not a problem, few flakes once a day is more than enough.....

Not my first tank, but something is very diferent than any other, in all fileds, i just cant figure out what....

6 months in previous tank, coraline was all over, bit of green algae, and corals was growing like crazy, had to daily dose ca,mg, full package.... Started at same way,dry rock, live sand....

This...... Cloudy water, low nutrients, cant get xenia and mushrooms to grow.... Really strange....

 

[Tamberav]

Every tank is different. You can start 10 tanks all the same way and get 10 different results. Every tank has different microbiology and strains or numbers of bacteria.

I am fairly certain your problem is related to trying to just feed more to bring up No3/Po4. The fish don't eat it all... so who will? The CUC and bacteria... yum! Then the bacteria multiply in excess from all that food they are getting.

 

[Koh23]

Ok, from now, i'll cut feeding, once a day very small amount.....

So i'll see during next week what will happen. Thanx!

 

[Tamberav]

Ok, from now, i'll cut feeding, once a day very small amount.....

So i'll see during next week what will happen. Thanx!

If your No3 and Po4 are zero... they sell bottled po4 and no3 here. Not sure if you have access to that? Brightwell and Seachem both make products, maybe others.

 

[Koh23]

Not single products that i can find, dozens of removers, in any imaginable form, but nothing to raise no3 and po4.....

 

[vetteguy53081]

Run tank as normal. In newer system, this activity is evident. Also known as bacterial blossom, this type of bacterial bloom is a condition in which a sudden increase in the number of bacterial colonies occurs, specifically bacteria that are suspended in the water column. The bacteria grows so rapidly that collectively they become visible to the naked eye, causing the water to become milky/cloudy/hazy in appearance. This condition most often is seen in a newly started aquarium, but can also occur in a tank in which there is has been an increase in the nutrients in the water, particularly nitrates and phosphates. Excessive feeding of fish without cleaning the debris can also cause a sharp increase in nutrients that results in these blooms.
Depending of the wattage of UV unit, it may nt keep up unless run continuously. It is more common that the heterotrophs are seen in bacterial blooms, not the trusted autotroph nitrifiers. It is the heterotrophs which are primarily responsible for creating the "bio-film" (slimy residue found on the tank walls and rocks. As the ammonia production increases due to the increased mineralization, the nitrifiers are slow to catch up and an ammonia spike occurs until the autotrophs reproduce enough to take care of it. Contrary to popular belief, bacterial blooms cause an ammonia spike, not the other way around.
Water changes may help but not mentioned are filters.
What filters are you using ?

 

[jgirardnrg]

Yup.. dose NO3 and PO4. While I have a couple of fish in my frag tank I do have to dose to keep numbers.

 

[Koh23]

Thank you for explanation.

Not sure what u mean by "filter", i run activated carbon in reactor, and protein skimmer, removed filter socks for now.....