My water's VERY cloudy!

[CFQTPye]

Hi all!

MY water's gottenv ery cloudy over the past couple days. Any ideas what would cause this? My params are good. I have a clownfish pair, rose bubble tip anemone, a pipe organ and a clean up crew.

 

[CFQTPye]

Here's a picture

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Looks like either a bacterial bloom, a big spawning event, or an overdose of a high pH additive (such as limewater/kalkwasser).

Probably a bacterial bloom, unless you added something.

How long has the tank been up and what have you added in the past 3 days?

 

[Waters]

How long has the tank been set up? If I had to guess, I would say it is a bacterial bloom. It happened in my tank also during the first 3 months...looked just like yours. You could just leave it and it should balance out....I bought a small UV sterilizer from Petco which cleared it up overnight.

 

[CFQTPye]

I know I did the cardinal sin and added a RBTA too soon... so please don't blast me. It's been up a month. I saw my spike and drop had the brown algae, then the green algae, then that leveled off. I had a handle on my water parameters and flow. Went through a full cycle.

WIll my RBTA and clowns be ok for the day until I can come home with the UV sterilizer?

 

[CFQTPye]

I added a pipe organ 3 days ago

 

[mrcoffee2]

I am not sure if it has anything to do with your situation but my tank looked identical to yours last night... It turned out to be my snail! I turned off my pumps and I saw this coming out of him. He did it for a good hr! The tank was super cloudy!

 

[CFQTPye]

Typically how long does it take for it to clear itself out? Is this going to affect my livestock?

 

[Waters]

If it is a bacterial bloom, it shouldn't affect your livestock as long as your water parameters are good. As for how long it takes to clear, can be a couple of days or even as long as a couple of weeks. I waited about a week and couldn't take it anymore, which is why I went out and purchased the UV sterilizer. Once your tank balances out, it will clear.....I am just impatient

 

[CFQTPye]

Does anyone have a UV sterilizer to recommend that won't break my bank or some guidelines to go by so I can get the most suitable thing for my tank? I'm quasi impatient especially since i'm worried about my livestock.

 

[beaslbob]

You might try killing your lights and stopping all feeding until it clears. Usually and a few days to a week or two.

Then, when clear, resue with less lighting and adjust so the water stays clear and the desirable stuff thrives.


my .02

 

[Waters]

Does anyone have a UV sterilizer to recommend that won't break my bank or some guidelines to go by so I can get the most suitable thing for my tank? I'm quasi impatient especially since i'm worried about my livestock.

I bought a cheap $40.00 unit from Petco (Green Killing Machine) that was undersized for my 60 gallon tank but did the job just fine. It is still running in my sump, almost 6 months later.

 

[flowflezy]

I had a similar problem. Bacteria infection had to use a uv sterilizer. It cleared up real fast.

 

[gemini9]

flowflezy... what is that green thing in your avatar?

 

[flowflezy]

Mantis shrimp

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, I see no reason to add a UV just to get rid of what is probably a temporary bacterial bloom. It is good food for filter feeders and the bacteria don't generally hurt anything.

If it doesn't go away in a week, that would be a different matter.

 

[CFQTPye]

As a result of this bacterial bloom (i believe) my ammonia is slowly rising at 0.8 this morning so i'm worried about the health of my clowns what's everyone's opinion of Amquel to reduce the toxic ammonia?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The bacteria bloom itself would not normally be the cause of ammonia (unless you are killing them with a UV), but whatever caused the bloom might also be causing the ammonia.

Any chance something died?

Yes, Prime or Amquel are good ways to deal with ammonia.

 

[flowflezy]

I got this for 52. I did the trick. Now I use for a Qt tank

 

[Eienna]

Agreed, the bloom is not causing the ammonia but might be caused by whatever the ammonia's coming from.
Best to find whatever's causing it (did anything die? Too much food?) and then just let it run its course. If you're nervous, you can add an airstone, but it should resolve with no adverse effects as long as you get rid of the cause.