NEED HELP PLEASE AS MUCH HELP AS POSSIBLE

[Reeferburns]

Hi, I’ve had a tank set up for almost three months now and I can’t seem to get rid of this white cloudy water. It is literally driving me insane and in all of my 10 years of reef keeping I’ve never had this problem happen for more than 2 weeks. Usually it’s just a simple Heterotrophic Bacteria but this one is staying for months. Literally my Glass will have stuff built up on it every 2 hours or so and when that happens it makes my tank look even worse. All of my corals seem to be doing great same with the fish. If you were too look at my tank it’s almost as if your seeing a million tiny food particles floating around and making the water cloudy and white. No it’s not micro bubbles or sand. It’s literally like a fleshy small tiny particulates. Now I have seen a baby snail so I thought maybe it’s the snail giving out baby’s making the water cloudy but that’s been about a month now since Ive seen the baby snail and only one, plus the tank has been cloudy from the start. If anyone has experienced this problem or has any recommendations, that would be awesome! Thank you!

 

[Johniejumbo]

Hard to say. Could use some pics if you have any. Are you certain it’s not silt from the sand? Did you use new sand and rinse it? I used to use “live sand” year ago. Never rinsed it and all the cloudiness would go away after a few days or so. The last time I set a tank up 2 years ago or so I tried the same thing as I used to and the cloud never settled. I ended up siphoning all the sand out and rinsing it til it ran clean and putting it back. It was a pita but I had no more cloudy water afterward.

 

[Johniejumbo]

If it is a bacteria or algae a uv sterilizer could probably clear it up in a few days.

 

[Crustaceon]

Sounds like dust from the substrate, but I’ve also seen similar things happen while carbon dosing. Do you run filter socks? Any clogging?

 

[Reeferburns]

Hard to say. Could use some pics if you have any. Are you certain it’s not silt from the sand? Did you use new sand and rinse it? I used to use “live sand” year ago. Never rinsed it and all the cloudiness would go away after a few days or so. The last time I set a tank up 2 years ago or so I tried the same thing as I used to and the cloud never settled. I ended up siphoning all the sand out and rinsing it til it ran clean and putting it back. It was a pita but I had no more cloudy water afterward.

So I bought live sand from a local store and it’s the kind I’ve always gotten I can’t remember name but when I did get it, it said on the bottom of the bag it was expired and I asked the fish guy if he thought it would be fine because the sand was still super wet and looked fine and he said yes and gave me the bags at cost so I was like heck yes I’ll do that. So that being said I was starting to lean towards the sand part but to take all the sand out would be a nightmare. For awhile I thought it was my bubble tip Because he would close up almost everyday but now recently he hasn’t been doing that so I marked that out. Also I’ve been trying to change my filter pad every 2 to 3 days. Maybe I should try and do it every day. Also I’m running Red Sea carbon to try and help it.

 

[Reeferburns]

Sounds like dust from the substrate, but I’ve also seen similar things happen while carbon dosing. Do you run filter socks? Any clogging?

If it were dust from the substrate how would I go about fixing that issue? Also I just posted below but I did purchase expired live sand from a fish store and the guy said it would be fine so I went off of what he said plus he was like I’ll give them at cost and so i was like okay let’s do it. Go to find out that I literally could have gone to PetSmart and got it cheaper than what he gave to me at cost lol but do you think it could be from the substrate being expired. When I got the bag the sand was still super wet and didn’t seem bad at all it looked the exact same as all the other bags I’ve gotten of that stuff. Also I am running carbon maybe I’ll try and remove the carbon and run straight gfo and see if anything happens.

 

[Reeferburns]

Sounds like dust from the substrate, but I’ve also seen similar things happen while carbon dosing. Do you run filter socks? Any clogging?

Also no clogging to my knowledge I change my filter pad every 2 to 3 days. I am using a hob filter but I’ve never had troubles with them in the past. I want to run a sump really bad but also don’t wanna spend a ton to get a sump set up.

 

[Crustaceon]

Also no clogging to my knowledge I change my filter pad every 2 to 3 days. I am using a hob filter but I’ve never had troubles with them in the past. I want to run a sump really bad but also don’t wanna spend a ton to get a sump set up.

So would it be safe to assume no skimming is being done on your tank? I’m wondering if this may be a cyclical bacteria bloom, which if it’s the case, the likely fix would be removing detritus. This would probably involve siphoning the sand bed down to the bottom panel. Also, if it’s actually a dust problem, siphoning would be the fix for that too.

 

[bsr2430]

So can you provide photos....
How’s your reef levels?
With your tank being so knew, how are you doing water changes?

 

[Reeferburns]

So would it be safe to assume no skimming is being done on your tank? I’m wondering if this may be a cyclical bacteria bloom, which if it’s the case, the likely fix would be removing detritus. This would probably involve siphoning the sand bed down to the bottom panel. Also, if it’s actually a dust problem, siphoning would be the fix for that too.

I have a skimmer! I’m starting to think it’s the sand. The only way to fix that problem would be to suck it all up? Also I forgot to say this that on the top of the water it has like a silky top to it and I have a wave maker pushing the top of the water but you can still see it.

 

[Reeferburns]

So can you provide photos....
How’s your reef levels?
With your tank being so knew, how are you doing water changes?

I can definitely provide pictures but it won’t look like it’s cloudy but from my perspective it definitely is cloudy. I may be able to try and see if my dslr will show the cloudy partials. So the tank was a transfer from an old one but I used new sand. All my levels are good. I will say that I was having troubles finding the right spectrum for my new prime but finally using the brs ab+ and the corals seem to be liking it a lot!

 

[Reeferburns]

So can you provide photos....
How’s your reef levels?
With your tank being so knew, how are you doing water changes?

Also I’ve been doing weekly water changes trying to get the cloudy partical situation solved but nothing is seeming to work.

 

[aqua_code]

Step 1: carbon and filter floss.

Step 2: replace every 1-2 weeks.

Step 3: profit.

 

[Crustaceon]

I have a skimmer! I’m starting to think it’s the sand. The only way to fix that problem would be to suck it all up? Also I forgot to say this that on the top of the water it has like a silky top to it and I have a wave maker pushing the top of the water but you can still see it.

You could remove the sandbed , but that might actually prolong a bacterial bloom to some degree. Either way by siphoning, I would expect the cloudiness to clear up. I would also run carbon at the moment if you’re seeing weird stuff on the surface. Maybe it’s some sort of organics that’s feeding the cloudiness and carbon could serve to trap it.

 

[Aqua Man]

Grab a handful of sand and drop it a few inches up. Does a dust cloud happen?

 

[fishguy242]

what doe the skimmate look like,is it white in any way,refering to build up not liquid?

 

[NightmareReef]

Almost sounds like your snails are spawning

 

[Reeferburns]

Ill attach videos below of my tank.

 

[Reeferburns]

what doe the skimmate look like,is it white in any way,refering to build up not liquid?

I put a video of the skim

 

[fishguy242]

skimmate looks normal,poss use a little more flow on top of water,that is all that i can add to above suggestions,careful not to strip all nutrients by over filtering,best wishes,here if needed don't hesitate to ask again!!!