Really late update:
I've change the system around a bit, drilled the tank, added a custom sump, plumbed it, etc. Basically a new tank, once again :/. I also now have a somatic skimmer I got on sale. I'm running a felt filter sock as well as some more rock in the sump for more filtration.
The cloudiness persists. I don't understand. At this point I think it's an external thing, I read someone had a similar issue until they cleaned their AC coils or something? I really don't know. I've re-started a tank 4 times already and I always end up with this never-ending cloudiness.
I can post a pic once lights come on, but at this point I'm beat. I feel like I've tried everything, I upped the system to one with a sump and added all this extra cost. In the end, I'm at the same spot. Then I simply look online and see people put nothing but a powerhead into a tank and it flourishes. :/
The livestock I had for a while now passed. No ammonia, no nitrite, temps are good, salinity was kept stable. I don't know guys, any ideas would be appreciated.
Some extra info:
- I'm running carbon
- I'm running a fine felt filter sock
- I'm running a skimmer
- No livestock in the tank atm, not until I can figure this out. I just keep losing stuff and it makes me feel more inclined to leave the hobby
- Tank is heated to 78f
- Only coral that seems to really survive is GSP, but the polyps are extremely short and lack color at this point
- UV stopped helping, when running UV nothing changes.
- There has been a day or two out of all this time where the tank cleared up almost completely, but then returned back. I didn't do anything different in this time, so I'm not sure what the heck is going on.
I read your entire post. You are not easily frustrated!
At this point, I cannot be sure that we know whether the cloudiness is biotic or abiotic. At one point, UV cleared the water and that seemed to indicate a biotic cause. For purpose of score keeping, that is one point biotic, 0 points abiotic cause. At another point, rip cleaning clarified the water for awhile. I will give 0.5 points to each, making the score 1.5 biotic to 1.0 abiotic cause. A slight edge to a biotic cause. When I study photographs of your aquarium, your system “looks” sterile. Nothing growing. I am going to add half a point to biotic cause for this, now 2.0 to 1.0 biotic versus abiotic. UV now does not seem to work, so a tie, biotic 2, abiotic 2. Nuts!
For this to be a persistent biotic caused problem, I would say that it has to be fed to keep it going and I would go further, saying that the system is being carbon dosed. There seems to be plenty of nitrogen and phosphorous to keep enough bacteria alive to make the water cloudy. Notice. I just jumped to blaming bacteria, but other organisms are probably in the water as well contributing to the haze, like, ciliates feeding on the bacteria and if the lights are on, phytoplankton which are both assimilating the nitrogen and phosphorous exuding carbon which is also be feeding the bacteria. You would have to centrifuge a large sample of the water to concentrate the organisms enough to test this idea with a microscope. To investigate further, you might shut off the lights and wrap the tank in black plastic for a couple weeks to see if light is playing a role in the cloudiness. And yes, it could take a couple weeks or more to starve the system and for particulates to settle.
If light is not playing a role, your system might be carbon dosed in other ways. You are convinced that none of the common vapor sources exist, e.g., sprays and scents. What about particulate matter, e.g., dust, baking flour, mites, baby powder (corn starch), etc. For this line of investigation, the aquarium top must be completely and thoroughly sealed with plastic. The air that enters has to be supplied dust and vapor free. Dust free is easy. An aquarium pump air passed through a syringe filter before entering the aquarium. You will need a pin hole in the plastiv to let the air out. This investigation will also last weeks as the system is slowly starved.
You could try a Triton N-DOC test to see if you have a whopping amount of organic carbon in the system, a long shot. You might consult with
@AquaBiomics to see if they have had experience with finding certain bacteria causing cloudy water.
As for abiotic causes, the dry rock you are using is the same used in all your restart attempts, right? Remove it from the aquarium for a several weeks and see what happens.
Dan
this is rarely practiced/we're pushing hard to get it that way though. unguided live rock can be a headache agreed but when ran in its unique way it squelches water-borne bac issues if that's the case here, really well. LR needs hand guiding for GHA usually up front, miss it and its a headache bc it retains detritus much better than white rock above. lr has more surface area. = catch points people rarely clean.
