Water clarity issue

[LEOreefer]

hello all my tank as been up and running for about a month. I have BRS dry rock with live sand and about 15 snails for my clean up crew. I’m running a skimz protein skimmer , BRS carbon reactor and a chaeto reactor. I do have a small micro bubble issue as I have a small sump. My question is it appears my water is every so slightly cloudy. I did a 50% water change on Sunday. Can I expect this to pass with time as the tank matures? Like I said it’s really not that bad but I notice it and it bothers me. I will post a pic but you can’t really tell

 

[greenhorn reefer]

White cloudy or yellow? How's your skimmer running? Why salt are you using? Are you using R/O?Lastly, what are your nitrogen cycle parameters?

 

[LEOreefer]

White cloudy or yellow? How's your skimmer running? Why salt are you using? Are you using R/O?Lastly, what are your nitrogen cycle parameters?

It’s a every so slight white cloudy. My skinner is pulling out dark brown sludge that has to be emptied about 1 per week. I am using Red Sea blue bucket salt with ro water reading 0 tds. My ammonia is at 0 nitrate between 12-25 ppm can’t really tell the color just tested

 

[PatW]

I wonder if the cloudiness might be a bit of silt from the sand. If it is from the sand bed, a fine grained filter sock should remove it. If you stirr up the sand bed and it is the cause, the situation should get far more severe. With filtration, you will remove that fine particulate stuff and it should resolve. Of course, I could be barking up the wrong tree. It would not be the first time.

 

[greenhorn reefer]

Pat has a good suggestion. Also, if nitrite is zero, I'd say you can count out bacteria bloom. I use Red Sea black pro and as of late, I've been getting a lot of mag precipitate, that could be another potential issue. If bubble are getting sucked into that mp 10, could just be micro bubbles like you thought. Could be too much flow but if you remove the fine stuff, like Pat suggested, you could at least eliminate that. If it doesn't clear up you could skim a little more wet to see if that help. Do you have mechanical filtration like a filter pad? Buy sheets and cut them to shape, replace often.

 

[greenhorn reefer]

One more thing. Good on you for not putting fish in there yet.

 

[LEOreefer]

One more thing. Good on you for not putting fish in there yet.

Thank you. I’m tanking it real slow and learning the feel for my tank. No plans for fish until November. Right now I have 1 small frag of gsp that’s open and happy. I want to watch and see how the gsp react to the changing parameters as I hone in my levels. Right now my alk is sitting at 6.6 and calc 400 mag 1350

 

[LEOreefer]

Forgot the pic !

 

[greenhorn reefer]

Quick reminder: if you wait until November to add fish, make sure you're doing something to feed the colony of nitrifying bacteria. If you don't there will be a major die off (they starve too) and you'll have a mini cycle when you add fish. On to parameters what are you using?

 

[LEOreefer]

Quick reminder: if you wait until November to add fish, make sure you're doing something to feed the colony of nitrifying bacteria. If you don't there will be a major die off (they starve too) and you'll have a mini cycle when you add fish. On to parameters what are you using?

What am I using ? Like test kit wise ?

 

[greenhorn reefer]

Test kit and dosing.

 

[LEOreefer]

Test kit and dosing.

Salfiet mag,
La montte alk
Red Sea calcium
Hanna phosphate ulr
NYOS nitrate
I plan on getting a Hanna calc and all checked as well
No dosing yet I’m waiting for a BRS 2 part package to come at the end of the week

 

[irischan]

Crystal water = Mechanical (filter floss or sock) + chemical (activated carbon, purigen) + biological (UV filter, ozone, increase oxygen to favour nitrifying bacteria growth by air pump or skimmer)

 

[greenhorn reefer]

Salfiet mag,
La montte alk
Red Sea calcium
Hanna phosphate ulr
NYOS nitrate
I plan on getting a Hanna calc and all checked as well
No dosing yet I’m waiting for a BRS 2 part package to come at the end of the week

I have no experience with two part. I use the Red Sea ABC,it simplifies things for me because I have a manual dosing regiment. Also, not adding stuff to my ato protects me from spiked dosing if there was an equipment malfunction. Your kits are everywhere, lol. Want to experiment? I am almost positive that API tests are as close to accurate as most of the testers you have listed, but at half the cost. You could experiment by picking up the set and comparing your results to those of your current test kits. I'd like to see how they match up, but that's a whole other topic. It's cool to see someone so patient in this hobby, your like a unicorn.

 

[LEOreefer]

I have no experience with two part. I use the Red Sea ABC,it simplifies things for me because I have a manual dosing regiment. Also, not adding stuff to my ato protects me from spiked dosing if there was an equipment malfunction. Your kits are everywhere, lol. Want to experiment? I am almost positive that API tests are as close to accurate as most of the testers you have listed, but at half the cost. You could experiment by picking up the set and comparing your results to those of your current test kits. I'd like to see how they match up, but that's a whole other topic. It's cool to see someone so patient in this hobby, your like a unicorn.

Hahahah thanks. I’ve actualky learned the hard way. I had a 150 gallons tank about 6 years ago that was set up on a budget and rushed. I never tested and blindly added powdered supplements right into the water column. I didn’t have the a ato and the return sucked air at least once per week causing my salt levels to swing drastically. I would put a coral in and watch it melt away in hours. I promised myself this time I’ll take it real slow and take the time to learn how my tank works and reacts. I have 1 frag of gsp that is open and happy. As I adjust my levels over they next few weeks I will get to see and document how it reacts allowing me to hone in on the extact levels I want. Then the fish will come. All will be quarantined and treat with copper if appropriate for a period of a least a month.