whats going on????

bumpkin · Apr 9, 2014

hi guys,
trying to pick your brains. My tank has gone cloudy for a week now and i cant figure out the issue or solve it. It turned cloudy a few days ago so i did a 25gal water change and replaced my carbon. it cleared up for almost a day then right back to cloudy. i have since done 2 more water changes of the same amount and the cloudiness hasn't went away. one patch of zoas and a frogspawn aren't opening up like they should ,but everything else seems ok. I'm baffled as to what the issue is. I have been dosing BRS cal, KH and mag. started using seachem mag as I ran out of BRS. I have also been using red sea A and B aminos. I recently dosed acropower right before the cloudiness. I also have a 3 yr old boy that is wild as he can be wiyh an open 80gal rimless tank and I'm affraid he may have gotten something in there that I havent been able to find with my flashlight searches.The tank has been up and running for about 2 months. I'll list some pars.

80gal rimless with 20gal sump
cal 400
KH 8.6
mag 1300
PH ?
Amo 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0

RLM60 · Apr 9, 2014

My first thought would be a bacteria bloom, but you didn't mention it being clear at AM and cloudy by PM, so...does your son have access to your dosing supplies?

RLM60 · Apr 9, 2014

You know that old saying? when in doubt, dilution is the solution.

bumpkin · Apr 9, 2014

no he doesnt have access to the dosing chems. and ive done 3 25gal changes in a week. preping more water now.

RLM60 · Apr 9, 2014

The only thing that I have ever experienced that causes cloudiness is a bacteria bloom. I don't dose amino acids or acropower so I'm not familiar with any side affects from these products. Maybe someone will chime in and help you further

RLM60 · Apr 9, 2014

I wouldn't risk any more water changes this week.

gpdno · Apr 9, 2014

I would stop dosing entirely. With just two frags anything used up could be replaced by routine water changes. If the tank clears up you can go ahead and slowly start dosing again.

I'm guessing either your dosing solutions are participating out or your getting an algae bloom.

bumpkin · Apr 9, 2014

I'm thinking I just have to let it ride and see what happens. Its hard to do because I have a lot more than 2 frags. I have some very expensive corals in there and some more waiting on me to pick them up. There are some amazing sticks in there one might even be jawdropping. Ive been in the hobby for 6-7 years and never experienced this.

Alabamareef · Apr 9, 2014

could your power heads be stiring up the sand, just a guess.

caudill187 · Apr 9, 2014

Secret hitchhiker mantis or pistol shrimp

RLM60 · Apr 9, 2014

bumpkin said:
I'm thinking I just have to let it ride and see what happens. Its hard to do because I have a lot more than 2 frags. I have some very expensive corals in there and some more waiting on me to pick them up. There are some amazing sticks in there one might even be jawdropping. Ive been in the hobby for 6-7 years and never experienced this.

I hear you. Been in the hobby since the 80's and bacteria blooms are the only thing i can think of that can cause this.

bumpkin · Apr 9, 2014

I've got sick water flow but it's not blowing sediment. I turkey basted the sand bed and after it settled out it's still milky looking. I'm voting bacteria and am praying my kid hasn't thrown something in there that I can't find. Maybe I over did it on the aminos?

RLM60 · Apr 9, 2014

I don't know if I'm spelling this right but have you ever heard of cuprisorb? Its product that absorbs all kinds of bad things out of water. Just for your piece of mind, and I know how boys are, you might want to look into that. Being that only a couple of your corals are unhappy right now and all your fish are doing good your carbon you are running should be good enough.

bumpkin · Apr 9, 2014

I may look into that thanks. I put 2 poly filters along with about 21/2-3lbs of carbon.

RLM60 · Apr 9, 2014

Sounds like your on top of it, and I know you have been in the hobby a long time, but with an 80 gal tank, thats an awful lot of gac so I hope you're using it passively and yank all that tomorrow or you will really will have some ****** off corals:whistle: