Why does my tank look so cloudy?

[DalPal25]

The video doesn't really do it any justice. I've had the tank for over a month now and it had been pretty close to crystal clear up until about two days ago, it's very cloudy. If you look up at the top of the tank you can see it more clearly, all the particles floating around. I just did a water change a week ago. It looks like sand but I don't believe there's anything disturbing my sand bed in it. Anyone know what this might be?

pH: 8.2

Ammonia: 0ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 10ppm

 

[DalPal25]

Also, if it helps to find an answer, I believe bubbles are coming up from my live sand because my live rock has a lot of places with bubbles but only places where they can get trapped, not on the top

 

[Luke Schnabel]

You could have had something stirring up your sand bed. Do you have a protien skimmer and or a media reactor? If you have a skimmer try increasing the wetness of your skim and if you have a reactor throw in some carbon to clear it up.

 

[Tahoe61]

You could have had something stirring up your sand bed. Do you have a protien skimmer and or a media reactor? If you have a skimmer try increasing the wetness of your skim and if you have a reactor throw in some carbon to clear it up.

^ to Charcoal. Also change out foam or floss filtration, if you do not have the type of mechanical filtration then add some to remove particulate matter.
If that does not help then it's probably just a small bacterial or algae bloom. If bacterial then do not add any carbons or bottled bacteria to the tank and increase charcoal use. If algae then turn off the lights for a few days. Both possible causes normally resolve.

 

[DalPal25]

Would it be bad to just leave it or do I have to do something? I'm kinda bummed about it being cloudy but if it'll eventually go away naturally then I'm okay with patience

 

[Tahoe61]

I would run charcoal, and use some mechanical filtration. Both interventions are something you should probably include anyway. Other than that I would ride it out and see if it resolves on it's own.

 

[Luke Schnabel]

It's always best to run activated carbon on your tank. It clears up a lot of unwanted things floating around in your water. My guess is it will clear your water up within a day.

 

[DalPal25]

Is there different types of activated carbon for different tanks? I have this API ammo-carb that says it lowers ammonia and is a mixture of activated carbon but it says for freshwater but doesn't say anything about saltwater. Would this work or should I avoid it?

 

[Pagerone]

The video doesn't really do it any justice. I've had the tank for over a month now and it had been pretty close to crystal clear up until about two days ago, it's very cloudy. If you look up at the top of the tank you can see it more clearly, all the particles floating around. I just did a water change a week ago. It looks like sand but I don't believe there's anything disturbing my sand bed in it. Anyone know what this might be?

pH: 8.2

Ammonia: 0ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 10ppm

I had this problem and I used clarity by seacem and it worked great

 

[Lenny_S]

It really depends on what is causing it as to what you should do. Have you dosed anything to the tank? I had a very bad bacteria bloom from carbon dosing last year, UV sterilizer cleared it up in 3 days...
Bacteria bloom

1 day after adding UV sterilizer

2 days after adding UV

3 days, all clear

 

[DalPal25]

It really depends on what is causing it as to what you should do. Have you dosed anything to the tank? I had a very bad bacteria bloom from carbon dosing last year, UV sterilizer cleared it up in 3 days...
Bacteria bloom

1 day after adding UV sterilizer

2 days after adding UV

3 days, all clear

Wow what a difference!

 

[Lenny_S]

Wow what a difference!

Crazy right [emoji12]

 

[maroun.c]

Need to find out if its your sand being stirred or maybe some microbubbles created in the sump and sent back to the tank or if it's a mini bacterial bloom.
turnign off all the pumps for 5 min will allow you to rule out if its a bacterial bloom or ifit's aprticles in the water. As either they'll settle or you'll be able to better see the particles. if water is cloudy without particles then it's a bacterial bloom which usually resolves after 3-4 days. doesn't look very nasty.

 

[Volcmreefer]

Heterotrophic bacteria bloom? Going through one right now. Tank has been online for just under a month and I was told that it is not out of the ordinary to have one. Guess I will wait and see. I have a uv sterilizer but I don't want to turn it on until my cycle is complete.

 

[DalPal25]

I noticed that whatever it is seems to be being blown in by my pump. Does this help identify the cause?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Do you have any pistol shrimps? Anything clicking in there at night? When my pistol shrimp is moving sand around or "building" he kicks up a lot of particles that clouds the water.

 

[DalPal25]

Do you have any pistol shrimps? Anything clicking in there at night? When my pistol shrimp is moving sand around or "building" he kicks up a lot of particles that clouds the water.

Nah no shrimps

 

[Jimbo]

I noticed that whatever it is seems to be being blown in by my pump. Does this help identify the cause?

Bacterial bloom. The stuff coming out of the return pump is bacteria that's growing inside your plumbing.

 

[R_C]

+1 on the bacteria bloom. I had one when I first added my biopellets and it lasted for about a week. If you have fish in the tank make sure that there is good surface water agitation since the bloom robs the water of oxygen.

 

[DalPal25]

+1 on the bacteria bloom. I had one when I first added my biopellets and it lasted for about a week. If you have fish in the tank make sure that there is good surface water agitation since the bloom robs the water of oxygen.

Okay will my fish be okay? Is there anything I can do to speed this process up? Thanks for all the help everyone