Yellowish Cloudy Water (Morning only)

[Juken12]

Hello!
I am having an issue with my tank and could use some advice. I am new the the hobby.
Each of the last 3 mornings, I have come down and the water is cloudy and yellowish. I have attached a picture. The strange part is, it is only the morning (and potentially while I am sleeping). It clears up nicely after a few hours. My parameters seem great also. They are pretty consistent throughout the day.

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 1-2 ppm
Calcium: 450-500 ppm
Alkalinity: 11-12 dKH
Ph: 8.0 - 8.2
Phos: 0ppm

I am running carbon media and a protein skimmer.

Any advice is very appreciated.

 

[EmdeReef]

Looks like it could be a bacterial bloom. Do you dose any carbon (vinegar, vodka, nopox?)

 

[Juken12]

Looks like it could be a bacterial bloom. Do you dose any carbon (vinegar, vodka, nopox?)

I don't dose anything right now. I have two carbon bags for filtering.
Why is it only in the mornings and clears up each day?
Also, how would I start fixing the bloom?

 

[EmdeReef]

I don't dose anything right now. I have two carbon bags for filtering.
Why is it only in the mornings and clears up each day?
Also, how would I start fixing the bloom?

I don’t know if it’s a bloom but it sounds possible.
A bloom could be reduced during the day but usually through skimming, or consumption by filter feeders. If everything is on all the day then not sure why there’s a difference.

Does anything change in your equipment schedule overnight? Flow reduction? Skimmer off?

 

[Juken12]

I don’t know if it’s a bloom but it sounds possible.
A bloom could be reduced during the day but usually through skimming, or consumption by filter feeders. If everything is on all the day then not sure why there’s a difference.

Does anything change in your equipment schedule overnight? Flow reduction? Skimmer off?

Nothing changes from day to night. I did a 10 gallon water change 2 days ago but that didn't help. I might try doing one today as well because it is persisting. I just didn't want to stress the fish out by doing one each day.

 

[lapin]

My ipinion
If nothing changes it must be light. No light and that bacteria grows. Somehow the light is killing it off or photosynthetic organisms are out competing it for nutrients in the day.
Water changes might not help with ridding your tank of this bacteria.
It will however provide oxygen to the fish that the bacteria are taking away.
Did you add any starter bacteria when first setting up your tank. Dr Tims One and Only, Frtiz Turbo 900 or ?
Sometimes tanks are lacking in good bacteria and the nasty stuff grows.

 

[Juken12]

My ipinion
If nothing changes it must be light. No light and that bacteria grows. Somehow the light is killing it off or photosynthetic organisms are out competing it for nutrients in the day.
Water changes might not help with ridding your tank of this bacteria.
It will however provide oxygen to the fish that the bacteria are taking away.
Did you add any starter bacteria when first setting up your tank. Dr Tims One and Only, Frtiz Turbo 900 or ?
Sometimes tanks are lacking in good bacteria and the nasty stuff grows.

This is good insight. I did a 10 gallon water change today and it didn't really help. I will continue to monitor closely over the next couple days. When I started the tank I used FritzZyme Number 9 Nitrifying Bacteria.

 

[brandon429]

That’s bc it’s a partial change, a full change with sandbed cleaning will stop the clouding. If your tank is large, then that won’t work. If it’s accessible or smaller tank then it will, it’s based on work willing to be done. We have 23 page threads of fixing tanks this way, the biology part is already documented. You have a suspended organism or else your rock would be covered and the water would be clear

So, a full wc removes all the suspension. The sand cleaning is because that’s a hiding place for X and X feed, identification doesn’t matter much here knowing you don’t dose carbon, could’ve been a single overfeeding event or other matters. The fix will work, depends on size of tank though for practicality. No nano reef would ever have to endure or wait for the condition to fix, it’s fixable in one rip clean. There are myriad options that require no work, and time and experimentation those are avail as well. A rip cleaning is free other than the makeup water

 

[Juken12]

Thanks for the reply brandon429. This helps and is the route I will take. It weird that this happened the day after I cleaned the sandbed and did a large water change. I am definitely not unwilling to do the work; I enjoy it. I just didn't know the solution.

 

[brandon429]

Hey I wanted to link a thread of us doing sand rinses, not because I'm trying to flood you with pages of reading but just wanted you to see them pulling it off without tank loss

We always remove sensitives first, hold them elsewhere before the mud work begins. We can do whatever we want to the bed when there are no other animals present to care... As long as the new tank is reassembled without clouding, meaning no matter how much sand you disturb or how many rocks you shake mid-water no clouding comes off because they were rinsed, then the system will not recycle

Detritus causes the recycle and nothing else

Also, we are harsh to sandbeds there but live rock is always handled carefully and only with saltwater, it's our filter base. It's how we get away with sandbed removals, swaps, tap rinses etc. The sand doesn't matter, it's all about the live rocks. If you would post pictures of your tank surgery we would love to use it because if you do it right it works 100% of the time, and if you mix mud water with sensitive animals than it will kill them 100% of the time LOL it's clear cut... Cloudless reassembly never recycles. Leave 10% cloud, get ten pct ammonia irritation in the new setup, simple as that.

 

[brandon429]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ead-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445


The reason everybody's tank used to crash when you accessed it 10 years ago is because everyone was fearful of killing bacteria so they made partial moves which really just stirs up a bunch of half-rotten protein


We know nowadays by using correct microbiology that you couldn't scrub bacteria off the surface of a sand grain without an air pressure Blaster and some bleach lol meaning primitive tank cleaning, 100% at once, is safest because it allows no leftover ammonia portions to overcome filter bacteria we know are stuck to rocks... sand grains retain filtration bacteria after a brief tap rinse for the very same reasons doctors won't use tap water in surgery... It's not sterile, and doesn't sterilize.

 

[Juken12]

Thank you for that read @brandon429. Going through it all, I am still a little confused on the logistics. How would I go about rinsing all of the sand? Would I use a big strainer or something like that?

 

[brandon429]

its whatever it takes to be cloudless. many just rinse in a bucket, it takes like 1.5 hours of rinsing to do two bags worth. whoever wrote not to rinse the sand on the label is cra lol we have a 23 page thread about why every sand should be pre rinsed before use, except for true live sand that is...the kind with wiggling motile animals that scurry about when we look at a handful.
99.9999999% of live sand we'll ever encounter is wet mud.

 

[Jonathan Troutt]

So just my input i have trochus snails that make my water cloudy like this during lights out. Spawning behavior from what im told.

Kinda nuts how much they release.... pun intended.

I always think about what it would be like being a fish swimming around with snail sperm all around me ....

Not sure if you have trochus snails or if any other species of snails does this but.... figured i would chime in.

 

[Juken12]

So just my input i have trochus snails that make my water cloudy like this during lights out. Spawning behavior from what im told.

Kinda nuts how much they release.... pun intended.

I always think about what it would be like being a fish swimming around with snail sperm all around me ....

Not sure if you have trochus snails or if any other species of snails does this but.... figured i would chime in.

I have 2 trochus snails. This might be a contributing factor also.

 

[brandon429]

agreed that's a great call
cleaning still is handy as preventative, for things like cyano invasions, or if a rock stack falls over/cloudy doom etc. so if the tank is small and accessible cleaning is still awesome for longevity

The #1 most important takeaway from that thread is that a full tank cleaning is harmless, not that its required. any time one is ran, the life of the tank is extended, not challenged. if a deep cleaning can be skipped then its less work agreed, but that detritus buildup always has a tipping point, and the interception is always welcomed in the biosystem that's for sure.

 

[Entz]

Yeah so I noticed this as well, I have trochus snails ... I am never going without gloves again, you ruined it for me ;Vomit

 

[Jonathan Troutt]

Yeah so I noticed this as well, I have trochus snails ... I am never going without gloves again, you ruined it for me ;Vomit

lol..... i mean have you ever watched em do it. This tube thing comes out and you see em clinch and splooge right into your water

 

[Entz]

lol..... i mean have you ever watched em do it. This tube thing comes out and you see em clinch and splooge right into your water

TBH No I have never looked that close lol

 

[Jonathan Troutt]

TBH No I have never looked that close lol

In all seriousness it is kind of interesting to watch