Tank filled with white particles. HELP

[no1bubba]

Calcium 300
dKH 7.7
Meq 2.74
Ph 7.0
Mag 1320. All tested with salifert

Water changes. 20% every week
125 gal. 40gal sump
Octopus 2000 RODI. Uv light. LED's.

This has been going on for several months. Two wrasses that are real excavators
You catch them you take them!

[CStrickland]

Have you tried a filter sock?
If you don't want to buy a whole setup you can easily sew a sock from felt and find a way to tie it to something so that the water passes through when it enters your sump. If you run it for a day or two and things clear up you can do something more permanent. I even saw a tank of the month where the guy used actual socks lol, men's white Hanes I believe. You can't leave one on for more than a few days though, or poop starts rotting in it and raises nitrates.

[no1bubba]

I make mayos from 100 micron fabric that I purchase from pet solutions. Leave them on all the time replace every three days

[BrettDS]

If it's coming from the wrasses digging around I'm not sure filter socks will help much. I don't think most of the stuff stays suspended long enough to make it into the overflow, through the sump and back up into the tank anyway.

[mfaso24]

Are you sure it's from the wrasses. Being that your calcium is 300 my first thought was that it's precipitating into the water column...


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[Dmorty217]

Originally Posted by mfaso24

Are you sure it's from the wrasses. Being that your calcium is 300 my first thought was that it's precipitating into the water column...


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That should only occur if the PH is way high...

[mfaso24]

Originally Posted by Dmorty217

That should only occur if the PH is way high...

Oh whoops. I totally missed his 7.0 ph. That's another problem haha


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[scooter31707]

sounds like it could be microbubbles caused by your skimmer. Have you checked that yet? what is the recommend water level for your skimmer and what is it in the sump. It took me about a month and a half to figure this out, once I did it went away.

[no1bubba]

Tests today
Cal. 480
Alk. 7.2
Mag. 1410
L
Made filter socks to cover power heads and water cleared up in 8 hours. As soon as I removed the socks the snow started agIn. Not the bubble trick. Settled that issue in the first year. Tank is 8 years old. Can you/I vacuum the sand? If so, how. Or can I start taking sand out daily and go BB?

[Tisbe]

You can vacuum the sand with a gavel vac http://www.drsfostersmith.com/fish-s...FUEaGwodZjEAaQ I do it right into a filtersock on the sump or when I change water. You can also suck out the sand, rinse really well, let dry and replace if it is really nasty.

[no1bubba]

Which gravel and sand vac. They list several.

[CStrickland]

Anything but that "liquid gravel vac" at the top of the page will do. Most pet shops have something as well. Different vacs have doodads like really long hoses or diff ways to initiate the siphon (push air out of the tube so gravity pulls the water). I've got the dead cheapest kind and it works fine. I use it every week to take out the water for my water changes. Mine has a bulb you pump to prime the siphon. You just don't want to be using your mouth for that. They all have some kind of big tube and long hose. I think there's some with real little tubes, you probs want the regular 1 foot or so tube, and enough hose to reach up out of the tank and back down to the floor.

What kind of wrasses do you have? Some need the sand to bury in when they sleep, some just like to play in it. Some folks split the difference by making a little sand bed for the wrasse in a Tupperware. They'll sleep in it at night, and you can hide it behind the rocks and have the rest of the tank barebottom. If you don't mind the look, bb is a lot less work to maintain.

Another thing, I think I remember you had a crash not long ago. Even though the tank is old, if you replaced the sand it might be part of it. New sand needs a little while to get "heavy" from bacteria and stuff sticking on it. After that happens it blows around much less.

PS if you want to start messing with an older sand bed, you should go slow. Less than a quarter of the sand at a time in case you dig up something foul

[Tisbe]

+1 CStrickland. The gravel vacs can be picked up at any wet pet store like Petco. They come in a couple sizes. I use a simple ones also, a medium and large. Large gets the big open areas fast and the smaller one for tight areas. I also go to the hardware store and get a 10 foot hose so I have plenty of room to move and have the other end secured in the bucket or sump, do this so it does not fall to the floor and flood. This is very important, learn from my mistake and secure the open end with something so it can't fall out.

[Potatohead]

Your calcium was 300 two days ago and now it's 480?