Help Cloudy water

Onyx97 · 02/26/2009, 09:31 PM

On Wednesday morning I came home from work to find my tank water a little cloudy but nothing to get upset about and I also noticed I had another pod hatch because they were allover the glass on all sides. On Thursday morning I woke to a very cloudy tank to the point that i knew something wasn't right. I had done nothing new to the tank to throw anything off, I checked my parameters and they are as follows...

Temp. 80-81F
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphate 0
PH 8.2-8.3
Alk. 4 meq/L
Cal. 450 meq/L
Mag. !000 meq/L

I know my Mag. level is low I got my Mag. test kit Wednesday and am going to get that up with daily dosing. My corals seem to be affected by the water today they aren't opening all the way and my zoa's and palys are closed. Does anyone have a clue what could be going on and what action I should take ? I am going to do another waterchange tomorrow if the problem persists, any help would be greatly appreciated.

jerryreefrigger · 02/26/2009, 10:48 PM

Green cloudy or white cloudy? How much live rock is in there? How long has the tank been set up? Anything stirring up the sand?

Onyx97 · 02/26/2009, 11:09 PM

The water is white cloudy the tank is 55gal with about 50 lbs. Of rock. My sand bed is about 2 1/2 inches deep. The tank has been running for about 6 months. I dose 7ml of cal. And 14ml of alk. daily and do a 5 gal. Water change weekly and I only use distilled and ro/di water.

Onyx97 · 02/27/2009, 01:06 AM

Bump

TheORKINMan · 02/27/2009, 02:43 AM

Do you dose sugar or vodka?

Onyx97 · 02/27/2009, 02:59 AM

No I don't dose sugar or vodka...

faze07hd · 02/27/2009, 05:43 AM

Any carbon in your tank? if not, i would put some in.

Onyx97 · 02/27/2009, 06:41 AM

Yes, I'm running carbon in a phosban reactor and I'm running Purigen in my aquaclear...

Onyx97 · 02/27/2009, 11:09 AM

Bump

Bruno3047 · 02/27/2009, 01:28 PM

Skimmer OK? Might need an upgrade.

Onyx97 · 02/27/2009, 04:39 PM

bump

Jerm77 · 02/27/2009, 09:26 PM

have you tried scooping up some water in a glass and letting settle?

does it look like calcium precipitate?

or is just hazy murky looking?

is there anything in the tank that could be spawning?

Peter Eichler · 02/27/2009, 09:33 PM

Any vitamin C dosing?

tmz · 02/27/2009, 09:54 PM

450 ppm calcium, 4dkh and 8.3 ph with low maganesium . If any of those numbers are off a bit you could easily have a precipitation event, If not bacterial bloom would be another possibility

Peter Eichler · 02/27/2009, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by tmz
450 ppm calcium, 4dkh and 8.3 ph with low maganesium . If any of those numbers are off a bit you could easily have a precipitation event, If not bacterial bloom would be another possibility

I doubt it would persist like that if it was calcium, especially with those tiny dosing amounts, but I suppose it's possible. I think bacterial is far more likely.

Onyx97 · 02/27/2009, 10:15 PM

I don't think it's calcium precip. But I will check that, and I font dose vitamin c. I'm thinking it may have been something spawning because I've got a pod explosion they are everywhere even my Phosban Reactir looks like a refugium.

Onyx97 · 02/27/2009, 10:16 PM

I don't think it's calcium precip. But I will check that, and I font dose vitamin c. I'm thinking it may have been something spawning because I've got a pod explosion they are everywhere even my Phosban Reactor looks like a refugium.

Onyx97 · 02/27/2009, 10:26 PM

Sorry for the double post. I'm really thinking it's something like a spawning of some sorts because it's got my skimmer acting all goofy sort of like when I feed my fish with The food soaked in Selcon. I ran another round of tests today and my parameters were the same I am going to do a 20gal water change in the morni g when I get home from work and start to get my Mag level up to par and see what happends from there.

R2E2 · 02/27/2009, 11:20 PM

It is probably a bacterial bloom. I just went though a month long fight with one. I added a 25 watt UV and it was over within 24 hours.

Onyx97 · 02/28/2009, 10:11 AM

bump

Jerm77 · 02/28/2009, 02:22 PM

I think we need a bit more information.

did you take a cup of your tank water and let it sit?

is your tank cycling?

how old is the setup?

are you dosing anything currently?

have you dosed any bacterial products?

have you noticed any difference since the water change?

Onyx97 · 02/28/2009, 02:43 PM

Thanks for checking back in Jerm... to answer your questions, I did check a glass of tank water and I got no settling at the bottom of the glass, no the tank is not cycling, the set up has been running for 6 months, the only thing I dose in the tank is Calcium, Alk, I started Mag this week when I got my test kit and it was only 1000 meq/L, Iodine twice a week and AquaVitro Fuel twice a week. All the products I have been using for the past 3 weeks are from the Seachem AquaVitro line. I did the 20gal WC this morning and the tank still looks the same only slightly clearer. My corals arent looking to good no Polyp extension on anything. I'm at a loss right don't really know what to do besides another water change and getting a UV sterilizer and outting it on to see what happends...

Jerm77 · 02/28/2009, 08:38 PM

it may be actually a bacteria bloom. your AquaVitro Fuel contains vitamin C, and this is known as a organic carbon source. But, this particular vitamin C comes from the Chlorella(algae) that is in the product. I don't know how much Vitamin C is in this. This could be the possible source to your cloudy water. is it possible you over dosed this product?

If it were me, I would stop dosing products for a bit and stick to the water changes till everything settles down. although, I don't see a problem with the cal, mag, and alk supplementing.

tmz · 02/28/2009, 09:05 PM

Didn't know you were dosing a carbon source. Probably is a bacterial bloom. It could deplete oxygen ,so make sure your skimmer is bubbling well and consider adding extra aeration until it clears. Run the skimmer wet to take out more bacteria dead or alive. I agree you should stop dosing the carbon. Running some granulated activated carbon may help too.

Onyx97 · 02/28/2009, 09:13 PM

Thanx for all the help guys I really appreciate it I won't dose any more fuel for a while. I had already adjusted my skimmer to run wet and it is really going good so far today for a day or so it wasn't doing much. I already run carbon 24/7 in a phosban reactor and I'm goi g to do another wc tomorrow morning.

02/26/2009, 09:31 PM	#1
Onyx97 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 134	Help Cloudy water On Wednesday morning I came home from work to find my tank water a little cloudy but nothing to get upset about and I also noticed I had another pod hatch because they were allover the glass on all sides. On Thursday morning I woke to a very cloudy tank to the point that i knew something wasn't right. I had done nothing new to the tank to throw anything off, I checked my parameters and they are as follows... Temp. 80-81F Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0 Phosphate 0 PH 8.2-8.3 Alk. 4 meq/L Cal. 450 meq/L Mag. !000 meq/L I know my Mag. level is low I got my Mag. test kit Wednesday and am going to get that up with daily dosing. My corals seem to be affected by the water today they aren't opening all the way and my zoa's and palys are closed. Does anyone have a clue what could be going on and what action I should take ? I am going to do another waterchange tomorrow if the problem persists, any help would be greatly appreciated.

02/27/2009, 05:43 AM	#7
faze07hd Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Utica, Ny Posts: 914	Any carbon in your tank? if not, i would put some in. __________________ Harry Current Tank Info: 90 gallon reef tank

02/27/2009, 09:33 PM	#13
Peter Eichler Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Milwaukee Posts: 6,081	Any vitamin C dosing? __________________ April 2015 TOTM

02/27/2009, 09:54 PM	#14
tmz ReefKeeping Mag staff Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: West Seneca NY Posts: 27,691	450 ppm calcium, 4dkh and 8.3 ph with low maganesium . If any of those numbers are off a bit you could easily have a precipitation event, If not bacterial bloom would be another possibility __________________ Tom Current Tank Info: Tank of the Month , November 2011 : 600gal integrated system: 3 display tanks (120 g, 90g, 89g),several frag/grow out tanks, macroalgae refugia, cryptic zones. 40+ fish, seahorses, sps,lps,leathers, zoanthidae and non photosynthetic corals.

02/28/2009, 08:38 PM	#23
Jerm77 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: NORCAL Posts: 499	it may be actually a bacteria bloom. your AquaVitro Fuel contains vitamin C, and this is known as a organic carbon source. But, this particular vitamin C comes from the Chlorella(algae) that is in the product. I don't know how much Vitamin C is in this. This could be the possible source to your cloudy water. is it possible you over dosed this product? If it were me, I would stop dosing products for a bit and stick to the water changes till everything settles down. although, I don't see a problem with the cal, mag, and alk supplementing. Last edited by Jerm77; 02/28/2009 at 08:49 PM.

02/26/2009, 10:48 PM	#2
jerryreefrigger Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Oxford, MI Posts: 130	Green cloudy or white cloudy? How much live rock is in there? How long has the tank been set up? Anything stirring up the sand?

02/26/2009, 11:09 PM	#3
Onyx97 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 134	The water is white cloudy the tank is 55gal with about 50 lbs. Of rock. My sand bed is about 2 1/2 inches deep. The tank has been running for about 6 months. I dose 7ml of cal. And 14ml of alk. daily and do a 5 gal. Water change weekly and I only use distilled and ro/di water.

02/27/2009, 01:06 AM	#4
Onyx97 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 134	Bump

02/27/2009, 02:43 AM	#5
TheORKINMan Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Tallahassee, FL Posts: 423	Do you dose sugar or vodka?

02/27/2009, 02:59 AM	#6
Onyx97 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 134	No I don't dose sugar or vodka...

02/27/2009, 06:41 AM	#8
Onyx97 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 134	Yes, I'm running carbon in a phosban reactor and I'm running Purigen in my aquaclear...

02/27/2009, 11:09 AM	#9
Onyx97 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 134	Bump

02/27/2009, 01:28 PM	#10
Bruno3047 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 1,018	Skimmer OK? Might need an upgrade.

02/27/2009, 04:39 PM	#11
Onyx97 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 134	bump

02/27/2009, 09:26 PM	#12
Jerm77 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: NORCAL Posts: 499	have you tried scooping up some water in a glass and letting settle? does it look like calcium precipitate? or is just hazy murky looking? is there anything in the tank that could be spawning?

02/27/2009, 10:15 PM	#16
Onyx97 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 134	I don't think it's calcium precip. But I will check that, and I font dose vitamin c. I'm thinking it may have been something spawning because I've got a pod explosion they are everywhere even my Phosban Reactir looks like a refugium.

02/27/2009, 10:16 PM	#17
Onyx97 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 134	I don't think it's calcium precip. But I will check that, and I font dose vitamin c. I'm thinking it may have been something spawning because I've got a pod explosion they are everywhere even my Phosban Reactor looks like a refugium.

02/27/2009, 10:26 PM	#18
Onyx97 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 134	Sorry for the double post. I'm really thinking it's something like a spawning of some sorts because it's got my skimmer acting all goofy sort of like when I feed my fish with The food soaked in Selcon. I ran another round of tests today and my parameters were the same I am going to do a 20gal water change in the morni g when I get home from work and start to get my Mag level up to par and see what happends from there.

02/27/2009, 11:20 PM	#19
R2E2 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 63	It is probably a bacterial bloom. I just went though a month long fight with one. I added a 25 watt UV and it was over within 24 hours.

02/28/2009, 10:11 AM	#20
Onyx97 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 134	bump

02/28/2009, 02:22 PM	#21
Jerm77 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: NORCAL Posts: 499	I think we need a bit more information. did you take a cup of your tank water and let it sit? is your tank cycling? how old is the setup? are you dosing anything currently? have you dosed any bacterial products? have you noticed any difference since the water change?

02/28/2009, 02:43 PM	#22
Onyx97 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 134	Thanks for checking back in Jerm... to answer your questions, I did check a glass of tank water and I got no settling at the bottom of the glass, no the tank is not cycling, the set up has been running for 6 months, the only thing I dose in the tank is Calcium, Alk, I started Mag this week when I got my test kit and it was only 1000 meq/L, Iodine twice a week and AquaVitro Fuel twice a week. All the products I have been using for the past 3 weeks are from the Seachem AquaVitro line. I did the 20gal WC this morning and the tank still looks the same only slightly clearer. My corals arent looking to good no Polyp extension on anything. I'm at a loss right don't really know what to do besides another water change and getting a UV sterilizer and outting it on to see what happends...

02/28/2009, 09:05 PM	#24
tmz ReefKeeping Mag staff Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: West Seneca NY Posts: 27,691	Didn't know you were dosing a carbon source. Probably is a bacterial bloom. It could deplete oxygen ,so make sure your skimmer is bubbling well and consider adding extra aeration until it clears. Run the skimmer wet to take out more bacteria dead or alive. I agree you should stop dosing the carbon. Running some granulated activated carbon may help too. __________________ Tom Current Tank Info: Tank of the Month , November 2011 : 600gal integrated system: 3 display tanks (120 g, 90g, 89g),several frag/grow out tanks, macroalgae refugia, cryptic zones. 40+ fish, seahorses, sps,lps,leathers, zoanthidae and non photosynthetic corals.

02/28/2009, 09:13 PM	#25
Onyx97 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 134	Thanx for all the help guys I really appreciate it I won't dose any more fuel for a while. I had already adjusted my skimmer to run wet and it is really going good so far today for a day or so it wasn't doing much. I already run carbon 24/7 in a phosban reactor and I'm goi g to do another wc tomorrow morning.