Bottom Cloudy Layer On Refugium Sump

[Artagon]

Hello, I need some advice.

I noticed I have a cloudy layer on my refugium to form a week ago. see pictures attached. The sump is 40 gallons, main display tank is 90 mix reef with 10 small fish. I do weekly to biweekly water changes.

14 months ago, I build the sump my self and set it up with 1 inch of Miracle mud as recommended. I made the mistake of stirring the cloudy sump water and got the rotten egg smell. Everything bellow the cloudy layer is dead. Including some chetto and caleurpa. There are only a few pods remaining above the cloudy area.
I'm running GFO and Carbon. I recently setup the carbon and was wondering if this might be the cause if it? Or poor water circulation from my sump design?

How do I fix this problem? Do siphon out the water above the cloudy layer, save it and siphon the remaining cloudy and top dirt from the miracle mud and dispose of it? Water changes? If anyone has had a similar issue with sulfur smell on the sump. Please let me know. Thanks.


Here are my water parameters.
Alk: 8.0 dKH
CA:470
MG:1340 ppm.
Phosphates: 0.03
Ph:8.21

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[Spiffy]

The rotten egg smell is the signature of Hydrogen Sulfide, aka "Swamp Gas". This occurs when organic material breaks down without oxygen. It is heavier than air, so this could explain why it is on the bottom of the sump. And judging from your sig, your "no skimmer" could be the primary culprit. The job of the skimmer is to collect dissolved organics and nastiness in the water column, and since that's not being done, it is collecting in the sump, and decomposing. The Miracle Mud is probably accelerating the process.

A skimmer is an absolute must for a system as big as yours. You should invest in one ASAP.

But dealing with and combating this is outside of my knowledge other than prevention. Maybe some of the others can help.

[Artagon]

Spiffy, thanks for your feedback.

I did run a skimmer prior setting up this sump design.
I had another sump that had a skimmer but I got rid of the sump.
I do still have the skimmer, but decided to run it without it as it was recommended
There were no issues of this until just last week.
14 month of running this sump, no skimmer and no issues

I understand I need to change half of the miracle mud at the 2 year mark.
But I still need 10 months for that.

I keep a log diary. The only changes I made the past month is that I have
Been adding a bit of vinegar to lower my pH from 8.45 to 8.25. And also added carbon to make my water cristal clear. I also added 10 pounds of live sand to my main display tank.

I have been researching about this. Could it be the sump design it self?
Since it doesn't have enough flow at the bottom, where this issue is taken place.
But then again after 14 months?
On my main display, my livestock doesn't seem to be affected. But I will keep you post it.


If anyone else has a solution or feedback for this please let me know.

[IanWR]

If you are adding vinegar, you are carbon dosing. All that does is feed bacteria, and one is supposed to skim that out thereby lowering nitrates and phosphates. Without a skimmer you just get bacterial buildup. That may be your white glop, just bacterial buildup in the lowest flow part of your system. Stop the vinegar or start skimming.

[ryanerickson]

Swamp gas

[Artagon]

Thanks for the feedback,
Do you guys recommend me to siphon the bottom gray layer of dead debri? Or leave it as.
I will stop adding vinagar.

One more factor that I didn't take into account is that two and half months ago I built my new stand, it's Enclosed 3 sides, But I leave the front doors open most of the time.
I wasn't sure if this was the cause of it. I am however concerned about having enough flow and air circulation.