Water Change Issue

Jimmy_31 · 10/09/2014, 04:14 PM

Hey y'all. Been going for about 2 months so far on my new aquarium, 36g bow front, PennPlax 1000 filter, 30 lbs LR, 10 lbs LS, ocean marine LED. Have not had any hitches this far. All H2O chem has been stable, multiple H2O changes. I had also had a diatom bloom which has pretty much disappeared and now have a little hair algae growing that is ugly, but not horrible, and a MASSIVE copepod flourish in the last week or so. Have some astrea/nessarius snails, 2 lively perc clowns who are showing aggression towards each other which I believe is normal (They also don't like me messing with their corner of the tank), a peppermint shrimp, a scarlet skunk cleaner, an emerald crab, a few hermits, and a lawnmower blenny. All seem happy. The lawnmower is taking the algae out with a vengeance almost 2 hours after I introduced him

Yesterday, I did my routine water change around 3pm and noticed as of 9pm or so that the water was a little cloudy. Up until this point, it had been crystal clear after the cycle. I did do a little sub vacuuming. Today, I still notice some cloudiness in the tank. I thought maybe I had microbubbles coming in from some source, but checked and no leaks/air intake anywhere (Broke everything apart and made sure everything was seated and tightened properly). My next thought that was maybe I just stirred up a bit of waste from the sub and it just hasn't settled/filtered out yet? Or, is it possible that I provided some good ol' nutrients to the blooming copepods and they just decided to be happy and go out of control? Water perams were great when I checked them earlier. SG 1.024, NH3/Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10, alk 10 (usually runs around 8-9, not sure why it jumped after water change), pH 8.2.

Any thoughts? I didn't take a pic, but can if you want. I just wasn't sure you'd be able to really see anything except the little copepods jumping around.

Dmorty217 · 10/09/2014, 04:25 PM

Are you using RO water?

Jimmy_31 · 10/09/2014, 06:36 PM

I am using RO water. It seems this evening that it might have gotten a little more clear, but hard to tell really with the lawnmower blenny kicking up substrate.

goldrimtang · 10/09/2014, 07:12 PM

Are you running carbon? Is it active or too old? My water was kind of cloudy until I realized that the carbon reactor was not working. Got that fixed and the water got crystal clear.

Dmorty217 · 10/09/2014, 07:42 PM

Your water shouldn't be cloudy either way. I don't and have never used carbon for water clarity and it's not cloudy. Milky cloudy or different?

Mikesmith34 · 10/09/2014, 07:48 PM

The jump in Alk was more than likely from the salt mix, mixing at a higher alk than you normally maintain. Check the mix and what it's alk is at 1.026

Jimmy_31 · 10/15/2014, 05:56 PM

Hi yall, sorry for the late reply. Been out of town for a few days.

I did have a carbon filter in place, but someone suggested I remove it. It was about a week after the removal that I noticed the cloudy water.

I would say now its just a slight haze to the water and has cleared up just a little since my last post, but not any crazy green or yellow tinted color. All the chemistry is still where it was in my first post. NH3 and Nitrite are solidly at 0 since the cycle. Being the worrisome type, I initially kept an eye on it every day. Last Thursday I did add some Nitrate rocks in a filter bag to my filter, but had rinsed them. Perhaps I just didn't rinse them thoroughly enough? I had someone suggest that even though I rinsed them that if there was any particulate left on them, I may not have a fine enough filter in place to actually remove the fine particles. They had suggested getting some pantyhose and put it around on of my filter trays and see if it starts to catch anything or turn white. So, I was going to check with you guys first and see if that might be advisable.

Also, as mentioned, the lawnmower is pretty active, but I didn't figure the minute amount of stuff he is kicking up would stay suspended for a week...I was mostly worried about it being a bad bacteria bloom of some sort that is going to wipe out the tank, but everyone is eating and as active as they have ever been so I just don't know.

oh and for the alk, I have had 1.024 in the tank and mixed maybe a little over 1.024, but not .025 with the last change.

tmz · 10/15/2014, 11:12 PM

Possibilities :

Stirring the substrate released fines which clouded the water and might also have polluted the sample for alk testing ;raisng the reading .

Stirring the substrate released some organic material or other nutrients which caused a bacterial bloom .

The change water may have included a high amount of alkalinty which could have caused precipitation of calcium carbonate in the tank ; the salt mix may have lost it's homogeniety or be formulated for high alk.

Something spawned.

Jimmy_31 · 10/17/2014, 11:31 AM

Hi y'all. Thanks for all of the responses! Tmz, I am using instant ocean reef crystals for my mix. I had read your post before the water change so I did take the salt and mix around in the bucket this morning before I measured and mixed in fresh water. I noticed this morning that the water clarity issue has worked itself out! I did my weekly water changed this morning and did stir up a little sub with the vacuum, but it's already starting to clear as well. I don't know what the issue was, but it didn't seem to affect much in terms of the life in my tank. All seem to be happy.

I did get my lawnmower blenny to munch on an algae wafer today so that is also awesome! (I had read that they might not take to being fed).

Still have the tiny copepods congregating on the hair algae that is on the glass and near the intersection of glass and substrate. So, I reckon it's good to still see them populating. I have seen the clowns take a few of the larger ones out...Might be why the clowns aren't too interested in the food I drop in, so, I have cut back to feeding once a day in the morning.

Oh! and my bright white base rock has started turning purple and pink all over! I hope and believe it's corraline growth! Beautiful shades of color and the tank is starting to go from bland new tank (ha! see what I did there?!) to a more colorful one!

Again, I just want to thank you all for the troubleshooting!

10/09/2014, 04:14 PM	#1
Jimmy_31 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 7	Water Change Issue Hey y'all. Been going for about 2 months so far on my new aquarium, 36g bow front, PennPlax 1000 filter, 30 lbs LR, 10 lbs LS, ocean marine LED. Have not had any hitches this far. All H2O chem has been stable, multiple H2O changes. I had also had a diatom bloom which has pretty much disappeared and now have a little hair algae growing that is ugly, but not horrible, and a MASSIVE copepod flourish in the last week or so. Have some astrea/nessarius snails, 2 lively perc clowns who are showing aggression towards each other which I believe is normal (They also don't like me messing with their corner of the tank), a peppermint shrimp, a scarlet skunk cleaner, an emerald crab, a few hermits, and a lawnmower blenny. All seem happy. The lawnmower is taking the algae out with a vengeance almost 2 hours after I introduced him Yesterday, I did my routine water change around 3pm and noticed as of 9pm or so that the water was a little cloudy. Up until this point, it had been crystal clear after the cycle. I did do a little sub vacuuming. Today, I still notice some cloudiness in the tank. I thought maybe I had microbubbles coming in from some source, but checked and no leaks/air intake anywhere (Broke everything apart and made sure everything was seated and tightened properly). My next thought that was maybe I just stirred up a bit of waste from the sub and it just hasn't settled/filtered out yet? Or, is it possible that I provided some good ol' nutrients to the blooming copepods and they just decided to be happy and go out of control? Water perams were great when I checked them earlier. SG 1.024, NH3/Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10, alk 10 (usually runs around 8-9, not sure why it jumped after water change), pH 8.2. Any thoughts? I didn't take a pic, but can if you want. I just wasn't sure you'd be able to really see anything except the little copepods jumping around.

10/09/2014, 04:25 PM	#2
Dmorty217 Saltwater Addict Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Vandalia OHIO Posts: 11,624	Are you using RO water? __________________ Fish are not disposable commodities, but a worthwhile investment that can be maintained and enjoyed for many years, providing one is willing to take the time to understand their requirements and needs Current Tank Info: 625g, 220g sump, RD3 230w, Vectra L1 on a closed loop, 3 MP60s, MP40. Several QTs

10/09/2014, 07:42 PM	#5
Dmorty217 Saltwater Addict Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Vandalia OHIO Posts: 11,624	Your water shouldn't be cloudy either way. I don't and have never used carbon for water clarity and it's not cloudy. Milky cloudy or different? __________________ Fish are not disposable commodities, but a worthwhile investment that can be maintained and enjoyed for many years, providing one is willing to take the time to understand their requirements and needs Current Tank Info: 625g, 220g sump, RD3 230w, Vectra L1 on a closed loop, 3 MP60s, MP40. Several QTs

10/15/2014, 11:12 PM	#8
tmz ReefKeeping Mag staff Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: West Seneca NY Posts: 27,691	Possibilities : Stirring the substrate released fines which clouded the water and might also have polluted the sample for alk testing ;raisng the reading . Stirring the substrate released some organic material or other nutrients which caused a bacterial bloom . The change water may have included a high amount of alkalinty which could have caused precipitation of calcium carbonate in the tank ; the salt mix may have lost it's homogeniety or be formulated for high alk. Something spawned. __________________ 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. Last edited by tmz; 10/15/2014 at 11:21 PM.

10/09/2014, 06:36 PM	#3
Jimmy_31 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 7	I am using RO water. It seems this evening that it might have gotten a little more clear, but hard to tell really with the lawnmower blenny kicking up substrate.

10/09/2014, 07:12 PM	#4
goldrimtang Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Ottawa, ON, Canada Posts: 86	Are you running carbon? Is it active or too old? My water was kind of cloudy until I realized that the carbon reactor was not working. Got that fixed and the water got crystal clear.

10/09/2014, 07:48 PM	#6
Mikesmith34 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 33	The jump in Alk was more than likely from the salt mix, mixing at a higher alk than you normally maintain. Check the mix and what it's alk is at 1.026

10/15/2014, 05:56 PM	#7
Jimmy_31 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 7	Hi yall, sorry for the late reply. Been out of town for a few days. I did have a carbon filter in place, but someone suggested I remove it. It was about a week after the removal that I noticed the cloudy water. I would say now its just a slight haze to the water and has cleared up just a little since my last post, but not any crazy green or yellow tinted color. All the chemistry is still where it was in my first post. NH3 and Nitrite are solidly at 0 since the cycle. Being the worrisome type, I initially kept an eye on it every day. Last Thursday I did add some Nitrate rocks in a filter bag to my filter, but had rinsed them. Perhaps I just didn't rinse them thoroughly enough? I had someone suggest that even though I rinsed them that if there was any particulate left on them, I may not have a fine enough filter in place to actually remove the fine particles. They had suggested getting some pantyhose and put it around on of my filter trays and see if it starts to catch anything or turn white. So, I was going to check with you guys first and see if that might be advisable. Also, as mentioned, the lawnmower is pretty active, but I didn't figure the minute amount of stuff he is kicking up would stay suspended for a week...I was mostly worried about it being a bad bacteria bloom of some sort that is going to wipe out the tank, but everyone is eating and as active as they have ever been so I just don't know. oh and for the alk, I have had 1.024 in the tank and mixed maybe a little over 1.024, but not .025 with the last change.

10/17/2014, 11:31 AM	#9
Jimmy_31 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 7	Hi y'all. Thanks for all of the responses! Tmz, I am using instant ocean reef crystals for my mix. I had read your post before the water change so I did take the salt and mix around in the bucket this morning before I measured and mixed in fresh water. I noticed this morning that the water clarity issue has worked itself out! I did my weekly water changed this morning and did stir up a little sub with the vacuum, but it's already starting to clear as well. I don't know what the issue was, but it didn't seem to affect much in terms of the life in my tank. All seem to be happy. I did get my lawnmower blenny to munch on an algae wafer today so that is also awesome! (I had read that they might not take to being fed). Still have the tiny copepods congregating on the hair algae that is on the glass and near the intersection of glass and substrate. So, I reckon it's good to still see them populating. I have seen the clowns take a few of the larger ones out...Might be why the clowns aren't too interested in the food I drop in, so, I have cut back to feeding once a day in the morning. Oh! and my bright white base rock has started turning purple and pink all over! I hope and believe it's corraline growth! Beautiful shades of color and the tank is starting to go from bland new tank (ha! see what I did there?!) to a more colorful one! Again, I just want to thank you all for the troubleshooting!