yellow water

[hdevils]

what could be the cause of yellow water?

nitrate 40
ph 8.2
amm 0
nitri 0
76 deg

nitrate were much higher, 2 wks ago, been doing wc often.

[plyle02]

More info needed here..... Are you using RO/DI water? Are you mixing your own salt? Are you testing PO4? 40 on nitrate is litttle high, what kinda tank you running with there? What type of lighting are you using? Give us some more info.....

[jpitts101]

someone pee'd in your tank!! i've seen it done at drunken parties often!! sorry i had to put that, it may be your light. or if your doseing your levels could be off.

[ricanboy57]

this is an idea from WAY left field but i know in freshwater a huge reason for yellowing of water were Tannins ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannin ) Maybe something like that can happen in SW.

[reefD]

yellow water is bad bad bad! the causes is clear! its from inadaquate filtration, excess feeding, too much fish, lack of maintanace, etc. basically it all points to excessive nutrients. i believe it(the yellow color) has something to do with free floating micro algea. they are feeding on the excessive nutrients . regardless of the cause your plan of attack must be .......first!........ major water change ...then a strict water change schendule must be followed. i would say every 3 weeks at this point and eventually going for every 4 weeks. next attack filtration. increase by changing media more...better yet upgrade equipment to something better. even better stop using canister or hang on. media can leach out and be source of issues. marine tanks only need a good skimmer. with the technology today some skimmers are so efficient thats all you need along with water changes and a sump never ever hurts ( more like makes everything better).

[boxfishpooalot]

You have yellow water because of bacterial breakdown of waste products. This yellow is called humic acids. Its the final breakdown product and not too many things remove it.

Most people resort to:

-ozone
-carbon
-large water changes.

The best way is ozone with carbon.

[reefD]

and let me eloborate better...nitrate readings are the finally result of the biological cycle of tanks. first ammonia then nitrites then nitrates. nitrates are the final left overs that must be removed with water change/ plants/etc. an established tank builds these levels so slow that a water change every month keeps them from spiking high and causeing issues. your high trates remaining even with lots of water changes are the possible issue. keep up doing water changes and secondly use charcoal for now and change it often. the more expensive the brand of charcoal/chemical media you get the better! and change it often. cheap stuff id change every day. the more expensive i let go longer , like months for chemi pure. this will clear your water fast! be sure when it does clear up toss out the media asap to prevent leaching.

[lakee911]

I've had good luck with purigen for yellowing. Put it in your overflow box, sump baffles, canister filter or wherever you've got some high flow. Only run it for a few days. You can try ozone or UV if that doesn't work. Good luck.

Jason

[jdieck]

Use activ ated carbon and/or Seachem's Purigen as they will remove yellowing compounds. To prevent a very sudden change in water clarity which may afect corals due to a quick change in light intensity, use half the recommended amount the first two weeks replace it every 7 days (two doses) after that use the recommended amount and replace it every 30 days.
The best brands with the lowest phosphates and best adsorption are Two Little Fishies Hydrocarbon, Black Diamond and Seachem's Matrix.
Also perform at least 10% water changes every week.

[supervdl]

Purigen made my water cristal clear and it lasts for a long time. Give it a try.

[RedEyeElf]

Chemipure for the win!