Cloudy (yellowish) water

jsalty

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Location
Charlotte, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I need some help understanding what I should do or shouldn't do to address the cloudy issue. I am willing to sit and wait but if it's not bacteria then i need to do something.
I changed 15% water, went away for weekend, came home to a cloudy tank. Color is a bit yellow but could be greenish, Skimmer had some slime in it so i cleaned the cup but nothing since Monday.
My GSPs are hiding, Tube Worm and Shroom seem happy.
I have 2 clowns, 1 pseudo purple, 7 hermit craps, 4 sand snails (only ever see 1), 2 turbo snails, 1 mushroom (1" dia), 1 inch square of GSP (green star polyps).
wondering if filtering the water with a filter sock or some poly-fill and nylons over the returns for a few days would be good. or is a HOT filter good to use for quick clean ups of debris in water?

my parameters are below.


Tank is a JBJ 30 Gallon Rimless All-in-one
Live rock (FUJI, 25lbs) since startup
Live Pink Fuji Sand (30lbs)
Hydor Skimmer Nano type
Purigen 100ml,
Mechanical blue sponge filter (changed weekly)
Cemi-pure pouch for tank size, blue lid jar (1 month old, changed ever 3 months)
2 Hydor Powerheads at 425gph plus 2 260gph sump return pumps
thank has been running 4 months
nitrates 0
nitrites 0
ammonia 0
silicates 0-.002 (hard to tell color difference from clear to a very slight blue hue)
calcium 390-400
Phosphates < .02
Alkalinity 8
PH 8.3-8.4
Salinity 1.025
change 15% water every Thursday - I make my own RO/DI water with a Spectrapure RO/DI unit.
was using Red Sea Coral Pro Salt -- switch to Reef Crystals as soon as tank turned yellow (plus i was near the bottom of my bucket)

thanks..
 

CastAway

Prone to wander, never lost.
View Badges
Joined
Jun 9, 2013
Messages
4,457
Reaction score
3,309
Location
Knoxville TN
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hmmm. Can you post a picture showing the tank and equipment?
 
OP
OP
J

jsalty

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Location
Charlotte, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
When i get home tonight I can try and post photo of tank but the 'equipment' is in the back sump (all in one) and not easy to see via photo.
 

Reefing Madness

Carbon Doser
View Badges
Joined
Oct 27, 2012
Messages
19,658
Reaction score
6,762
Location
Peoria, AZ.
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Might just throw in some carbon to remove the discoloration. Or change out your chemipure.
 

beaslbob

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
May 11, 2009
Messages
4,086
Reaction score
960
Location
huntsville, al
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Kill the lights and stop all feeding.

should clear up in a few days.

then resume with less lighting and feeding and adjust to good stuff thrives and the tank remains clear.


my .02
 
OP
OP
J

jsalty

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Location
Charlotte, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I am going away next week for 4 days, so I can kill the light and have my wife not feed them while i am gone. see if it clears up then.
currently they get fed every other day about 1/4 - 3/8" chunk of Larry's Reef Frenzy _ broken up and hand fed... not much waste, any missed goes to the bottom of the tank for the crabs.
light runs 8 or 10 hours per day... LED (JBJ Lighting Pacifica) moon lights run when main is off (4 low watt blue leds)

thanks...
was thinking of carbon till clear, just not sure. If time will clear it then i would prefer the tank to naturally fight this.
 
OP
OP
J

jsalty

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Location
Charlotte, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I just ordered two 180micron mesh bags and some Poly-fil (pillow stuffing) to hang on overflows (have to remove skimmer for this but only till clear)
I will add some carbon too

Amazon will deliver tomorrow by time i get home from work.
 

CastAway

Prone to wander, never lost.
View Badges
Joined
Jun 9, 2013
Messages
4,457
Reaction score
3,309
Location
Knoxville TN
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I first thought carbon for an excess of DOC as well. But, I was just thinking a pic might be insightful, because the description from post #1 did not make me suspect an excess of DOC. Wouldn't one see some nitrates and more phosphates if that were the case. No harm in running some carbon I guess. Results should be immediate if that's it.

At 15% water change per week, in a tank that size, a build up of yellowing compounds (doc) just seems odd.

But, I'm new to it.
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
J

jsalty

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Location
Charlotte, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thanks for the Karma and i agree, DOCs would be odd...
uploadfromtaptalk1406755482215.jpg
 

Attachments

  • uploadfromtaptalk1406755507727.jpg
    uploadfromtaptalk1406755507727.jpg
    45 KB · Views: 238
  • uploadfromtaptalk1406755519232.jpg
    uploadfromtaptalk1406755519232.jpg
    45.9 KB · Views: 244
  • uploadfromtaptalk1406755568203.jpg
    uploadfromtaptalk1406755568203.jpg
    39.4 KB · Views: 222
OP
OP
J

jsalty

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Location
Charlotte, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Best way to filter water, in bulk?
I may get a cheap canister filter or two pumps a few socks and a 5g bucket to try and filter the water and kick up all the junk that could be in the rock..
Changing 10 gallons but would like to filter remaining 20g before filling...
Thoughts?
 

CastAway

Prone to wander, never lost.
View Badges
Joined
Jun 9, 2013
Messages
4,457
Reaction score
3,309
Location
Knoxville TN
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Canister filters are not really ideal for reef tanks as I understand it, but, when it comes to removal of suspended particles, whatever those may be, diatom type filers, or the Magnum pleated paper type filters should work. However, I really think this would be treating what is ultimately a symptom of another, bigger issue. Having read some of your other posts, can you confirm this system has been running since early may, about 3 months now? Did you ever identify what it was your were removing from the rock and GSP? Could you be experiencing some die off of something in the tank? Is there any smell that you can tie to the timing of the cloudiness?
 
Last edited:

Reefing Madness

Carbon Doser
View Badges
Joined
Oct 27, 2012
Messages
19,658
Reaction score
6,762
Location
Peoria, AZ.
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I still use a canister filter for my tank, I use it to remove remove the phosphate that gets bound up. I clean mine once a week, so its not going to get time to be a nitrate factory.
 
OP
OP
J

jsalty

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Location
Charlotte, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The Algae was not identified but went away. This could be a die off from that. This is why i am going to filter the water to remove suspended particles. Then run change 10gallons amd run carbon. See what happens from there..
 

SloppyJ

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 21, 2012
Messages
784
Reaction score
10
Location
NW Arkansas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I might have missed it in the first post, but how long has the tank been running? A UV sterilizer might be your best bet. But if it's still new, that is expected.
 
OP
OP
J

jsalty

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Location
Charlotte, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
After the first month it went cloudy but I let it be and it cleared in a few days.. This has been cloudy since between last Thursday and Sunday as I was out of town..
 
OP
OP
J

jsalty

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Location
Charlotte, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1406851799.915130.jpg

Added a UV sterilizer and a load of carbon tonight.. Checked all parameters from the first post again and all is same.... See what the morning brings then change 1/3rd water...
Yes, I will find a better place for the UV unit once I see if it works....
 

CastAway

Prone to wander, never lost.
View Badges
Joined
Jun 9, 2013
Messages
4,457
Reaction score
3,309
Location
Knoxville TN
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Did you decide against the canister filter? Too many changes too fast, and you won't be able to attribute any one cause with any one effect. lol
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 79 38.3%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 69 33.5%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 26 12.6%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 30 14.6%
  • Other.

    Votes: 2 1.0%
Back
Top