Cloudy Water Conundrum! HELP!!

[DrTrey]

For the last week or so, the water in my 3 week-old 36G Elos MIDI has been persistently cloudy. Initially I blamed the cloudiness on some fine sand particles stirred up by the addition of a Vortech MP-10, but it hasn't gone away even after turning the Vortech down to the lowest setting.
My water chemistry parameters are all spot-on, and for the life of me I can't figure out how to correct it. Does anyone have any ideas?

Here are a couple of iPhone snapshots to illustrate:

[Troylee]

could be a bacterial bloom since the tank is so new.... im thinking its just the sand still honestly.... try a piece of filter floss for a day in the back chamber and see if it clears...

[DrTrey]

I suppose it could still be the sand. I actually already tried some filter floss, and it helped a bit, but didn't totally clear it up. Is there anything that can be done to calm the sand down, or should I just try to reduce flow yet even more and wait it out?

[DrTrey]

could be a bacterial bloom since the tank is so new.... im thinking its just the sand still honestly.... try a piece of filter floss for a day in the back chamber and see if it clears...

In the case of a bacterial bloom, I'm thinking about trying a UV sterilizer for a few days to see if that might help

[Troylee]

How about a skimmer?? Skimming wet will help if it's the sand.... Personally I would swap the sand with special grade sea floor and crank that vortec up...

[DrTrey]

How about a skimmer?? Skimming wet will help if it's the sand.... Personally I would swap the sand with special grade sea floor and crank that vortec up...

Yeah, I may actually end up swapping the sand out. I am currently running a skimmer, although I'm not familiar with the term "skimming wet". It sounds like something from Urban Dictionary. Could you enlighten me?

[Troylee]

Is the skimmer collecting any muck???skimming wet means raising the water level in the skimmer so it collects a lot
Of watered down skimate almost clear or light tea color... Skimming dry is lowering the water level in the skimmer so it pulls a dark coffee colored substance.... Hth

[DrTrey]

Roger that. Now I know. And knowing is half the battle...

[Pizzapro83]

Do you run carbon?

[DrTrey]

I've got a couple of bags of chemi-pure elite. One in sump, one in post-skimmer filter sock. Currently waiting on a sample of some fancy Elos carbon to arrive.

Does carbon help with cloudiness due to stirred up sand particles?

[pickupman66]

From the looks of it, I would say bacteria bloom. that is often that cloudyness that looks like yours. almost a milky. since your tank is 3 weeks old, it is very "new". removing and replacing the sand may cause more harm than good as you may have to re-cycle the tank a bit. try to lower the vortec for a couple of days and see if that helps.

[DrTrey]

From the looks of it, I would say bacteria bloom. that is often that cloudyness that looks like yours. almost a milky. since your tank is 3 weeks old, it is very "new". removing and replacing the sand may cause more harm than good as you may have to re-cycle the tank a bit. try to lower the vortec for a couple of days and see if that helps.

That's a good idea, pickupman. I have been using MicroBacter7 and Reef BioFuel since starting the tank, and I'll bet those two additives could certainly contribute to a bacterial bloom.

And then there's always the possibility of sandstorm superimposed on bacterial bloom, Occam be damned...