Woke up to extremely cloudy water

samrggzy · Feb 20, 2024

So i have a 32 gallon biocube which has been running smoothly for over a year now. The only filtration i run is a bag of chemipure blue under some intank filter floss, that along with weekly 5 gallon water changes have been enough to keep the tank stable. I woke up today and freaked out at the sight of cloudy water, i mean very cloudy. I immediately did a water change which cleared it up a bit but still very cloudy. I am in the process of hooking up a UV Sterilizer in hopes it also helps. My fish and corals all seem to look completely normal through the cloudiness. While doing my water change i noticed there seemed to be a thin white film on the glass and on my pump almost as if whatever is in the water column is also growing on the glass and other surfaces. I dont know if this is a bacterial bloom
or something else, if anyone has any ideas please let me know. My livestock all seeming to be unaffected by this is giving me hope that it’s nothing too serious. I will include pictures that will hopefully help.

Cthulukelele · Feb 20, 2024

My assumption would be bacterial bloom. If you're concerned, pointing a powerhead at the water surface can help increase aeration while it settles out so dissolved oxygen doesn't get low enough to cause any harm.

Cell · Feb 20, 2024

Bacterial bloom. Are you carbon dosing? NoPox? Vinegar? Vodka?

samrggzy · Feb 20, 2024

Cell said:
Bacterial bloom. Are you carbon dosing? NoPox? Vinegar? Vodka?

not currently dosing anything

WalkerLoves_TheOcean · Feb 20, 2024

Bacteria bloom. Water changes don't really help, and can make it sometimes worse. They are generally harmless. They should go away on there own, a UV light will help.

samrggzy · Feb 20, 2024

samrggzy said:
not currently dosing anything, I was dosing BRS soda ash for about a month ago to try to raise my alkalinity.

Mr. Mojo Rising · Feb 20, 2024

Water changes will just make it last longer, so just wait it out, normally clears out in a week. But oxygenate the water as it can deplete the oxygen level.

vetteguy53081 · Feb 20, 2024

samrggzy said:
So i have a 32 gallon biocube which has been running smoothly for over a year now. The only filtration i run is a bag of chemipure blue under some intank filter floss, that along with weekly 5 gallon water changes have been enough to keep the tank stable. I woke up today and freaked out at the sight of cloudy water, i mean very cloudy. I immediately did a water change which cleared it up a bit but still very cloudy. I am in the process of hooking up a UV Sterilizer in hopes it also helps. My fish and corals all seem to look completely normal through the cloudiness. While doing my water change i noticed there seemed to be a thin white film on the glass and on my pump almost as if whatever is in the water column is also growing on the glass and other surfaces. I dont know if this is a bacterial bloom
or something else, if anyone has any ideas please let me know. My livestock all seeming to be unaffected by this is giving me hope that it’s nothing too serious. I will include pictures that will hopefully help.

Check your filters. It is also possible that pump shut off or paused and resumed stirring sandbed and May be bacterial bloom which often settles . If true bloom, they often occur when there's a sudden increase of bacterial colonies generated and becomes suspended in the water and in turn grows so quickly that it becomes more visible causing the water to become milky and hazy in appearance due to a nutrient increase in the water especially nitrates and phosphates, so check those two.

apb03 · Feb 20, 2024

Using an autofeeder? This happened to me once when I set the feeder incorrectly and it was dumping massive amounts of food and it triggered a bloom.

Ben's Pico Reefing · Feb 20, 2024

Probably something happened that caused nutrient increase as others stated. You will need to figure out the cause and fix first. Once corrected, unless a random event, then you can do a full water change and/or run UV till clear. Bacteria can lower oxygen in tank so you can add an air pump or make sure there is good surface agitation. Did you add or do something different? Additive or dosing? Chemicle? Moved stuff around, etc?