Can't seem to get my water crystal clear

[Johnny M]

My 66g reef w/rear sump has been up and running for about 9 months. No corals yet just a few fish & cuc. Custom made by SC aquariums, did away with 'filter socks' on each end and replaced with In Tank Media baskets. I had the specs done so it's a pretty tight fit for the baskets to fit in their respective chambers ( maybe 1/16" on each side of basket for easy removal to clean. I use polyester filter pads cut to fit - pad is ~1/2" thick with top catching large particles and bottom part catches finer stuff. I use a UV 24/7, plus media reactor with phosban & Seachem Matrix Carbon and sometimes after a weekly WC place on top of the pads a 50 micron felt pad for polishing the water. This felt pad quickly gets dirty ( 4-5hrs) and one time i forgot to remove it until next morning and ATO alarm went off bc flow to rear was restricted by clogged felt pads and emptied about 2 gallons of RO water into DT. I can't keep changing the felt pads every few hours. * i notice in bottom of rear sump there is a small amount of detritus(?) ( almost looks like dark sand). I'm envious of some tanks i've seen at friends homes where their tanks are so clear it doesn't look like there is water in it.
I recently switched salt from Tropic-Marin to IO, but had problems of clarity with TM also. Parameters : Alk = 6.8 , Ca= 410, Mg = 1260, NH3 = 0, NO2 = 0, NO3 = 2-4ppm, PO4 = 0.007 ( Hanna ULR checker)
Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

[Fiesty]

Would u happen to have a bunch of micro bubbles making their way back in display? That could make it look "cloudy." Along with sand that wasn't rinsed well or too fine and blowing around, or possibly carbon that wasn't rinsed well? Just a couple quick thoughts. Can u post some pics so others may help u out more accurately?

 

[Johnny M]

Would u happen to have a bunch of micro bubbles making their way back in display? That could make it look "cloudy." Along with sand that wasn't rinsed well or too fine and blowing around, or possibly carbon that wasn't rinsed well? Just a couple quick thoughts. Can u post some pics so others may help u out more accurately?

No micro bubbles ( Aquamaxx HOB 1.5 skimmer w/bubble stop sponge ; sand well rinsed and not blowing around as far as i can tell. The Matrix carbon in media reactor was rinsed well and has actually made tank a little clearer. Lights out on tank now and going to bed. will post pics later today. Thanks for ur help @Fiesty!

 

[Johnny M]

Ok here is a pic - cleaned side glass. Notice the slight haze especially if you look at nero 5 pump in distance. *light was ramping down but i think you can still see a slight haze. For turnover = 2 return pumps a little over 500gph each, 2 Nero 5 pumps on anti-sync, flow = max - 37% during day ( equals ~1100gph ea., any higher and sand starts to blow around) ; min - 24% at night.

 

[Shinte122305]

can you put white light on or day light on and take that exact same picture.

or turn off the light in the tank and shine a light on the tank and take the picture. the reason for this is to see what color the water is. to determine if its organics or algae or bacteria etc

 

[BadFish619]

Bacteria bloom? Chemi pure and a uv filter?

 

[Johnny M]

can you put white light on or day light on and take that exact same picture.

or turn off the light in the tank and shine a light on the tank and take the picture. the reason for this is to see what color the water is. to determine if its organics or algae or bacteria etc

Was thinking of just white light. Will do tomorrow when lights go back on. Thanks for suggestion.

 

[Johnny M]

Bacteria bloom? Chemi pure and a uv filter?

Have been running a uv for last several weeks. Tried chemipure blue early on and lowered my pH from 9.4 to 6.7 in about 4 days of use. Right now have media reactor with Seachem matrix carbon.

 

[Water Dog]

When you perform water changes, do you siphon out the rear chambers? You’d be surprised how much gunk and detritus can settle back there. When I ran my Biocube 29, weekly water changes involved siphoning out the back chambers and that helped immensely with keeping the tank nice and clear.

 

[homer1475]

Just a small FYI....

Instead of those expensive filter pads you buy at the LFS, go to your local craft store(walmart, michael's, hobby lobby) and buy a big bag of pillow stuffing. It's loads cheaper and the exact same stuff you buy for 3 times the price at the LFS. Just be aware its a big bag of poly fill and not "pads". Just shove a wad in your filter basket, and change every other day. It will save you a ton of $$ in the long run(couple bucks for a big bag that you'll get months of use out of, Vs. 4 or 5 bucks for 1 pad).

 

[Johnny M]

When you perform water changes, do you siphon out the rear chambers? You’d be surprised how much gunk and detritus can settle back there. When I ran my Biocube 29, weekly water changes involved siphoning out the back chambers and that helped immensely with keeping the tank nice and clear.

I do try to get the detritus in rr but never get all of it. Also there isn't much that settles there. But being rr sump it crammed with a lot of equipment, that's why I have a hob skimmer.

 

[Johnny M]

Just a small FYI....

Instead of those expensive filter pads you buy at the LFS, go to your local craft store(walmart, michael's, hobby lobby) and buy a big bag of pillow stuffing. It's loads cheaper and the exact same stuff you buy for 3 times the price at the LFS. Just be aware its a big bag of poly fill and not "pads". Just shove a wad in your filter basket, and change every other day. It will save you a ton of $$ in the long run(couple bucks for a big bag that you'll get months of use out of, Vs. 4 or 5 bucks for 1 pad).

Thanks for the tip.

 

[amir basis]

to my knowledge the main reason for water constant cloudiness such as what your tank has is the accumulation of carbon based molecules such as proteins and metabolism byproducts (produced by fish ,bacteria ,algae etc ) that can absorb specific wavelength and act like pigments. it is usually more common in young tanks where the corals population is still small and undeveloped.
from my personal experience the best way to deal with it is using high quality carbon or, my Preferred choice, using ozone. in my tank i have an ozone generator that is controlled by an orp probe. it usually works automatically for 15 minutes every couple of hours and it keeps my water crystal clear and well oxidized.

 

[Johnny M]

to my knowledge the main reason for water constant cloudiness such as what your tank has is the accumulation of carbon based molecules such as proteins and metabolism byproducts (produced by fish ,bacteria ,algae etc ) that can absorb specific wavelength and act like pigments. it is usually more common in young tanks where the corals population is still small and undeveloped.
from my personal experience the best way to deal with it is using high quality carbon or, my Preferred choice, using ozone. in my tank i have an ozone generator that is controlled by an orp probe. it usually works automatically for 15 minutes every couple of hours and it keeps my water crystal clear and well oxidized.

Funny but in rr sump I have a media reactor with seachem matrix carbon & sump water looks clearer than DT!

 

[MissyTwitch]

Clear Water Strategies:
- Check your ammonia/Nitrate/phosphate => if high likely bacterial bloom; if not may still be bacterial bloom as your nitrates and ammonia levels can get low in bacterial bloom.
- If normal then build of micro/macro particles aka detris => Sock Filters/Filtration system and increase flow in your tank
- If after that still have issues carbon reactor
- If still having issues => UV light [get one size up then your tank actually needs]
- If you want pristine crystal clear after that then Ozone

**word of warning the clearer your tank the higher the par....you may need to decrease your lights to prevent burning your corals....make sure to check par before and after each change**

 

[Johnny M]

Clear Water Strategies:
- Check your ammonia/Nitrate/phosphate => if high likely bacterial bloom
- If normal then build of micro/macro particles aka detris => Sock Filters/Filtration system and increase flow in your tank
- If after that still have issues carbon reactor
- If still having issues => UV light [get one size up then your tank actually needs]
- If you want pristine crystal clear after that then Ozone

**word of warning the clearer your tank the higher the par....you may need to decrease your lights to prevent burning your corals....make sure to check par before and after each change**

Honestly though it does look like your tank is cycling....time is another option

Tank has been up for about 9 months with a couple of fish & cuc. Nh3 is 0, NO2 - 0, NO3 - 2-4ppm, PO4- .007. I would think it's cycled by now.
Check previous posts, have done all that except ozone & filter sock use media baskets with filter padding that catches large to fine particulate.

 

[MissyTwitch]

Tank has been up for about 9 months with a couple of fish & cuc. Nh3 is 0, NO2 - 0, NO3 - 2-4ppm, PO4- .007. I would think it's cycled by now.
Check previous posts, have done all that except ozone & filter sock use media baskets with filter padding that catches large to fine particulate.

Yeah, I read previous post. I do that to help others who may need a step by step. Which is what these forums are good for is what works for others, what doesn't work for them. Regarding the possibility of cycling. Your system is fairly small. It wouldn't take much to cause it to cycle. Depending on the media and how often you change can cause a cycling in a small system. Larger systems take more change [addition of rocks/lots of fish at one time to cause cycling, cleaning sand bed, etc...]

 

[DesertReefT4r]

That white haze looks bacterial to me. Normally if you just leave the tank alone it will clear up within a week or 2 max. Messing with things and trying to fix an issue that not really an issue can and will cause issues. Bacterial blooms are normal and they just can happen. When my tank has one I just leave it be, normally by the next couple of days water has cleared up.

 

[Johnny M]

That white haze looks bacterial to me. Normally if you just leave the tank alone it will clear up within a week or 2 max. Messing with things and trying to fix an issue that not really an issue can and will cause issues. Bacterial blooms are normal and they just can happen. When my tank has one I just leave it be, normally by the next couple of days water has cleared up.

The problem is it's been a couple of months & uv has been running over a month 24/7. Since setup never been able to get water 'crystal clear'.

 

[MissyTwitch]

The problem is it's been a couple of months & uv has been running over a month 24/7. Since setup never been able to get water 'crystal clear'.

The one thing that cleaned up my system pretty good was ozone. I had gotten to my last step. Other considerations if you don't have a protein skimmer consider getting one and see if it makes a difference.