Cloudy Brown Water

[DWells23]

Hey Guys,

Having some issues with my tank, last few weeks the water has gone cloudy and brown. No idea why. Im running a fine mesh filter sock with carbon in the sump as i thought it might help, it has cleared it up slightly but not much. Have been a bit preoccupied the last month with the birth of my first child so have let my cleaning routine slip a tad but surely it cant effect it this much.

Nitrates are less than 5
Nitrites 0
Ammonia 0
I don’t have a phosphate test atm.

Could this be an algae bloom??

 

[ngoodermuth]

Yikes, could definitely be an algae or bacterial bloom... I think first thing I would do is a 50%+ water-change. For the sake of the fish, I'd add an extra power head or an airstone to bump up the 02, these things can very quickly deplete the oxygen levels in the water. Maybe a bottle of Bio-Spira or similar to help manage any die-off.

And do another water change in a couple of days to help remove the rest...

 

[Gareth elliott]

Wow looks like the black water i keep tadpoles in.

Besides the water changes, would run some carbon.
For this application a simple media bag of bituminous next to the return will suffice.

Also for water algae or bacteria is where UV shines in its use. You do not need a huge unit one that at least passes your entire volume in a hour should take of the floating algae in a few days. This application you are simply looking for enough exposure to cause reproduction mutations, which is not a lot for algae or bacteria.

Why it happened and curing that will take a bit longer.

Something is feeding this bloom.

Look at your feeding schedule and see if can reduce.
-sand bed cleaning if detritus is built up.
Would be my first thoughts

 

[McFly]

Any coral? If not, keeping the lights off until its under control would not hurt.

 

[Salt Creep01]

https://www.liveaquaria.com/images/categories/product/p-90467-77336K-fish.jpg

 

[Salt Creep01]

Cheap and you can find them at petco, pet smart , etc

 

[BeejReef]

How long has your tank been up and running?

Congrats Daddy!

 

[DWells23]

Will do another big water change today, it did clear it up quite a bit. There is 2 power heads in there you just can’t see the other one haha.
Ill check out the uv thingo that seems to be the way to go, ill grab some more carbon to. the tank has been going for just over a year :)

 

[AoD]

I second what Salt Creep01 suggested. I have one of those little UV sterilizers and it works great! I had a white cloudy bacteria bloom and after hooking up the UV, it was crystal clear in 24 hours. Yours may take a few days considering how brown it is. Good luck.

 

[DWells23]

How powerful does it need to be? I see most if them are 9 W. I have a 300L tank :)

 

[AoD]

They make a 24 watt version that can handle up to 450L. On Amazon it’s 70 US dollars. It’s called the AA aquarium green killing machine 24W.

 

[DWells23]

Alright so got the sterilizer and wow cleared up over night!! But now all the fish seem to be breathing heavily and seem stressed....

 

[DWells23]

 

[DWells23]

Could this have been dinos guys?? Lost 2 fish :(

 

[Gareth elliott]

Sorry for the losses :(
I do not see any dino signs.

Do you have an ammonia test?

The timelines, labored breathing to me closely fit a toxic ammonia event, or low DO, could be both.

Move your powerheads to the surface.
Test ammonia if present above alert levels do a water change depending on what dilution will get you back to a safe level.

Add some bacteria product doesnt really matter which one, but add daily for a bout a week, then 2x a week for another week than once weekly for another week. Turn of the uv while doing this. And you can continue the once weekly addition with no harm if needed.

Possible causes,
Live stock added too quickly overwhelming the bacteria population. And one strain ran amok, depleting o2 or creating ammonia.

While you werent looking someone dumped a lot of fish food in the tank.

 

[DWells23]

Tested the ammonia 3 times and it showed up nothing, that is with a red sea test. Also have seachem alert badge which is saying 0 as well :/.

Im thinking maybe its an oxygen problem as when i checked everything in the morning when i first noticed everyone acting weird the skimmer pump had clogged up. I havnt added any livestock for ages, atleast 6 months and only feed every second day. Could the skimmer not aerating the water cause the oxygen depletion? Bloody saltwater tanks :p everything was fine until this bloom of whatever the hell it was.

 

[agarner12]

My tank looks just like this. How did you fix it? We already lost a tank of fish and started all over with a new tank and ended up back in the same situation. I only have 2 nemo fish in there right now with some snails and a blemy