Cloudy tank for a month

[jrhorn44]

Any idea what I can try to fix this cloudy water?. All my levels seem fine other than nitrates being zero but I think the algae was causing that. There was a bunch of red stuff in the sand and it’s starting to go away. Coral and fish are doing fine.
Been funning filter floss on my hob. Haven’t done a water change in 2 weeks because it would clear up after the change and go right back to being cloudy.

I feel like this all started after cleaning a big filter sponge.

Ask me questions cause I’m sure you need more info but I feel like I’ve tried everything. Maybe I need a protein skimmer?

 

[Dom]

May be a bacterial bloom.

Clean all mechanical filtration and replace.

 

[jrhorn44]

May be a bacterial bloom.

Clean all mechanical filtration and replace.

I will try fully cleaning it all. I have been replacing floss every couple days and cleaned the hob the best I could. Also running carbon.

 

[JGT]

Agree it’s a bacterial bloom. Skimmer and a UV will help.

 

[jrhorn44]

Agree it’s a bacterial bloom. Skimmer and a UV will help.

I don’t know anything about skimmers but I will do my research.

 

[me & my baby]

How old is the tank

 

[jrhorn44]

How old is the tank

5 months

 

[me & my baby]

What lights , what intensity and what’s your photo period

 

[jrhorn44]

What lights , what intensity and what’s your photo period

2 60watt lights at 11hours. Pic of intensity.

Haven’t changed anything with the lighting since setup.

 

[Dom]

I will try fully cleaning it all. I have been replacing floss every couple days and cleaned the hob the best I could. Also running carbon.

Yes... the HOB is likely the culprit.

Does it have a sponge in it or is it just packed with floss?

 

[jrhorn44]

I will try fully cleaning it all. I have been replacing floss every couple days and cleaned the hob the best I could. Also running carbon.

Yes... the HOB is likely the culprit.

Does it have a sponge in it or is it just packed with floss?

It’s a Fluval 50. Has the big blue sponge it comes with. Carbon and some floss.

 

[Dom]

It’s a Fluval 50. Has the big blue sponge it comes with. Carbon and some floss.

Give that sponge a really good cleaning in RODI and replace.

 

[me & my baby]

I’ agree on bacteria bloom could be from the sponge cleaning .

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Have you added any chemicals to the tank?

 

[jrhorn44]

Have you added any chemicals to the tank?

No

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Probably a bacterial bloom from stirred up organics. A uv or fine filtration should do the trick, as folks note.