Cloudy water cause?

[Todd A.]

Due to consistently high nitrate levels (30 -40 ppm) in my office's 150gal DT, we started dosing Red Sea Algae Management yesterday. This morning the water is quite cloudy and I was wondering if that was the cause. I have been using the same treatment on my home DT (90gal) for about a month and never had this issue. We had also started using Reef Energy A+B as well, but suspect the cause is related to the No3O4-X. Can someone let me know if this is normal or something to be concerned about. I appreciate the advise.

 

[skiergd011013]

Rather than dumping band aid chemicals into the tank, i would find out why the nitrates are that high to begin with. Is it overstocked? Overfed? Good powerful skimmer? Im a fan of using water changes to keep things healthy.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I don't consider organic carbon dosing (e.g., NOPOX) a band aid any more than any other export method, but organic carbon dosing drives bacterial growth, and if the bacteria end up being suspended, you may well get cloudy water from a bacterial bloom.

Do you have a skimmer on the tank?

 

[Todd A.]

Do you have a skimmer on the tank?

Yes, a Reef Octopus 250 which should be more than sufficient for the 150 DT. I suspected that it was just a bacteria bloom caused by the dosing. It only lasted about 2 days, but was a bit concerning as I had not seen a reaction like before and was worried about a potential depletion of oxygen in the water. But with the skimmer and proper circulation, we had no issues with the marine life.
Thanks for the response.

Rather than dumping band aid chemicals into the tank, i would find out why the nitrates are that high to begin with. Is it overstocked? Overfed? Good powerful skimmer? Im a fan of using water changes to keep things healthy.

No, the tank is not overstocked or overfed. And well maintained.
But I see no real difference in the dosing of an Algae Management than any other treatment, supplement or solution that aids in keeping the artificial environment we are all trying to recreate to as close to the real thing as possible. And although some may have figured out the way to the perfectly maintained chemically-free marine aquarium, I have not. Maybe that's one of the reasons I find it so fascinating. It is an ever evolving micro-environment that requires constant research in which to make it better. But if that day ever comes, I guess I can just sit in front of the tank and watch the fish grow.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Since you have a skimmer, I generally recommend just waiting it out and/or reducing dosing of the organic.

 

[aeras1131]

You are witnessing a bacterial bloom, It should go away in a few days. I would turn off your skimmer let it settle, then turn it back on. You want to promote that bacteria not remove it with a skimmer. What you are witnessing precisely is an anaerobic algae bloom, meaning more nitrate consumption in the future. If you were dosing Waste-away you can occasionally get these. I would also turn your UV sterilizer if you have one.

 

[BlueCursor]

Happy bacteria . . . sad reefer.

 

[andyg1960]

I'm using the Red Sea reef mature kit , a component of which is NoPox. I am working through a bad bacterial bloom after doing the recommended NoPox dosage per the instructions. Having now researched this, I seen dozens of posts from people with the same issue. The response from Red Sea in various forums (red Sea Kev) is cut the dose in half, or stop it, you are doing too much. How is it too much if it's exactly what their instructions call for? Red Sea, you really need to provide better instruction, or recommend lower starting doses. Very frustrating.

 

[roberthu526]

I am actually in the same boat except mytank is only two months old. I did notice the water got much clearer after I added a marine pure block in the sump. Not sure if it was because of that though.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm using the Red Sea reef mature kit , a component of which is NoPox. I am working through a bad bacterial bloom after doing the recommended NoPox dosage per the instructions. Having now researched this, I seen dozens of posts from people with the same issue. The response from Red Sea in various forums (red Sea Kev) is cut the dose in half, or stop it, you are doing too much. How is it too much if it's exactly what their instructions call for? Red Sea, you really need to provide better instruction, or recommend lower starting doses. Very frustrating.

Organic carbon dosing causes bacteria to grow, and they have to grow somewhere. Some unlucky few get them growing in unappealing locations.

IMO, it is more of an issue of what species you have in your tank and if they have optimal places to grow out of sight, rather than a dose effect.

 

[andyg1960]

Thanks, Randy. Appreciate your perspective. I have a fair amount of live rock, an inch or more of aragonite sand, and Marine Pure blocks in the sump, so I should have enough places for bacteria to grow other than the water column.