Cloudy water help

[CLYRIC]

Your Calcium is fine but do not add any for at least 2 weeks. I keep mine at 477-480
If its only blue and white
White 18-20 and Blue at 85

I see as diatoms covered with film algae. Cleaner crew mentioned with light reduction will help

I actually don't dose any calcium or anything other than AB+ for corals. I have no idea why it's that high, I use instant ocean's reef salt.

I just checked my phosphates and it's 0.03, should I increase or decrease?

So for now, I should get black paper and block the tank for a couple of days, lower lighting, get more cuc, get chemipure blue, and anything else?

Also how much of each cuc should I get? Wouldnt want to get too much (I have 2 trochus, 3 astreas, and 2 nasarius snails at the moment)

 

[CLYRIC]

Well... your calcium is very high (I sit at 420) and your alkalinity is on the low side (I sit at 8.5). But these aren't what is causing cloudiness to your water.

A full tank shot so we can see the cloudiness would help.

If it is a milky white cloud, it is likely a bacterial bloom. If it has a green tint, its more likely an algae bloom.

How do you lower calcium? I dont dose anything other than AB+ for corals and I use instant ocean reef salt for my tank.

I thought that 7.5 - 8 alk was the ideal spot, should I increase to 8.5?

Here is a picture of my tank, it's a milky white, so Im assuming it's bacterial bloom?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I actually don't dose any calcium or anything other than AB+ for corals. I have no idea why it's that high, I use instant ocean's reef salt.

I just checked my phosphates and it's 0.03, should I increase or decrease?

So for now, I should get black paper and block the tank for a couple of days, lower lighting, get more cuc, get chemipure blue, and anything else?

Also how much of each cuc should I get? Wouldnt want to get too much (I have 2 trochus, 3 astreas, and 2 nasarius snails at the moment)

add 2 more nassarius, 4 cerith 3 nerite
AS+ should be raising PO4 but feed a little more- just a little more.

For black paper, using scotch tape, you can apply and remove daily until algae subsides

Instant ocean has ranges of alk at 7-11, Ca at 350-460 and Mg from 1000-1600. Its likely the salt but as i said- Its at a high limit but not high

 

[Dom]

How do you lower calcium? I dont dose anything other than AB+ for corals and I use instant ocean reef salt for my tank.

I thought that 7.5 - 8 alk was the ideal spot, should I increase to 8.5?

Here is a picture of my tank, it's a milky white, so Im assuming it's bacterial bloom?

What you have going on here appears to be a bacterial bloom. For me, this was the result of poor husbandry on a tank with an HOB filter.

My advice would be to run a UV filter and thoroughly clean out any sponges you may have running indoor system.

In smaller tanks, 20% water changes on a weekly basis will replenish minerals consumed by the tank.

You have a few different things going on here. So one thing at a time. Lets get that water cleared up first.

I would, also suggest faithful, 20%, weekly water changes. DO this for a month and then test again.

 

[Dom]

Your Calcium is fine but do not add any for at least 2 weeks. I keep mine at 477-480
If its only blue and white
White 18-20 and Blue at 85

I see as diatoms covered with film algae. Cleaner crew mentioned with light reduction will help

I would point out that numbers are relative for a given tank. You wouldn't need a calcium of 500 in a FOWLER.

If calcium is rising, I would submit that replenishment exceeds consumption.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I would point out that numbers are relative for a given tank. You wouldn't need a calcium of 500 in a FOWLER.

If calcium is rising, I would submit that replenishment exceeds consumption.

If the salt has this content as mine does- there is no control with nothing consuming it

 

[Dom]

If the salt has this content as mine does- there is no control with nothing consuming it

I think we may be misunderstanding each other. I didn't mean to imply that the tank in question was FOWLER. I only used it as an example of a tank whose calcium requirements wouldn't be the same as a reef tank.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I think we may be misunderstanding each other. I didn't mean to imply that the tank in question was FOWLER. I only used it as an example of a tank whose calcium requirements wouldn't be the same as a reef tank.

makes sense

 

[CLYRIC]

What you have going on here appears to be a bacterial bloom. For me, this was the result of poor husbandry on a tank with an HOB filter.

My advice would be to run a UV filter and thoroughly clean out any sponges you may have running indoor system.

In smaller tanks, 20% water changes on a weekly basis will replenish minerals consumed by the tank.

You have a few different things going on here. So one thing at a time. Lets get that water cleared up first.

I would, also suggest faithful, 20%, weekly water changes. DO this for a month and then test again.

What do you mean by poor husbandry? Not enough water change? With cleaning sponges, should I clean with new fresh saltwater or rodi water?

I usually do 7 gallon water change on the 55 gallon, so that's about 12%. I'll increase it to 20%.

I got chemipure original (my LFS didnt have the blue one), should I use that?

 

[Dom]

What do you mean by poor husbandry? Not enough water change? With cleaning sponges, should I clean with new fresh saltwater or rodi water?

I usually do 7 gallon water change on the 55 gallon, so that's about 12%. I'll increase it to 20%.

I got chemipure original (my LFS didnt have the blue one), should I use that?

By poor/inadequate husbandry, I'm referring to the things we need to do faithfully to maintain tank stability. Think water changes, replacing mechanical filtration media, churning the substrate, scraping glass and maintaining powerheads.

When it happened to me, it was on a 15 gallon Aqueon tank with a HangOnBack filter. I was faithful in my husbandry, which usually included cleaning the sponge in the filter in old tank water. But I got lazy and stopped rinsing the sponge.

Over the course of three days, the tank went from clear to looking like it was filled with milk.

Water changes should be 20% of total water volume and should be done on a weekly basis. It is how we export nutrients. But water changes also serve as a way of replenishing elements consumed by the tank.

Usually, I would recommend cleaning sponges in old tank water from a water change. But in your case, you'd only be rinsing the sponge in the very bacteria you are trying to eliminate. So yes, use RODI until the bloom is gone.

Finally, I would suggest not using any additives until you clear up the bloom. So no Chemipure or anything else for the time being.

Dom

 

[CLYRIC]

I would point out that numbers are relative for a given tank. You wouldn't need a calcium of 500 in a FOWLER.

If calcium is rising, I would submit that replenishment exceeds consumption.

I have 12 pieces of coral in my tank (soft/LPS). But my calcium read is still in the 490s. How do I lower the calcium? Should I change salt? Do more water change?

 

[Dom]

I have 12 pieces of coral in my tank (soft/LPS). But my calcium read is still in the 490s. How do I lower the calcium? Should I change salt? Do more water change?

Do nothing. Time will allow your corals to absorb what is available. It may take some time but it will come down. Just continue to monitor your water chemistry.

My 125 has elevated calcium right now; I dose limewater via a simple, gravity-fed dosing system. This Sunday will be a week since I turned off dosing. I'll be testing on Sunday so see where it is.

My point; don't do anything rash. You posted those numbers two days ago. I'd bet that if you test your calcium again, you'd be surprised at how much it has come down. I'd be interested in your ALK numbers too.

Also, if you don't mind, please post a full tank picture of your system.

 

[CLYRIC]

Do nothing. Time will allow your corals to absorb what is available. It may take some time but it will come down. Just continue to monitor your water chemistry.

My 125 has elevated calcium right now; I dose limewater via a simple, gravity-fed dosing system. This Sunday will be a week since I turned off dosing. I'll be testing on Sunday so see where it is.

My point; don't do anything rash. You posted those numbers two days ago. I'd bet that if you test your calcium again, you'd be surprised at how much it has come down. I'd be interested in your ALK numbers too.

Also, if you don't mind, please post a full tank picture of your system.

Sorry about the late reply, was swamped with work the past few days. I just did my weekly water change (20%) and i remeasured all of my parameters. I recorded some of my previous parameters before I got my new skimmer and some I recorded a couple of days ago when this thread was first started.

My parameters are :
Calcium : 498
Alkalanity : 7.1
Nitrate : 0
Phosphate : 0

I measured twice to make sure and here is a picture of my tank. It's in blue light right now and I used an orange filter for the camera so the colors may seem a bit more off than what it is in person.

 

[Dom]

Sorry about the late reply, was swamped with work the past few days. I just did my weekly water change (20%) and i remeasured all of my parameters. I recorded some of my previous parameters before I got my new skimmer and some I recorded a couple of days ago when this thread was first started.

My parameters are :
Calcium : 498
Alkalanity : 7.1
Nitrate : 0
Phosphate : 0

I measured twice to make sure and here is a picture of my tank. It's in blue light right now and I used an orange filter for the camera so the colors may seem a bit more off than what it is in person.

Yes... but did you clean your filter as I suggested?

 

[CLYRIC]

Yes... but did you clean your filter as I suggested?

Yea, I did.
Should I leave things be for now? Or maybe raise phosphate or nitrate?

 

[Dom]

Yea, I did.
Should I leave things be for now? Or maybe raise phosphate or nitrate?

Okay... your issue is bacterial and not chemical. Keep that filter clean. Have you added a UV light?

 

[CLYRIC]

Okay... your issue is bacterial and not chemical. Keep that filter clean. Have you added a UV light?

Would something like this work?

or something like this?

 

[Dom]

Would something like this work?

This one says "good for up to 50 gallons".

They all do the same thing. Just pick one that is rated for your size tank.

By the way, did you post the size of your tank? I don't recall seeing it.

 

[CLYRIC]

This one says "good for up to 50 gallons".

They all do the same thing. Just pick one that is rated for your size tank.

By the way, did you post the size of your tank? I don't recall seeing it.

It's 55 gallons, I was just wondering about the brand of the UV sterilizer to see which one's good or not, I'll probably get one that's rated for 75 gallons probably

 

[CLYRIC]

Have you been carbon dosing? How long have you had the dinos? Has anything died recently? Your phosphates at 0 caused the dino outbreak most likely. Until you get some phosphate in your system your bottled bacteria won’t help. Try to get phosphates to 0.1 ppm then add the bacteria. Also how large is your system?

As for the dinos I assume you did a dry start. I did the same. It wasn’t until I got chaeto and TRUE live rock from a friend’s system that my 8 month battle with dinos ended. If you have a decent LFS get 10 to preferably 20 lbs of live rock. A UV sterilizer might be of use if you have the kind of dinos that go into the water column at night then back onto the rocks and sand during the day. If you can get a picture of them under the microscope it will help identify them. It’s possible to have more than one type.

I just got the microscope pictures, I only sampled the sand, but I think there might be way more than one type in other spaces (glass or rock).