Cloudy Water Woes: Navigating a 3-Month Tank Mystery! Seeking Aquarists' Wisdom and Advice.

[LiLinka]

I’ve been grappling with cloudy water ever since I set up my tank. The cycling process took an unusually long 2 months. While I achieved 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite, the persistent haze remains. I used Carib sea Fiji pink sand. I’ve stirred the sand twice and performed two water changes, but unfortunately, there’s been no improvement. It’s worth noting that the tank is 3/4 inch acrylic. I’ll attach some photos below for reference. Any insights or help would be greatly appreciated. (Also mentioning I am battling Dino’s currently)

 

[brandon429]

How many gallons is the tank

 

[LiLinka]

220 gallons in display. 275 in total with sump.

 

[brandon429]

First step is determine what’s in the water and what’s glass haze

take a straight shaving razor/common double edge razor and scrape down lightly in the middle no scratches to see what comes off if any / if that’s a glass tank it will be fine if it’s acrylic don’t do that part

second assessment

take some tank water and put it in a clear drinking glass and shine light behind it, is the water clean in the glass or hazy

 

[LiLinka]

It’s in the water for sure. Looks slightly hazy in clear cup. Also tank is acrylic.

 

[brandon429]

Let’s see pic in the cup curious if it’s green hazy too like the tank

a lot of that is on the tank walls for sure


you need a uv sterilizer it’s most likely that’s a bac bloom capitalizing on all the cycling food added and with no big water change at the end since the tank is so big

unrinsed sand is another likely component / pre rinsing bagged sand is best and would take a lot of work at that size range, most skip the pre rinse step but it’s crucial for tank management, to eliminate some forms of clouding / silt

it’s also likely that carbon filtration can clean the water part out but you’ll need to find a safe no scratch way to clean the tank walls too during the fix process

 

[LiLinka]

Hard to tell in person maybe a very very slight tint of green. Put it into a white cup this time for reference. I understand a bacterial bloom but for 3 months almost?

 

[brandon429]

I bet 200 gallons as cycling wastewater can do it for sure. With the bright lights too

Let’s see a full tank pic / just seeing if anything stands out

the sand particles are likely floc-heavy now and can be ruled out, but bright lights, no active filtration like GAC (granular aquarium carbon) ran through a channeled filter on original cycling wastewater I agree can do it.

 

[LiLinka]

I’m currently doing a blackout on day 2 to get rid of Dino’s. What can I do to fix this then.

 

[brandon429]

I don’t believe it will work at all. If it did there wouldn’t be 250 Dino’s challenge tanks underway in the nuisance algae forum

have you seen the Dino’s thread linked at the top? It’s six years and eight hundred pages of that not working

get a uv sterilizer, a good costly one you’ll need it several times over the life of the tank

reduce your lights until you have such a coral load as to need bright lights

run carbon filtration and clean the insides of the walls of the tank

running Sps level lights in a barren tank with white rocks and full cycling wastewater in place is the cause, must reverse all that

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I don't see any powerheads in the tank, and the water surface is very flat. Consider adding a couple powerheads and pointing one at the surface to agitate the surface and help with oxygenating the water. Bacteria bloom indicates poor flow and low oxygen.

 

[brandon429]

People sometimes get temporary suppression with blackouts but rarely cures. It leaves all the cells in the tank, doesn’t kill them, they seat into the sand spaces and crevices in the rocks and reemerge soon but a pre cleaning, big water change, carbon filtration from a canister or hang on back large filter plus UV actually removes target cells. The lighting should be reduced about 60% in overall power vs blackouts.

 

[taricha]

If you can get a cup or bucket of hazy water and clear it in a minute or two with vinegar additions - it's mineral. If not - it's likely biological.