Frag tank won't clear up! very cloudy

[Reefaquarium]

My frag tank originally had sand which wasn't cleaned and clouded it up for 3 weeks.
I took out the sad over a week ago and it is still very cloudy.
I can barely see what's on the second tier of my frag rack. :(
It's a 14 gallon biocube with nova extreme t5 lighting

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Jordan

 

[Kevinw]

What do you have for filtration? When my tank was cloudy I ran Corbon for about 3 weeks and it made it crystal clear.

 

[Reefaquarium]

I cut a fine piece of carbon padding.
A few days ago I added a carbon bag how long should it take do you think?

 

[ficklefins]

Do you have any live rock in there?

I've found that cloudy water can go away pretty quickly when I would introduce a few pieces of LR. Might be worth a shot.

 

[swannyson7]

Is it a bacterial blooom? You could try adding a UV to kill some of the excess bacteria off

 

[Reefaquarium]

I just have a few small pieces of rubble rock in there.
I will try and put a few more in there I don't have much room..
Thanks for the help!

 

[Reefaquarium]

Is it a bacterial blooom? You could try adding a UV to kill some of the excess bacteria off

It has only been set up for about 3-4 weeks

 

[swannyson7]

That doesn't necessarily rule out a bacterial bloom. The sand that you had introduced could have easily released bacteria into the water column which could grow into plague proportions.

 

[Viva'sReef]

Check out this thread....

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/ne...m/59905-frag-tank-cloudy-over-month-half.html

 

[ronnie]

Thanks Viva - I saw the title and was about to link it myself.

Get a UV - borrow one (what I did) and run it.

Mine cleared up partially in two days and was clear in ten days. My UV was underrated with only a 2.7w bulb, but it still worked.

 

[ronnie]

Also - I was doing massive water changes also, with no result. I also tried running a filter sock, with no results.

The UV, however, did the trick. I was about to shut it down, too.

 

[Reefaquarium]

What's the uv?

 

[ronnie]

Internal UV Sterilizer w/Power Head & Lamp Replacements - Algae Control - Water Conditioners - PetSmart

 

[swordfight]

I'd use carbon, normally it shouldn't take more than 3 weeks, if it did I'd be worried too.
Base rock/live rock tends to aid in the recovery process. Since they're natural sponges.

 

[ronnie]

If it is bacterial, then carbon won't do any good. I tried it as well.

 

[Reefaquarium]

I Doubt that it is bacterial
The tank has only been up for a few weeks. How could bacteria have grown?
I added a media bag of carbon and I only have like 5 real small pieces of rubble rock since there isn't much room cause it's a frag tank.

 

[ronnie]

Hmm...

What makes you think it ISN'T bacterial? The fact that there is very little rock? My 40B had only three pieces of rock, all which were dry when added. It also had no sand (never added).

It took me a while to buy into the UV sterilizer as well. Just takes time until you realize that is likely what it going on. Good luck!

 

[thewackyreefer]

You have any pics? Sounds exactly like a bacterial bloom to me...been there myself.

 

[Reefaquarium]

So your trying to say that it is probably going to help if I buy one or is it not nessecceary?

 

[ronnie]

Buy one.