How do people get crystal clear water

[John08007]

I am curious, whenever you see pics of great reef tanks the water is crystal clear. I seem to always have something tiny floating around. I use 2x 4" socks on my return as im sure 99% of people do. I havent used charcoal or my uv filter in a while but even when i had both online the water looked the same. I have a 75gal with a curve 7 skimmer so im probably oversized in my skimming.

Are these people changing their filter socks everyday? Using a real high micron filter to trap more?

 

[JustinSmi86]

Following... I always have some small stuff floating around... maybe it’s just camera filters

 

[DarkSky]

I don't run filter socks and my water is quite clear. Just carbon for me. I have a lot of fish that'll catch floating particulates in the water.

I have pretty high flow too. It makes everything end up in the sump eventually.

 

[RedSea500MaxS]

Place fresh high quality carbon in your sock. Take pic. In 24 hrs take a pic. Viola! Clear.

 

[John08007]

Is that the key? run a ton of carbon? I use the 2 little fish's reactor, put about 4" of carbon in there

 

[DarkSky]

Is that the key? run a ton of carbon? I use the 2 little fish's reactor, put about 4" of carbon in there

I run 1 cup, changing it every 2 weeks, in a 275g system.

 

[VA5]

Yep, carbon, also eliminates smell

 

[VA5]

The yellow tinge of water is from dissolved onganics and phenols which carbon makes quick work of. Also water changes with RODI factors in

 

[ReeferBud]

Don’t believe everything you see on the internet ;)

With filter socks and carbon, I can get my water to be pretty clear but still not as clear as what some of the artistic pictures around here show.

And for the filter socks to be effective at filtering out all the suspended particles, I feel one needs to have a fairly high turnover going through the sump. I’m currently at 4-5x turnover.

 

[bct15]

People often turn their powerheads off for photo shoots

 

[ImNemo]

Following along as I'm currently running an Acropora tank....I ran carbon for a week and it did seem to make the water look clearer. Just added a powerhead to my sump to get it clean. Will be changing out polyfil in filter cups on a weekly basis. I have also been vacuuming my sandbed for the last two weeks. Hoping this helps.

 

[Bigwrasse]

Carbon, uv sterilizer and change filter socks often

 

[madweazl]

I dont use filter socks but do run carbon (3/4 cup of Two Little Fishies on a 75g tank). Water is always crystal clear but I do have particulates floating in the water (It's feeding something).

 

[xaflatoonx]

Very tiny white dots floating around are sometimes bubbles. They could be coming from your skimmer or just the water drop off into the return chamber.

But a mesh or felt to prevent any bubbles from dropping or coming into the return chamber and see if that helps.

 

[sawdonkey]

People often turn their powerheads off for photo shoots

This makes a huge difference. Let your tank sit for 20 min with no powerhead and the return off, and boom...crystal clear.

Carbon takes the yellow out, but my corals seem distressed if I use too much carbon.

UV does wonders too, but I always run UV and the clarity seems to only be right when you start running it.....or maybe that’s when I notice it.

Things like microbactor also seem to help.

 

[albano]

Diatom filter

 

[sfin52]

Some floaties don't show up in a pic. Shut the tank down except for lights. Nothing floating around.

 

[mygsris2slo4u]

If you’re just looking for clear water for pictures do what others have suggested and turn off powerheads and return pumps.

However, if you are truly after clear water with no particles floating around; one of the BRS employee tanks in their recent video is running a 5 micron sediment filter on the return pump! That’s an insane level of mechanical filtration.

 

[smartwater101]

If you’re just looking for clear water for pictures do what others have suggested and turn off powerheads and return pumps.

However, if you are truly after clear water with no particles floating around; one of the BRS employee tanks in their recent video is running a 5 micron sediment filter on the return pump! That’s an insane level of mechanical filtration.

When I saw that, I immediately wanted to give a sediment filter a try.

 

[Cory]

Ozone beats them all. Its the moat powerful oxidant on the planet. Heres a before and after shot of the clarity of water in a bucket:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/carbon-vs-ozone-ozone-w-co2-scrubber.343616/#post-4278145