Ongoing Problem with Cloudy Water

[Bouncingsoul39]

I'm having an ongoing issue with my tank having cloudy water. It's been running for 4 weeks and the water seems to get a white cloudiness when the lights come on. The only variable I can think of is that my 4 stage RO/DI unit is missing the chloramines and every time I'm topping off, I'm killing the good bacteria? I thought it was my oolite sand so I turned off the powerhead but that hasn't helped. Any ideas?
I've tested:
ph 8.1
phosphate undetectable with Salifert
alk 7

 

[mr.coral]

Are you using Carbon?

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

I ran a pound of carbon for 48 hours to see if it would help. It did not.

 

[Troylee]

You need to run carbon 24/7 it sounds like a bacterial bloom more than anything.... Give it time..

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

You need to run carbon 24/7 it sounds like a bacterial bloom more than anything.... Give it time..

I appreciate the help but why would there be a bacterial bloom at four weeks in? I added the recommended dosage of Bio Spira at week one. I've setup many reef tanks over the years and this is the first I've had this problem...Why do I need to run carbon 24/7, dude? I've grown out literally hundreds of farmed SPS frags with only occasional carbon use and seen several beautiful tanks in person that run carbon only occasionally to remove discoloration from the water. I'm hoping someone can help me here with some out of the box thinking.

 

[thewackyreefer]

I had the same issue for a while only thing that helped was daily MB7.

 

[Troylee]

really hard to say without knowing how you started the tank etc....im still gonna say bacteria bloom myself..lol;) seen it way to many times...

 

[ReefRacer]

I had the same problem with my current tank @Bouncing. It's the first time that I have ever had the problem in any of my previous reefs. I do run a very small amount of carbon 24/7 through a reactor on my system now with great results...but, like you said...it offered no fix to the cloudy water. The only thing that I noticed during the 'cloudy period' was that my Calcium and Alk where a little out of whack. Alk was a little high and calcium a little low....while I'm certainly no scientist, my understanding is that this could cause some precipitation. Anyway...over the next couple of weeks I dosed a little bit more Part A then I did Part B. This brought my levels to where they should be and the water cleared up and has been fine for the last 9 months. That said...I'm still not convinced that was the solution to the Cloudy water. It may have been a 'new tank' thing that just went away on its own. It was VERY frustrating though...hang in there.

 

[swannyson7]

I'd agree that it's probably a bacterial bloom. You can try running a UV if you have available to kill off the excess bacteria, or you could just wait it out. As far as carbon is concerned, it won't help if it is in fact a bacterial bloom, but I also run carbon 24/7. While it isn't necessary, it's always a good fall back in case any contaminants make their way into the tank whether they be airborne or accidental additions.

 

[jbannick18]

A UV would clear up a bacteria bloom within 48 hours. Are you running any mechanical filtration? Even though you turned off the PH you may just have an excessive amount of silt from sand/rock that won't settle. I had to run a filter sock for a few days and it helped my tank tremendously.