Reef Tank is Suddenly Cloudy with Unhappy Coral

[vetteguy53081]

What is the safest way to do so?

Sodium bicarbonate and monitoring. Your water itself could be high in PH. Check that too

 

[Scott Christenson]

Sodium bicarbonate and monitoring. Your water itself could be high in PH. Check that too

To lower ph????

 

[goodefx]

just reading through this thread I can see a couple problems:
1. Alk going from 8.5 to 10... how fast and why? with no nitrates or phospates this can be a deadly game for corals.
2. 6 month tank may be loaded with fish too fast, algae blooms can deplete oxygen pretty fast as well, watch your fish as you may want to put in air stone.
3. phosphate remover can also hurt corals, stripping the water is something you don't want to do...refer to no. 1
4. do not chase pH, very rarely is pH ever the problem...unless you adding chemicals to raise pH (never do this!)
5. Algae blooms come and go no newer tanks, a UV sterilizer will wipe it out in 24hrs. I've only had an algae bloom once on an established tank when playing around with carbon dosing sugar. hope this helps!

 

[Scott Christenson]

just reading through this thread I can see a couple problems:
1. Alk going from 8.5 to 10... how fast and why? with no nitrates or phospates this can be a deadly game for corals.
2. 6 month tank may be loaded with fish too fast, algae blooms can deplete oxygen pretty fast as well, watch your fish as you may want to put in air stone.
3. phosphate remover can also hurt corals, stripping the water is something you don't want to do...refer to no. 1
4. do not chase pH, very rarely is pH ever the problem...unless you adding chemicals to raise pH (never do this!)
5. Algae blooms come and go no newer tanks, a UV sterilizer will wipe it out in 24hrs. I've only had an algae bloom once on an established tank when playing around with carbon dosing sugar. hope this helps!

I agree with #1 as likely being the culprit

 

[PhreeByrd]

Scott: please don't panic or start chasing numbers. I agree with those who suspect a bacterial bloom, which is almost always harmless and will clear on its own. You have a high bioload in a new tank, and this would not be unusual at all. Adding a UV sterilizer would be the absolutely wrong thing to do, IMO. A good skimmer will remove free bacteria from the water very effectively, as well as keeping the water well-aerated.
Your leather and your other corals all look fine. I don't see any corals in your photos that look stressed, including the Duncan's.
pH is very rarely something that needs to be adjusted for. It is a good indicator of things in general, but there is little point in trying to maintain a specific target pH.

Your replacement saltwater is (and must be) your primary reference for the water parameters (Ca, alkalinity, Mg, pH). Otherwise you're fighting numbers with every water change, and this is an exercise in futility.
What you should do is test those parameters on newly mixed saltwater and then figure out what should be done to get the numbers in your tank water to match. If the numbers in your new saltwater are not what you think they should be, then try a different salt that's more to your liking. But in any case, your salt mix (and thus your new saltwater) should have the parameters you want to maintain in your tank.

IMO, 6 months is also early for a phosphate reactor. I may have missed it, but I did not notice your PO4 numbers.

 

[Retro Reefer]

My question is this; should I get the Magnesium to 1400 FIRST before I tackle the Cal and Alk?

Yes get your Mg in line before working on Cal & Alk.. agree with others DO NOT chase or try to adjust PH

 

[Scott Christenson]

Scott: please don't panic or start chasing numbers. I agree with those who suspect a bacterial bloom, which is almost always harmless and will clear on its own. You have a high bioload in a new tank, and this would not be unusual at all. Adding a UV sterilizer would be the absolutely wrong thing to do, IMO. A good skimmer will remove free bacteria from the water very effectively, as well as keeping the water well-aerated.
Your leather and your other corals all look fine. I don't see any corals in your photos that look stressed, including the Duncan's.
pH is very rarely something that needs to be adjusted for. It is a good indicator of things in general, but there is little point in trying to maintain a specific target pH.

Your replacement saltwater is (and must be) your primary reference for the water parameters (Ca, alkalinity, Mg, pH). Otherwise you're fighting numbers with every water change, and this is an exercise in futility.
What you should do is test those parameters on newly mixed saltwater and then figure out what should be done to get the numbers in your tank water to match. If the numbers in your new saltwater are not what you think they should be, then try a different salt that's more to your liking. But in any case, your salt mix (and thus your new saltwater) should have the parameters you want to maintain in your tank.

IMO, 6 months is also early for a phosphate reactor. I may have missed it, but I did not notice your PO4 numbers.

Thank you PhreeByrd, great advice!!

 

[Utahsaltnoob]

Do you have a lot of bristle worms? I’ve seen a tank go from 0 to cloudy in a matter of an hour because of their spawning.

 

[Scott Christenson]

Do you have a lot of bristle worms? I’ve seen a tank go from 0 to cloudy in a matter of an hour because of their spawning.

I do have TONS!!

 

[goodefx]

Scott: please don't panic or start chasing numbers. I agree with those who suspect a bacterial bloom, which is almost always harmless and will clear on its own. You have a high bioload in a new tank, and this would not be unusual at all. Adding a UV sterilizer would be the absolutely wrong thing to do, IMO. A good skimmer will remove free bacteria from the water very effectively, as well as keeping the water well-aerated.
Your leather and your other corals all look fine..

Why would running a UV sterilizer be the "absolutely wrong" thing to do to get rid of an algae bloom? I get it, some people don't run a sterilizer but a lot of people do, and yes, it will get rid of an algae bloom very quickly. But I totally agree, a good skimmer will also fix the problem and provide good oxygen! If you have a lot of people in a small house then you may want to check your pH.....but asking someone like Jason Fox on what he keeps his pH at, he replied, "I don't have anything to even monitor pH"

 

[BryanD]

To many critters in a tank only 6 months old. Can't believe your nitrates are 0. Not questioning you, just with that much livestock .... If it was me I'd be doing a large water change, say 20-30 gallons, then maybe 5 gallons a day until it clears. My 2 cents, I prefer a pH of 8.2 and salinity of 35ppt but like others stated, don't go chasing pH, but I also wouldn't let it get any higher. I've read LFS keep their tanks at a lower salinity to avoid parasites, but I've had mine at 35ppt (1.027) for years now and everyone seems to like it. Maybe its just a bacterial bloom.

 

[PhreeByrd]

Why would running a UV sterilizer be the "absolutely wrong" thing to do to get rid of an algae bloom?

I don't believe what we're seeing is an algae bloom. My post referred to a bacterial bloom, which is what I think is seen in the photos the OP posted.

 

[RtomKinMad]

Bacteria bloom or something spawning is what comes to my mind.

Do you have a pic you can post? Curious to see just how cloudy this is.

Bacteria bloom can also strip oxygen from the water if it's bad enough.

Spawns usually clear up in a day or 2.

I thought sea urchins turn water cloudy when they spawn? Is the correct?

 

[RtomKinMad]

Unhappy Mushroom

The mushroom is ok. It’s shedding. My does this once a month and it’s huge. Does not turn water cloudy though. I run carbon after it sheds because my make the SPS unhappy.

 

[RtomKinMad]

Keep us posted on the situation. i want to see them leathers when they are open. im sort of a soft coral fanatic.

I lov soft coral too! My leathers were quarter size four years ago. They each shed about once a month sometimes more last about a few days. They get very shiny after they shed and then slowly come back. Here’s a picture. My water does turn a little yellow after the leathers shed but not cloudy. We run carbon once a week for 24 hrs.

 

[RtomKinMad]

Why would running a UV sterilizer be the "absolutely wrong" thing to do to get rid of an algae bloom? I get it, some people don't run a sterilizer but a lot of people do, and yes, it will get rid of an algae bloom very quickly. But I totally agree, a good skimmer will also fix the problem and provide good oxygen! If you have a lot of people in a small house then you may want to check your pH.....but asking someone like Jason Fox on what he keeps his pH at, he replied, "I don't have anything to even monitor pH"

How often would you run UV? We had ick in display 2 yrs ago. Ran UV 24 hrs a day for 2 yrs straight. Change bulbs every six months. Is this bad? Just turned off UV a few weeks ago the plastic melted and was see through to the bulb! Ordered a new UV unit. The company said it was something to do with a new bulb we put in. It’s been off for a few weeks now. Haven’t seen any difference in tank with bacteria, algae or ick. Tank is 2yrs old. Haven’t seen ick for over a year now.