Water change help

[johnyboy]

I just changed 10 gallons of my water. Is it normal for my water to get cloudy after a water change ? I get nervous for my fish and corals. I have all this detritus in my bottom of my sump and I can't get it out because it's too low to the ground for Gravity and I think that's what's clouding the water. Any thoughts on this ?

 

[RavenSF]

How long are you mixing your salt? Some take longer than others to mix. Read the manufacturer 's website, some of them say cloudiness is normal and will go away. I use AquaVitro Salinity and mix between 6-12 hours depending on my schedule. I dunno that it's the right way, but me it works and I don't get cloudiness.

I've run into the gunk in the sump problem too. There are small pumps you can get that can overcome gravity. Every few months when I clean my sump I use one to drain the sump then paper towels to mop up all the gunk.

 

[rlman41299]

use a wet and dry vac to suck out the detritus from your sump. Is the cloudiness from the detritus or from the salt? How big of a system do you have?

 

[Downbeach]

I used to use an old MJ1200 pump and a lenght of 1/2" vinyl hose to suck up anything that settled on the bottom of my sump, then do the WC.

 

[ecfort57]

I use wet dry vac to clean out sump

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Stirred up detritus is not going to hurt anything, but I change water slowly and automatically many times per day, so there is no stress on the creatures or work by me. :)

 

[Chris Radici]

My tank is always cloudy for an hour or two after a WC. I typically will blow detritus off rocks and mix up sand bed, then do the water change. I am trying to get as much junk in the water floating around then I dose with zeofit Coral Snow. Your whole tank will be cloudy but by morning it is crystal clear. Awesome supplement.