Water cloudy after water change + ph won't stay up.

[Des]

My 120g finally finished cycling this last weekend. Ammonia, nitrates, nitrates all 0, ph 7.4, salinity .025. I did a 20 percent water change and made no other changes.
The water clouded up immediately and I initially assumed I must have disturbed the substrate. 4 days later and it stop hasn't cleared. Would a bacterial bloom stop give me 0's on all of my parameters?
My second question is my ph. My tap water that I mixed the salt with is 8.4. But over the past few weeks it dropped to 7.4 and I can't get it to stay up. I added crushed coral substrate (well before the water change) and it didn't come up at all. The water change on Sunday brought it up to 8.0, by but it's back to 7.4.

Sorry if these are silly questions, I've been doing tons of research but I'm just unsure and don't want to guess.
I haven't added any buffers or conditioners, i will if I have to, but only as a last resort.

 

[Jekyl]

Bacterial blooms are normal and will subside. Increase surface agitation, run UV, running carbon can all help. Ditch the tap water.

 

[Jekyl]

Where are my manners.... welcome to R2R!

 

[RwP]

Strongly recommend RO/DI water for topping off and water changes

 

[kingjames_dc5]

Water agitation is highly recommended that will help release co2 built up. Also use ro or rodi water to mix saltwater and top off. I’ve read dr tim is a fan of ro based on the fact that bacteria actually likes it better.

 

[Des]

Thank you for the responses. I can get RO water from my local fish store so that will be easy to come by. It will be a bit down the road to get a UV filter installed, by but I'll look into that. I'm hesitant to say I'm using under gravel filters (how embarrassing) the tank is a very old revamp and it came with them. I've been working on it for the past 4 months. Anyway, there is quite a bit of surface agitation going on I think.
It's a work in progress, but it's been a blast so far.

 

[Jekyl]

Thank you for the responses. I can get RO water from my local fish store so that will be easy to come by. It will be a bit down the road to get a UV filter installed, by but I'll look into that. I'm hesitant to say I'm using under gravel filters (how embarrassing) the tank is a very old revamp and it came with them. I've been working on it for the past 4 months. Anyway, there is quite a bit of surface agitation going on I think.
It's a work in progress, but it's been a blast so far.

My tank is over 3 years old running a reverse under gravel filter. Own it with pride.

 

[Des]

Lol good point.

 

[Dolphins18]

The more people in the home, the harder it will be to keep PH up. Large dogs make in almost impossible. The tank needs air from outside as the CO2 content in the air is very high inside. One thing that helps is running the skimmer air intake outside or purchasing a co2 scrubber.

 

[Rp8]

I literally just set my 120 3 wks ago and dealt with this. I turned lights off for a day, added a dose of vibrant, and swapped filter socks. Got it back where I wanted. Check out my last thread, it was cloudy/blurry. Pictures are there. Just give it time to settle and adjust. Good luck

 

[elorablue]

I'm surprised your nitrates are 0 right at the end of cycling . Interesting. I think mine were around 60 LOL

 

[snorklr]

did you vacuum the gravel when you did the waterchange? if it doesnt clear up give that a try...worked for me when mine went cloudy

 

[Des]

I'm surprised your nitrates are 0 right at the end of cycling . Interesting. I think mine were around 60 LOL

I thought that being 0 meant the tank was cycled? Ammonia has been 0 for about six weeks, and nitrites were reading 0 as well, but my nitrates were very stubborn, hanging on until last weekend. Now all 3 are 0 and that's why I say it has finished cycling. Am I misunderstanding the process?

 

[Des]

I appreciate the responses. I've increased flow to my under gravel filters and increased lights out time. Big improvement! I'll try a 10 percent water change with RO water from Lt local fish store tomorrow to see if that helps the ph. We do have a boxer and a family of 5 on the house, the tank is in the livingroom so the comment about co2 being high because if that makes a ton of sense.

 

[Screwgunner]

The process is ammonia . Nitrite. Nitrate . If you have a deep sand bed then your nitrates might go down to . But nitrates go up . Live rock and deep sand help with nitrate alittle . When you start putting fish in and feeding keep an eye on nitrates they will go up eventually.