Water cloudy from day 1. Easy fix?

[Reefacist]

Hi guys,

i finallllllyyyy got to the point and put water in the aquarium, set up bean animal and all but thewater is slightly cloudy. There is nothing in there and I cleaned the sand well but the water just looks a little cloudy and not crisp. I will be adding carbon but wanna solve this before dumping more bacteria in there. I put a little microbacter7 but no ammonia yet. My water is at 1.026 salinity. I haven’t checked any other parameter since it’s brand new with coral reef pro salt.

 

[lapin]

The dust will settle in a day or 2

 

[Reefacist]

The dust will settle in a day or 2

Thanks. I put in carbon just in case too but thanks for the quick answer

 

[cshouston]

It’s day 1, man. That’s completely normal. It’s either dust from the sand (which is going to happen no matter how well you rinse it first), or bacteria blooming in the water column. Nothing to worry about. Is this your first tank?

If it is, I would advise not using the Red Sea Coral Pro salt. There’s a reason it says Pro on the bucket, and it’s not because it’s “superior”, a la iPhone Pro. It’s really not meant for beginners. Unless you really know what you’re going for and what you’re doing with that stuff, you risk issues with alkalinity that high.

 

[cshouston]

Thanks. I put in carbon just in case too but thanks for the quick answer

Carbon isn’t going to do anything.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Suggest Seachem Clarity to clear your water.

 

[Reefacist]

It’s day 1, man. That’s completely normal. It’s either dust from the sand (which is going to happen no matter how well you rinse it first), or bacteria blooming in the water column. Nothing to worry about. Is this your first tank?

If it is, I would advise not using the Red Sea Coral Pro salt. There’s a reason it says Pro on the bucket, and it’s not because it’s “superior”, a la iPhone Pro. It’s really not meant for beginners. Unless you really know what you’re going for and what you’re doing with that stuff, you risk issues with alkalinity that high.

Yup my first tank. It’s that first tank everything has to be perfect attitude. Done a lot of research and bought all the Hannah testers along with an apex. Goal would be a mixed tank. But will be doing fish only for the first 6 months until I get a hang of checking and maintaining the parameters. Then I will start incorporating corals. Honestly just picked the salt because the tropic marine wasn’t available and heard good things about this one. Why do you say the issue with alk?

 

[Reefacist]

Suggest Seachem Clarity to clear your water.

Thanks I will look into it if things don’t improve in the next day or two

 

[Reefacist]

Carbon isn’t going to do anything.

Ya your probably right but it won’t hurt anything either since I haven’t even put bacteria or ammonia in yet

 

[cshouston]

Yup my first tank. It’s that first tank everything has to be perfect attitude. Done a lot of research and bought all the Hannah testers along with an apex. Goal would be a mixed tank. But will be doing fish only for the first 6 months until I get a hang of checking and maintaining the parameters. Then I will start incorporating corals. Honestly just picked the salt because the tropic marine wasn’t available and heard good things about this one. Why do you say the issue with alk?

I’d look for a salt with 8-9dkh for mixed reef, personally. Alkalinity, light intensity, and nutrients are all intertwined in a kind of balance. They all have effects on coral health, growth, and coloration. With really high alkalinity, and with SPS in particular, you run the risk of burning the tissue at the tips of the corals if you don’t have enough nutrients. The problem with high nutrients is that it’s going to wreak havoc with a younger tank that hasn’t fully matured and stabilized. It’s my opinion that you shouldn’t use that coral pro stuff unless you really know what you’re doing, how to handle rapid growth properly, and even then I would only use it in a frag tank where I’m specifically chasing rapid growth, personally.

Even Tropic Marin Pro Reef is a specific tool for a specific purpose and best used by people after a specific goal (SPS dominant with low nutrients). I firmly believe that beginners are better served with the classic standby Instant Ocean, or something middle-of-the-road like RedSea blue bucket, Fritz RPM, or HW-Marine. Your salt won’t guarantee success or failure. It’s just another tool to achieve a specific goal that you’re trying to accomplish. Plenty of amazing reefs run with “cheap” instant ocean.

 

[ScubaFish802]

I agree with others, just give it a little more time

 

[Dom]

Suggestion:

Go to a local arts & crafts store and purchase 9"x12" WHITE felt squares. They're .39 cents each. Place 1 square in with your filter media. It will polish the water and give you the clarity you want.

Don't get colors. Dye may bleed out.

 

[ScubaFish802]

Suggestion:

Go to a local arts & crafts store and purchase 9"x12" WHITE felt squares. They're .39 cents each. Place 1 square in with your filter media. It will polish the water and give you the clarity you want.

Don't get colors. Dye may bleed out.

That’s a new one. Might try this out next time gf drags me to Michaels

 

[Reefacist]

Suggestion:

Go to a local arts & crafts store and purchase 9"x12" WHITE felt squares. They're .39 cents each. Place 1 square in with your filter media. It will polish the water and give you the clarity you want.

Don't get colors. Dye may bleed out.

Thank you @Dom i actually bought felt to make my own filter socks so I will put some in there but the water is already looking a lot more crisp with just the filter socks and some carbon.

 

[Dom]

Thank you @Dom i actually bought felt to make my own filter socks so I will put some in there but the water is already looking a lot more crisp with just the filter socks and some carbon.

Time had a lot to do with it clearing up too.

Yes, I find that laying a felt square in among my filter media is an excellent polisher.

Much cheaper than filter socks and other materials.

 

[Garf]

Yup my first tank. It’s that first tank everything has to be perfect attitude. Done a lot of research and bought all the Hannah testers along with an apex. Goal would be a mixed tank. But will be doing fish only for the first 6 months until I get a hang of checking and maintaining the parameters. Then I will start incorporating corals. Honestly just picked the salt because the tropic marine wasn’t available and heard good things about this one. Why do you say the issue with alk?

Do me a favour bud, check the magnesium level. You may as well do Cal and Alk at the same time. Ive used tropic Marin that went cloudy at the drop of a hat, appears it was because magnesium was too low. Adding magnesium cleared it up ASAP. Not sure how adding it actually disappeared the cloud as it’s just supposed to prevent precipitation events, not reverse it.

 

[Dom]

Do me a favour bud, check the magnesium level. You may as well do Cal and Alk at the same time. Ive used tropic Marin that went cloudy at the drop of a hat, appears it was because magnesium was too low. Adding magnesium cleared it up ASAP. Not sure how adding it actually disappeared the cloud as it’s just supposed to prevent precipitation events, not reverse it.

Interesting.

But it is freshly mixed water without anything in the tank to consume elements such as calcium and magnesium. So I would expect that testing for this elements would yield the results on the bucket, if mixed as recommended.

Of course there is the possibility of a bad salt batch.

Also, more than one post has suggested bottled solutions. And I think this is a problem in the hobby; that people look for something to add to the tank whenever there is something "wrong".

There isn't any livestock in the tank, so what's the rush to correct any issues? It isn't as though there is life in danger.

The OP was about cloudy water. Time and filtration appear to have corrected the problem. Now, had the problem not cleared up in a day or two, then diving deeper into the problem is warranted.

 

[Reefacist]

Interesting.

But it is freshly mixed water without anything in the tank to consume elements such as calcium and magnesium. So I would expect that testing for this elements would yield the results on the bucket, if mixed as recommended.

Of course there is the possibility of a bad salt batch.

Also, more than one post has suggested bottled solutions. And I think this is a problem in the hobby; that people look for something to add to the tank whenever there is something "wrong".

There isn't any livestock in the tank, so what's the rush to correct any issues? It isn't as though there is life in danger.

The OP was about cloudy water. Time and filtration appear to have corrected the problem. Now, had the problem not cleared up in a day or two, then diving deeper into the problem is warranted.

It did clear up but don't mind doing the tests. I honestly wouldn't add a bottle solution to clarify the water because I have read way too many times people chasing one problem after the next due to imbalances created by bottle solutions. I would let it settle on its own. The filter socks did turn brownish in 2 days so I'm sure it was just the rocks and initial start up dust. Hope that's the worst problem I deal with lmaooo

 

[Dom]

It did clear up but don't mind doing the tests. I honestly wouldn't add a bottle solution to clarify the water because I have read way too many times people chasing one problem after the next due to imbalances created by bottle solutions. I would let it settle on its own. The filter socks did turn brownish in 2 days so I'm sure it was just the rocks and initial start up dust. Hope that's the worst problem I deal with lmaooo

Testing fresh mix is a good idea as it will tell you if the mix is true to what is indicated on the bucket.