Water cloudy in my new tank right from the start.

[msavoy]

Hey guys, I just received my new Red Reefer 170 yesterday and have just finished filling it up with RO water. The thing is the tank is completely cloudy, is this normal? I do have sand in the tank but was careful not to disturb it. The water seemed cloudy before I even poured it into the tank. On the box of Reef Pro Mix it said to pour the salt in slowly so it doesn’t precipitate. I did do it slowly but maybe it still precipitated. If it did indeed precipitate, will it eventually clear or is there something I need to do to fix it? Thanks for your help.

 

[mike550]

The RO water was cloudy before you put it in the tank? I'm guessing that you may have silted up the tank from the sand -- no matter how careful you were. Also, how are you mixing the salt in the tank? @Aggie1978 -- FYI

 

[msavoy]

The RO water was cloudy before you put it in the tank? I'm guessing that you may have silted up the tank from the sand -- no matter how careful you were. Also, how are you mixing the salt in the tank? @Aggie1978 -- FYI

Well the RO water became cloudy after I added the salt in the bucket to mix it. I thought once the salt dissolved into the water it would become clear again but it didn’t. Then I poured it into the tank and it’s still cloudy after 12 hours. I’m sure I did disturb the sand a bit when I poured it into the tank but it still doesn’t explain why the water was cloudy after I poured the salt into the mixing bucket

 

[DC Reefer]

Pretty sure it is from the sand. I washed sand for what seemed like hours and still got cloudy water. You can also run some RO water into a bucket just to check the source water isn't cloudy. If it is from sand it is normal will settle down in a day or two.

 

[DC Reefer]

mixing salt will make the water cloudy for a while. Are you running everything through the sump with the filter sock? Also do you have flow in the tank. the flow will help finish mixing up the saltwater.

 

[Garf]

mixing salt will make the water cloudy for a while. Are you running everything through the sump with the filter sock? Also do you have flow in the tank. the flow will help finish mixing up the saltwater.

And it can last a long while with the pro reef type, high Alk and Calcium salts. Can you test Alk and Calcium?

 

[MichaelReefer]

No matter what you do you will still get cloudy water from the sand. Put a super fine filter sock or filter floss in your filter. It will get a lot out.

 

[msavoy]

And it can last a long while with the pro reef type, high Alk and Calcium salts. Can you test Alk and Calcium?

Yeah I’m going to buy the meters today to test. Do you know exactly how long it can last with pro reef salt? I’ll buy a better brand next time.

 

[Garf]

Yeah I’m going to buy the meters today to test. Do you know exactly how long it can last with pro reef salt? I’ll buy a better brand next time.

If the levels are really high then your sand may have just tipped it over the edge into murky ness. You’ve gotta give it a few days, you’re in no rush are you?

 

[msavoy]

If the levels are really high then your sand may have just tipped it over the edge into murky ness. You’ve gotta give it a few days, you’re in no rush are you?

Nah, no rush at all really. I’ll give things time to settle a bit and see how it goes.

 

[Garf]

Nah, no rush at all really. I’ll give things time to settle a bit and see how it goes.

You gonna get a refractometer? To make sure you ain’t mixed it a bit thick also?

 

[mike550]

Well the RO water became cloudy after I added the salt in the bucket to mix it. I thought once the salt dissolved into the water it would become clear again but it didn’t. Then I poured it into the tank and it’s still cloudy after 12 hours. I’m sure I did disturb the sand a bit when I poured it into the tank but it still doesn’t explain why the water was cloudy after I poured the salt into the mixing bucket

@msavoy this is really helpful. Couple of things. What brand of salt are you using? Some take a while to fully dissolve. So it looks good in a bucket, but then when you look at it through glass it's cloudy. Also, if you tried to make a "concentrated" saltwater -- not saying you did -- and then tried to dilute it later that creates problems too.

Take a look at this link on how long it takes to mix saltwater from BRS

How long do I mix saltwater? - BRStv Investigates

We are expanding our investigative testing on some of our most popular salt mixes by seeking to answer two questions about how long to mix saltwater. 1. Do salt mixes fully dissolve in less than one hour? 2. Does the speed at which it mixes clear really matter? For those of

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[excell007]

How long did you wait after mixing the salt? Did you use a powerhead of mix manually? New salt mix will clear up in less than 1 hour with a power head. New sand will be cloudy and clears up in about a day, with flter running.

 

[msavoy]

@msavoy this is really helpful. Couple of things. What brand of salt are you using? Some take a while to fully dissolve. So it looks good in a bucket, but then when you look at it through glass it's cloudy. Also, if you tried to make a "concentrated" saltwater -- not saying you did -- and then tried to dilute it later that creates problems too.

Take a look at this link on how long it takes to mix saltwater from BRS

How long do I mix saltwater? - BRStv Investigates

We are expanding our investigative testing on some of our most popular salt mixes by seeking to answer two questions about how long to mix saltwater. 1. Do salt mixes fully dissolve in less than one hour? 2. Does the speed at which it mixes clear really matter? For those of

www.bulkreefsupply.com

thank you, I’ll have a look now. I used reef pro salt in the red box. The guy at the store told me it took around 2 hours to completely dissolve. Maybe it takes longer.