cloudy water???

C

Carabelli

Membership Expired
well, i started using seachem's reef complete dosing liquid for dkH and calcium about a week ago - after a couple of days, the water started getting cloudy and has gotten worse - it is a 92 gallon tank and i changed 25 gallons over the weekend and it was even worse this morning when i checked - any thoughts on what is causing it?? thanks.
 
What are your dkH and Ca readings? Is it just cloudy, or does it look like stuff floating (particles) in the water column?
 
left them at home - i will have to check the readings, but, it is just cloudy, no particulates really - doesn't look at all like precipitant - i wonder if it could be due to using the well water - i ran it through the ro/di filters, maybe i will try city water??
 
How did the water look in the mixing barrel? Was that clear, and it is only cloudy in the tank?
 
I've used Reef Complete twice weekly for years-- it never clouds my water--and I dose it much higher than the bottle recommends. I use 4 Tbsp twice weekly in my 120. How much are you using?
 
yes, the water is clear in the mixing barrel and is clear when i put it in the tank - tank water is still very cloudy today - very confused :sad: :oops: :?: :?: :?:
 
okay here are the test results ...

dKh 8.8
calcium 350
ph 7.7 (uh oh - how do i fix this??)
phosphates - .03
nitrates - not detectable


so, i know i need to bring my ph up - guess i will just add some dKh buffer and that should fix that - but, i am not seeing anything that would cause the water to get cloudy like it is - i think i am going to try making some water using the city water run through the ro/di and then see if that helps - any ideas??? :sad:
 
i just added a little less than what they recommend - i added 7 mL the first day as i knew the levels were low - the next day i added 5 mL and then 2 days later about 3 mL - this was a week ago - i have not added anything since and the water has increased in cloudiness - thanks....

i guess i will also try using activated carbon to see if that helps to clear it up for the time being
 
What do you have in there as far as livestock etc... Any chance an anemone or coral spawned, something stirred up the sandbed behind the rockwork where you can't see? What kind of macro do you have? Any chance it went sexual? I'm just trying to think of all the scenarios.

For any of those, running carbon and really wet skimmate would probably be beneficial.
 
well, i have a flower anemone but, i don't think it is spawning - that is about it as far as the live stock goes - i do have a sand bed, but, again, nothing in there that really would stir it up - i will try to pick up some carbon today and turn the skimmer up some more -

should i just put the carbon in a bag and place it in the sump for a high flow area?? thanks

gm
 
thanks - i will see how it goes with the carbon - i am going to try and do another 15 gallon water change with the city water filtered and see if that doesn't help some also - just wish i could find the cause for the problem so i know how to fix it and not patch it :)

thanks
 
Well, it could be an algae bloom or calcium precipitation. Algone will clear the water in the tank, but precipitation is when the calcium level in the tank has collapsed and you have to bring it back up again. Since I'm not there, I'm unsure.

Maybe the carbon will do it. Big Fish Aquatics has Algone in stock.
 
well, the water continues to worsen - i am going to try some carbon today and order some algone from jimmy at big fish aquatics - also going to do another big water change tonight and see if that helps - very frustrating! i don't think it would worsen if it wasn't something like an algae outgrowth??
 
well, i visited the algone website and here is their take on cloudy water ----
White or grayish water is the result of a bacteria bloom (beneficial bacteria).

It is caused by high excessive nutrients, which aid the bacteria in multiplication at such a high rate that the water becomes cloudy.

A few grams of bacteria consume about the same amount of oxygen as an adult human; posing a risk of de-oxygenation that can suffocate the fish.

Ammonia levels should be checked regularly as they may rise up to dangerous levels during the period of the bacteria bloom.




i don't know what would be causing the high nutrient levels, but i have two theories ...

1. there was a lot of die off from the all the crap that was on the live rock that i got and with the move - but, i didn't feed a lot and the skimmer was working overtime, so seems unlikely

2. something in the well water is triggering the bacteria bloom - but, i will see what happens - i changed 15 gallons today and will do so in 3 days (going out of town till saturday for work :sad: so things will have to hold on their own - i have cut the food way down and I am leaving the light off to keep things stable - the algone should be here by saturday, so, i will start that then and change another 15 gallons that day and then 15 more on sunday

time will tell
 
sorry for the delay in responding guys - i was out of town wed. night through sat. afternoon on a work retreat -

the good news is that the tank looked a ton better on saturday - i guess it was a bacteria bloom that ran its course - it was still somewhat cloudy, i changed 10 more gallons on sunday and will do 15 more tomorrow - i also got some algone in on sunday and have started to use that - we will see how things progress - thanks... was able to turn the light on again today - good news!

gm
 
well, the water looks a little more cloudy today than it did yesterday - all i did was add the algone and some top-off water (from the city water) and i turned the light back on ??? it was only on for 4 hours yesterday though - i am very confused - i will try to get some carbon ordered soon - any thoughts??

gm :oops:
 
I noticed in this thread you've mentioned you were going to use carbon about four or five times. Have you actually run carbon yet?
 
well, you got me marc! i have had trouble getting any out here, as the nearest store is an hour away - but, enough excuses - the carbon is arriving tomorrow via mail and i will try that - thanks - just don't know what would be causing the problem and carbon seems to be just a band-aid for the problem - not a cure.
 
The carbon that they sell at Walmarts is the same as Black Diamond and very good carbon. I thought you had a Walmart around there.
 
i do - and i thought the same thing, but they did not have any :(

so, i ordered some on-line - hopefully that will help
 
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