First BB, water continually cloudy..? Help is appreciated!

[crichard6069]

Hi all -

After having done the whole DSB thing, I've opted to setup a high flow BB tank for SPS.

The tank:
-75g rr
-2 Koralia 4's, MJ 1200 with the sureflow mod, mj 900, and return (mega flow.. ~ 4500 gph)
-110lbs of LR
-Corallife 220 Skimmer
-Tek 6x54 T5's

The tank has been up and running for about 6 weeks now - the cycle finished about two weeks ago. A couple of days back I added my first live stock (5 chromis and some orange zoa's). The water is continually cloudy, especially after I vacuum out the collection areas in the BB (which I would expect).

However, the cloudiness isn't going away.. it hasn't been "crystal" clear since I set it up, but my livestock seems to be doing well so far. All I have running in my sump is my skimmer so I'm thinking I may need to add a filter sock on my overflow drain to get a bit of mechanical filtration in there.

Any other thoughts/ideas?

[Mattmcf]

So you have no filter sock now? If not i would highly recommend picking up 4-5. With such high flow it sounds like the particles are just staying suspended in the water column. This is a good thing for BB! Just get a few socks and change them out every 2-3 days and you should see a huge improvement in your clarity. You could also consider adding a carbon reactor to your system. You can buy one for around $60 or DIY one for even cheaper.

[crichard6069]

Correct, I have no filter socks running right now. I was thinking along the same lines you are - with that high flow there is almost nothing settling to the bottom of the tank (which as you noted is a good thing). I only have to siphon one small spot off the bottom during my weekly water changes.

I'll order up some filter socks. This weekend I'm planning on finally plumbing my basement sump. My return pump came in yesterday so I'm anxious to get my 100g stock tank plumbed in. Right now I'm using about a 10g rubbermaid tote as a temporary sump sitting under the tank.

I'll look at a carbon reactor. I'm not running any carbon at all right now. Literally I have just the LR, a skimmer, and a couple of heaters running.

Thanks!!
Chad