Cloudy water HELP!!

[Curve]

Well about 3 weeks ago came in to feed my fish and my water was very cloudy. This is a 150 gallon 6' tank. I did a water change and it got better so I waited a few days and did another water change and no different. So I put in some fresh carbon and no change. What are you suggestions to clear up this water. All the parameters of the tank look great and nothing out of reason. This is a fowlr tank and it house a percula, dog face puffer, regal tang, emporer angle, and about 15 crabs and 5 snails. This tank has been setup for 2 years with no problems at all. I use rodi water and have used it since day one. But it seems that bo matter what I do it does not get any better.

[cap23244]

have you added any additives latley ? is the ammonia levels at zero along with the nitrate. not nitrate. what about the filter floss. or pad. can you think back on when it started. did you do any matiance on the tank the day or 2 before. do you have a uv sterlizer ?

[leoristo]

How much and how frequently your water changes? Skimmer? Sump?

[swpassion]

A UV Sterilizer would likely clear it up as would the use of Purigen, but I would verfiy the issue first. It could be high phosphates, older light bulbs, or many other things.

How often do you feed and how much?
How old are the bulbs?
What type of substrate is it?

[PRDubois]

Did this start with the new stingray?
Is he mixing up the sand bed?

You could try a Canister of HOB filter with a polishing pad

[Sisterlimonpot]

I'm curious that it is some sort of precipitation. Or an algae bloom. Are you dosing anything to the tank? What type of salt are you using?

[Curve]

I am not dosing anything and I have never used any additives in this tank since day one. The stingray is not in this tank. There is no amoninia, nitirites, and minimal nitrates. I do a 20% water change evry 3 weeks which is plenty for a fowlr tank. I run a sump but no skimmer.

Do you really think old light bulbs could cause this. I ruun 4 96w pc bulbs over this tank and I may need to replace them.


I don't have a uv sterilizer but I was thinking about adding ozone to the water. Do you think this will work??

[leoristo]

Skimmer always helps.

[Curve]

I refuse to run a skimmer as I have seen to many floods from them

[leoristo]

you can protect yourself against floods from a skimmer. First you install an overflow line that drains the skimmate from the collection cup to a big jug hidden somewhere. Then you clamp a flood sensor in the neck of this jug or on a tray under the jug.

[swpassion]

Older bulbs will produce a incorrect spectrum foranything but an algae bloom so it is def. possible a a UV's primary purpose is water clarity I have run them for years and have crystal clear water. Purigen also work well, much better than carbon.

[swpassion]

BTW, since you have a sump, you can use a skmmer in the sump and never worry about a flooding issue.

[cap23244]

only flood i have seen is from some hang on skimmers.
your the first person i heard of not using a skimmer on a fish only.
and not having there tank crash. usally when the water ges cloudy and you say you never dosed any thing and your ph is good. and no ammonia or nitrate. it has to be bacteria bloom. you dont have a uv sterilizer. that would help that from happening. but honestly i cant belive you went this long with out major troble. not running a skimmer to pull the watse/out. you must change water once a week . if youdo a ammonia test if it is not at zero then there is a problem with the filteration. can you list you honest test results. for the ammonia/nitrate/ph. and your filter set up. we might be able to help you alot better

[leoristo]

swpassion is right. but you have to install the skimmer IN the sump, not hang on back of sump like me for instance. I have the same flooding risk as a HOB skimmer on the main tank.

[Curve]

My ph is 8.1 my amonia is 0 my nitrites are 0 and nitrates are 5 to 10. That is my honest water parameters taken yesterday Im leaning more towards a bacterial bloom. I have a 135 that has been running skimmerless for 5 years with absolutely no problems and the water is crystal clear to me.

My question is will ozone work as I have just bought an ozone setup for my new tank.

[swpassion]

Then I would add Purigen to the sump and add a UV which should clear it up very quickly and keep it that way.

[Curve]

What size uv would you recomend?? !50 gallon w 30 gallon sump.

[tspors]

Drop some Chemi-Pure into your sump. Good for many things, clear water being one of them.

[cap23244]

ozone to my knowalage is run into a skimmer to aid in the removal of disolved orgainics. i can be very dangerous using ozone. i dont kmow any other way to use it maybe some one hear does. i would forget about the ozone if your not going to change you mind about a skimmer. get a uv sterlizer for sure.
icouldnt imagin not useing a skimmer just seeing the amout of stuff they pull out of my tanks daily i would never be with out one. i no chemi pure works real good at clearing water up. petsoultiond.com has the big jars on sale for lie 20.00 its in a filter sock.

[swpassion]

I would go with a 25 watt Aqua UV ideally, it will allow you to reuse if you updgade a bit done the road but a 15 watt will work for that volume, just make sure to keep the fow through the unit at the lowest rec. rate as it will give additonal contact time with the light. Turbo Twists also work well, but require bulb changes more often, Aqua rates their buls at end of life and TT rates them as new.

[Curve]

Well will Ozone help cloudy water??

[swpassion]

I have never used Ozone so I cant say, sorry