Floating particles in my water

[jrporter77025]

Hello all,

I set up a new 28 gallon display tank 2.5 weeks ago. Have been monitoring the H20 and everything looks good. I have about 22 lbs of live rock in the tank.

the only problem that i am having is that the water is dense with floating particles. some are live... the rest is just dirt from, I assume, the live rock. I also added a bed of live sand and I am wondering if it is too fine and being stirred up by the water movement.

Thanks for your advice,
JR

[CRASHJT]

it should have calmed down in 2.5 weeks try turning off the power heads and see if it clears up what kind of filtration are you using?

[stevek480]

http://www.reefcentral.com/images/welcome.gif

Could it be micro-bubbles from your skimmer? Do you have a skimmer?

[jrporter77025]

this is a nano cube set up, 28 gal. it has a filter system mounted on the back with bio tubes, charcoal, and sponge. two power heads that alternate flow.

I have attached my eheim canister filter and let it run for 12 hours, but it is still full of tiny particles.

[jrporter77025]

yes, i do have a skimmer!

[spleify]

Yep, sounds like you need to narrow it down to what is actually causing the problem. Try turning your powerheads off like suggested, and see if that fixes it. If not, turn off your skimmer and see if that is it. Do you have any sponges or filter floss in the back to help polish the water at all, if not maybe try that, just be sure to clean these every couple days.

HTH

Good luck

[jrporter77025]

Great! Thanks. I do have a sponge in the back, but i have not cleaned that at all since i set the tank up. I'll try that and turn off the powerheads.

I'll keep you posted!

[mmedeiros2]

Are you adding any type of ph buffer? It can cause precipitation.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/index.php

[superglue]

It could be detritus from the filter. Sometimes if i get lazy and dont clean out my filter, the particles get bigger and come out looking like some sick brown snow.

[spleify]

Great! Thanks. I do have a sponge in the back, but i have not cleaned that at all since i set the tank up. I'll try that and turn off the powerheads.

I'll keep you posted!


Please do.

Thanks

[cloak]

Isn't a happy healthy reef supposed to have a buch of stuff floating around in it? If you can narrow it down to lint, then by all means use a filter sock...

;)

[jrporter77025]

Thanks for all the advice. so last night i got to looking at the filter and it was moved to the back of the box...the water was not flowing throught it! Doh!

I move it up and ran it all night, still a lot of particles, and i noticed that many of them were swimming. little white bug looking critters. very small.

Water quality does seem clearer. did water testing and all the numbers looked good.

Ph
Nitrite
Nitrate
Ammonia

[jrporter77025]

I was thinking about adding a fish to eat the bugs? can you recommend something? I prefer not to buy a damsel.

[spleify]

In your OP you said the tank is only 2 and half weeks old, correct?

If that is the case, then you are likely still going through your cycle. Just hange tight for a little while longer and let the tank complete its cycle. You could be seeing a combination of microbubbles and maybe copepods or the like. Let the tank finish it cycle and then you can add a fish. Wait in between additions to allow your tank to catch up with the change in bioload,

A lot of times on newer tank we will see microbubble for a while until everything has a chance to build that "slime coat"

HTH

Good luck

[mkenny1818]

Nothing in this hobby GOOD happens over night! New tank, just need to let it do its thing for a while....If they are Micro bubbles, they are always fun to deal with

[jrporter77025]

good advice! thanks,

[jrporter77025]

In your OP you said the tank is only 2 and half weeks old, correct?

If that is the case, then you are likely still going through your cycle. Just hange tight for a little while longer and let the tank complete its cycle. You could be seeing a combination of microbubbles and maybe copepods or the like. Let the tank finish it cycle and then you can add a fish. Wait in between additions to allow your tank to catch up with the change in bioload,

A lot of times on newer tank we will see microbubble for a while until everything has a chance to build that "slime coat"

HTH

Good luck


It's been three and a half weeks and still seeing floating particles. spleify, you stated it may be copepods. I know that I have a lot of small white "bugs" on all sides of the glass. they are extremely tiny but move accorss the glass all the time. they are on the LR as well. any ideas?

[Chiefsurfer]

if they look like ITTY BITTY shrimp minus the big tenticles in front, they are "pods". I say pods because they could be amphipods, copepods or the like. All good things to have. You will mostly see them at night from what I heard.

If they have shells, its some kind of tiny snail. If it is wound up like a circular rug, some type of worm, or vermatid snail babies. If it looks like a snail without a shell, it could be some kind of sea slug.

Most will only be good for your system. A few slugs could be bad depending on which they are.

Hang in there, if your filter wasn't working, it still needs time. You can also try leaving one of your powerheads off for a while. With just LR while cycling, you don't need full flow, and if it is picking up any sand it will just continue to do so. If you want to hit some spots that might be stagnant with one of the powerheads off, try one day for pump 1, and one day for pump 2, then another day on pump one, etc.

[jrporter77025]

Thank you Chiefsurfer!

these bugs are so tiny, i can't make out any detials except they are white and move accross the glass. they seem to like green algae.

[Chiefsurfer]

how fast do they move?

[bertoni]

They could be copepods or isopods. They're unlikely to be harmful, and your fish will feast on them when added. I wouldn't worry.