Water STILL Cloudy

[zhewitt04]

I am so confused. I have tried everything. My phosphates are under control my ammonia was a little high at 1.0ppm I did a water change a couple of hours ago and still cloudy. I haven't tested my water yet because I was going to wait untill tomorrow. I don't know what is casueing it. I have a phosphate reactor to take care of my phosphates and they have dropped from about 2.0 to under 1.0. I also have fish, snails crabs and red star polyps thriving. I am so confused please help. Here are some pictures.

[RcToners]

I am so confused. I have tried everything. My phosphates are under control my ammonia was a little high at 1.0ppm I did a water change a couple of hours ago and still cloudy. I haven't tested my water yet because I was going to wait untill tomorrow. I don't know what is casueing it. I have a phosphate reactor to take care of my phosphates and they have dropped from about 2.0 to under 1.0. I also have fish, snails crabs and red star polyps thriving. I am so confused please help. Here are some pictures.

Define your water change for me please.

How did you mix the salt? How did you add the water? I assume one of a couple things happend.


A. your salt was not all the way mixed, happens all the time and will give a tank a cloudy appearance until the salt completly dissolves.

B. When you added the new water you stirred up the sand bed creating a cloudy tank, once again happens all the time.

C. When you added the new water you removed debris from the rock creating a cloudy tank.

In short, when you did the water change you somehow stirred up debris or your salt was not 100% mixed.

[cdeboard]

I read somewhere about a certain brand of salt causing a big bloom like this.. believe it was the calcium causing it... i cant remember the brand of salt... anyone remember the deets on this?

[James404]

Possibly bacterial bloom hard to tell from pics though. How are you registering ammonia, is this a new tank? Also what are your Cal,Alk and Mag parameters.

[zhewitt04]

Possibly bacterial bloom hard to tell from pics though. How are you registering ammonia, is this a new tank? Also what are your Cal,Alk and Mag parameters.

I have not tested the Cal, Alk and Mag. I do not have these test kits. I tested the ammonia, nitrates, nirites, ph and salinty a couple of days ago.The ammonia was alittle high and i also had a small amount of nitrates so I decided to do this water change. The water was cloudy before the change also so I don't think it was any of the three that was suggested I was just hoping this change would rid me of the cloudiness.

[zhewitt04]

Define your water change for me please.

How did you mix the salt? How did you add the water? I assume one of a couple things happend.


A. your salt was not all the way mixed, happens all the time and will give a tank a cloudy appearance until the salt completly dissolves.

B. When you added the new water you stirred up the sand bed creating a cloudy tank, once again happens all the time.

C. When you added the new water you removed debris from the rock creating a cloudy tank.

In short, when you did the water change you somehow stirred up debris or your salt was not 100% mixed.


I put salt in a 5 gallon bucket fill the bucket when it is about half full i mix it with my hand. fill the rest and mix again when full untill i fell no salt on the bottom i wait about half hour and dump directly into tank.

[zhewitt04]

I read somewhere about a certain brand of salt causing a big bloom like this.. believe it was the calcium causing it... i cant remember the brand of salt... anyone remember the deets on this?

I heard this too, but i use Instant Ocean I do not think it generally has this promblem.

[Lynnmw1208]

My guess is the sand thing because you're pouring directly into display tank. You're probably just stirring things up a lot. If you poured into a sump it would be clearer because it wouldn't stir things up. hope it clears up for ya!

[zhewitt04]

My guess is the sand thing because you're pouring directly into display tank. You're probably just stirring things up a lot. If you poured into a sump it would be clearer because it wouldn't stir things up. hope it clears up for ya!

Again it was cloudy before the water change that and the ammonia are the reason i did the water change. I think it is something more serious. It was cloudy jsut like this before my water change. I did about 30% water change as well.

[James404]

As I said before it is more then likely either a bacterial bloom or you are precipitating calcium. My bet is on bacterial. You can probably just wait it out or use some sort of mechanical filtration or uv/clarifier to get rid of it.

[cdeboard]

+1 to james.. bacteria bloom or the calc. I use instant ocean as well so no issues there.
Side question... is that reef rock your using? If so... is some interesting lookin rock.

[zhewitt04]

+1 to james.. bacteria bloom or the calc. I use instant ocean as well so no issues there.
Side question... is that reef rock your using? If so... is some interesting lookin rock.

Some are man made but a majority is actually reef rock. I think there are three pieces that are man made. They are the three largest pieces. They are also redish.

[zhewitt04]

Will the bloom die off eventually? Or do I need to run a filter such as a pengiun? I do have one but it is currently not hooked up so... Or do I need a specific UV and if i need a UV can i jsut borrow one to rid the aquarium of the bloom or do I need one forever?

[zhewitt04]

Bump!

[drew1]

I had this same thing happen on my frag tank. It got to the point where I couldn't see in the aquarium. I used a micron filter with diatomaceous earth. It may have helped or time may have just taken care of it, because one day it was suddenly gone. No loss of life in the tank either. I have heard others say they used a UV sterilizer and that did the trick, but I have no first hand experience with that.

[Jstdv8]

on an off note you should probably areate your water for a day after adding in the salt to let the water absorb all the nutrients in the salt and to get your PH up before adding it to the tank.
This likley has nothing to do with the cloudyness, just saying.

[con999]

a filter like that would do nothing. you need a uv like some ppl said and a like the person above me you have to wait at least 24 hours for salt water the be ready for tank use. adn you would need a powerhead or airstone

how old is the tank

[Gary Majchrzak]

I put salt in a 5 gallon bucket fill the bucket when it is about half full i mix it with my hand. fill the rest and mix again when full untill i fell no salt on the bottom i wait about half hour and dump directly into tank.
bingo- bad prep.

It's very important to SLOWLY add salt to previously aerated freshwater.
Aerate with powerhead or airstone.

to reiterate:

DO NOT add water to salt. Add salt to water.

[zhewitt04]

10 months or so

[yetiman]

I had the same problem with my tank. I installed a UV and water was clear in 30 minutes.