Diatom filter not doing much to clear my white cloudy water..

[Tetra84]

So the diatom filter I was waiting for came in yesterday and I've had it running a few hours yesterday, and a few hours today.. but the milky white water won't budge. I was almost certain that this diatom filter would fix my cloudy water issue, but it doesn't look like it. Are Bacteria blooms immune to even this level of filtration?

After I ran it for a while, I looked around on some other internet forums and found that it seems that Diatom filters might be good cleaning everything short of a bacteria bloom.

It all started when I went out of town for a week (3 weeks ago), and my auto fish feeder must have been putting out more food than it needed to. I cut back on feeding and turned off the lights when I got back, that seemed to help a little, but the white bloom billowed back after I put the lights back on.

I tested my water, and I've got 0 Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates. My PH fluxuates between 7.9-8.1 And I have no detectable phosphates. I do have some fine hair algae in a few places though.

I haven't seen the two nassarius snails for a few weeks since I put in to help keep the bottom clean. They might be dead. not sure since they buried themselves. The two blue/green chromis seem to be just fine. My water parameters suggest they aren't stressed, ant it seems that there is adequate flow to keep the water oxygenated.

I started the tank with just dead rock/sand and used bottled bacteria to start the cycle. That was 3 months ago.

So its been cloudy like this for about 3 weeks.. Any advice?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

A UV is often the best way to deal with a persistent bacterial bloom.

What is the turnover of tank water through the filter? Say, in tank volumes per hour or day?

[Tetra84]

The Diatom filter claims 325 GPH.. so I guess that'd would be about 5.42 times per hour that the whole tank volume would go through it. Again, I had it running for about 4 hours last night, and another 5 this morning.. That should have been sufficient I would have thought. If I got a UV filter would that be something I could use and put away when the water was clear? I wouldn't think a UV filter should be necessary long term.. should it? I mean, not everyone has one right? I only use RODI water for all my salt mixing and ATO needs.. Shouldn't these blooms run out of energy and clear up on their own?

[Tetra84]

Would adding some Seachem Prime to the tank do anything to reduce the bloom?

[bertoni]

No, that's not likely to help.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Originally Posted by Tetra84

. Shouldn't these blooms run out of energy and clear up on their own?

Sometimes not, for reasons which we rarely understand.

FWIW, that sounds like plenty of flow, so I'm not sure why it isn't working well.

[Tetra84]

hmm. well I guess I'll try a UV filter and see if that makes a difference.. Would I have to run it full time, our could I cut it off after it cleared up the water?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Once cleared, many folks never see it come back even without the UV.

[Tetra84]

Sounds good, I'll let you know how it works out. Thanks Randy and Johnathan!

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Good luck. :

[Tetra84]

Well I found out that this diatom filter has more faith in its cleaning abilities than I gave it credit for.. I changed out the powder and found it did a substantially better job clearing the water.. when it slowed down again, I changed the powder a final time and now my tank has a space like clarity. My tank must have been exceptionally cloudy enough to require 3 DE powder changes to get it back to clear. Looks like I wont need that UV filter after all

Count me in as a believer in the power of a diatom filter.

Some powder escaped in my tank during the process though, hopefully that won't be a problem though.. should it?

[reefkeeper2]

If you want exceptional clarity, you can buy the Vortex Super-Char powdered carbon and mix it with your diatom powder. I use it whenever I stir things up in the display. It is also very good during an emergency, when you think something has polluted or poisoned your water.
For instance, years ago when my present tank was new I had a very bad cyano outbreak. Out of desperation I used Chemi Clean to get rid of it. As all that cyano started to die off, my fish started having real distress gasping for air at the water surface. The Diaton Filter with a fresh charge of powdered carbon saved the day along with all my fish in about an hour.
In the 40+ years I have been keeping aquaria, I have always had a diatom filter on hand.

[bertoni]

I'm glad to hear that the diatom filter helped!

It's interesting that adding activated carbon was useful. I wonder whether the effect was due to extra mechanical filtration or the normal activated carbon binding.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It could have bound toxins that the cyanobacteria was releasing.

[Fishbulb2]

Nice read. I have a couple different diatom filters on hand from my old freshwater days and I enjoy using them from time to time. I do have the Vortex Super Char powder as well but I found that it drastically reduced my pH when I used it. I thought perhaps it was acid washed maybe with phosphoric acid? reefkeeper2, did you notice the same thing or ever measure phosphate after using the Super Char?

FB

[reefkeeper2]

Originally Posted by Fishbulb2

Nice read. I have a couple different diatom filters on hand from my old freshwater days and I enjoy using them from time to time. I do have the Vortex Super Char powder as well but I found that it drastically reduced my pH when I used it. I thought perhaps it was acid washed maybe with phosphoric acid? reefkeeper2, did you notice the same thing or ever measure phosphate after using the Super Char?

FB

No, I never noticed a pH change. Maybe you just got a bad batch of carbon? As for the phosphates, I never measured but it would be interesting to find out.

[Fishbulb2]

Good to know. I'll test phosphate next time I use it.

FB