Water going cloudly

[jedimaster1138]

My water has gotten progressively cloudier over the past week and I don't know why.

3 weeks ago I put in 2 Ocellaris Clowns. 2 weeks before that 2 green Chromis. No corals. Lots of cerith and nass snails (maybe more than 40 total). 10 planaxis. 3 turbos (all huge), 3 or 4 scarlet hermits, some blue hermits (they fight with the scarlets).

Refugium with 5x Red Mangrove seedlings (some of which are showing root growth) A big ball of Chaeto and 1 each red and green gracilia.

I have just noticed copepods in my DT and sump. Lots of them swimming around on the glass.

I initially thought it was a micro bubble problem, so I finally got around to putting in a proper bubble trap in my sump. I also cleaned out my skimmer and removed my reactor (GFO and carbon) because i thought that might be a problem, I haven't put it back in yet because I was worried there was an issue there and it would muddy the works.

I was NOT using RO/DI water until a month ago. Since then I've been doing weekly 10g changes with RO/DI. I'd say at this point 2/3rds of my total system volume is RO/DI water.

So... what's up with the cloudyness? I'm slightly concerned. Last night it was BAD when I got home after work. I couldn't even see my J tubes. Or my fish. I did a 10g change and I think it helped a little. The fish look a little ticked off because of the quality....i don't know if it's because they can't see or if somethign else is wrong.

50g + 12g sump. 50-60 lbs of various LR. Sand in the DT, just LR and the macro in the sump. I feed 2x a day with Spectrum small fish pellets. They gobble it up.

Parameters are good. No ammonia or nitrite since the cycle completed in early Nov. Nitrates are 0 or close to it thanks to the fuge. pH 8.1 - 8.2 Temp 78. Lights are all LED. I go totally dark for 4 hours over night, wrapped by moon lights. I use a mesh sock from BRS at the bottom of my drain and just put in a sponge before my return because i thought the problem my be debris the sock wasn't catching.

Is it related to the copepod bloom?
Something macro related?
The mixing RO/DI and not RO/DI water (FYI i use Reef Crystals salt and dose nothing)?
Should I put the carbon back in ASAP?
Something else?

TIA

 

[MatthewScars]

I was NOT using RO/DI water until a month ago

Aw man. That tap water crap leeches into your rocks. Its gonna take a lot longer than a month.

BACTRIAAAAAA - do a 50% WC and put in some fresh carbon and GFO. Try 2-3 days with no lights.

 

[jedimaster1138]

The irony is I had no problems with just tap water. LOL

I'll see how much water I can change tonight. I can only make about 20g a day if I use both my mixing containers.

I've read a lot of times that it's best to let new salt water...cook for a week before you use it. Do you think that is less true and in this case I should push the water changes asap and not worry so much about letting the new water percolate?

 

[andylee]

How long has the tank been up? Are you sure there's not a dead snail or two that are rotting in there and spoiling the water?

 

[jedimaster1138]

The cycle was complete in... early Nov iirc. I put a CUC in early December.

Would 1 dead snail really foul an entire 50g of water like that? I can certainly check. I suppose if one of the big turbos or Astrea's has died, i might not notice...

 

[andylee]

If it's a bacterial bloom, there must be something feeding it. Would expect an ammonia spike if that's the case, though.

No bottom stirring fish kicking up sand (sand-sifting gobies, etc.)?

 

[Turbovr3six]

I initially thought it was a micro bubble problem, so I finally got around to putting in a proper bubble trap in my sump.

Do you mean you added a baffle? If so, what did you use to secure it?

 

[jedimaster1138]

If it's a bacterial bloom, there must be something feeding it. Would expect an ammonia spike if that's the case, though.

No bottom stirring fish kicking up sand (sand-sifting gobies, etc.)?

I measured ammonia this morning, it was 0. I hadn't thought to measure it sooner.

I have no gobies. For fish I have the 2 clowns and the 2 chromis. I do have a number of snails and crabs, but it doesn't... look like sand to me. Sand would be more tan or brown from what I remember when I first filled months ago.

 

[jedimaster1138]

Do you mean you added a baffle? If so, what did you use to secure it?

Correct, I added a baffle that I had and never used. I used some egg-crate to prop it up 1" off the bottom so as to make it easier to install in a running sump and used some coral-affixing glue to secure it to the sides of the sump (and my finger for a couple anxious seconds, lol) I didn't dare use weld-on or something like that, just the coral affixing stuff I had bought previously from BRS, so I figured it would be safe.

The off the bottom baffle was the only one I need to add, there were 2 others pre installed (in between was a chamber meant for a sponge) that I just co-opted for purposes of making the bubble trap.

 

[rambler67]

well i could be one of 3 things 1 bacterial bloom 2 dead snail 3 macro dead or going sexual. get your reactor going and do a big water change.

 

[homegrowncichlid]

+1 with something dying in your tank, probably a snail rotting somewhere.
Instead of a water change, you can go to the seafood market and pick up a couple of live clams and dump them in. They'll filter out the bacterial in no time. fresh clams and mussles in chinatown. You know what? pick up a dozen little-neck or cherrystones, dump them all in, after the water clears up, cook up some Manhattan clam chowder.

 

[rookie07]

Its not a dead snail. I have had 20 dead snails in my solana with no ill effects, except perhaps a small algae bloom later.

 

[Chris Jury]

Strange. Is it possible to see some photos?

 

[jedimaster1138]

I'll take some pictures tomorrow when the lights come back on. I have some before shots where the tank is lovely.

Tonight I did about a 10-12g change (so about 20%). I have more water cooking for another change tomorrow.

I also...

Removed 2 empty snail/crab shells. They didn't smell good, but they didn't have much in them either, so, I don't think it was rot really...though I don't know what can foul a 50g aquarium.

Pulled off my HOB overflow (yeah I know) and cleaned it out. There was some food collecting at the bottom of it which might have been rotting and contributing to the issue. (it was maybe 1/4 teaspoon at most thought) Semi-aside: it's a CPR CS90 overflow...Thursday night it's being replaced with a LifeReef. The last fitting has been glued up so I should be good to go with that, which I'm looking forward to. The CPR overflows have 2 giant design flaws that drive me nuts as both an engineer and someone with what I think has a reasonable amount of common sense.

I also removed both my powerheads (hydor evolution 550s) scrubbed them with a fish only brush under the sink, then soaked and rinsed them in RO/DI water. I have put them back in the tank, but don't have them running. They had some brown algae/muck on them.

I think it's mechanical. The water seems to just have ... stuff ... floating in it. Very, very tiny stuff, but stuff. Though I dunno, there's also this... haze. I'm gonna also try to get my hands on a felt sock (using BRS mesh ones now) and run that for a day and see if it clears things out some as well.

Chemistry is still good, though my salinity is a bit high now because I was a little sloppy mixing salt water. I'll bring it down slowly.

Ran out of steam with putting the reactor back in place. Another project for Thursday. Hopefully work doesn't kick my butt.

 

[jedimaster1138]

Here's a shot from earlier this month (you can see I still had Christmas lights up in the background)

And here's one from earlier today, where it's cloudy. It's actually better than it was last night:

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Yea thats pretty cloudy. If I was you I would fill any empty area of the sump with filter floss. pack it in good and leave it for a few days.
I started my tank around thanksgiving weekend and my tank has yet to be crystal clear, although its getting close.
Even when the cycle seems to be over. It's still cycling.
You could also try "Specisl Blend" or some type of bacterial reinforcment.

 

[jedimaster1138]

Well after a few days of review, I'm fairly certain this is a mechanical filtration issue. The matter in the water looks like some sort of particulate. Either it's shrapnel from the tank in general or from the refugium, I can't be sure, but getting down on the floor with a flash light I can see the particles being sucked into my return pump. BTW - that means those particles are getting past a mesh filter sock, refugium, bubble trap and sponge filter.

I swapped out my CPR CS90 overflow for the LifeReef. It's 1000000x better. Junk isn't collecting in the overflow anymore. The velocity of the water is vastly higher through the LifeReef than the CPR, so the big stuff that was collecting in the CPR and rotting is now making it down to my sock, which I wash out daily...

Speaking of - I changed out my mesh sock for a felt one this morning because after 2 days with the LifeReef, the cloudy-ness continues/returned. Mutter. I'm wondering though if I'm also not turning over enough volume through the sock. The first couple days with the LifeReef I had my return pump (sicce 2) wide open. Saturday I dialed it back to about 75% so as to tune the noise level and drain rate etc. It was after then that I noticed the cloudy-ness dial back up.

The stuff I'm seeing in the water is quite small and I can see the holes in the mesh sock, so I guess that's just that. Of course now I'm going to have to get some more felt socks. Actually I might build my own...my girlfriend is handy with a sewing machine and knows where to buy fabric, because she's awesome. But I digress.

I would imagine my skimmer could/should be removing some of the particulates too? But isn't? I've been considering a new one for a while...the Tunze 9002 is from when I had a smaller tank (29g) and now with the 50g, I figure it doesn't have the oompf to keep up, at least not when my bioload gets bigger. (I still only have the 4 fish and the snails and crabs. I'm not adding anything til I get this figured out, which is frustrating as my nitrates are still measuring 0 and I'm itching for some corals, heh) I have a thread in the equipment section looking for skimmer advice: http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/equipment/116870-skimmer-recommedation.html

I guess the only other option is that stuff is collecting at the bottom of the refugium too and being released into the water column as it passes over the macro and LR into the return section? You'd think the sponge would stop that, but yeah, the stuff is so small it's not.

Running carbon again in the BRS reactor. Holding off on GFO for now...

So I'm still confused. I'm hoping to wake up tomorrow and find that the felt sock cleaned my water...

 

[rambler67]

what socks are you using 100 micron or 200 micron? you cant go wrong with a better skimmer any way you want to look at it.

 

[jedimaster1138]

I had been using a 200 Micron Mesh, from BRS:

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store...lter-sock-4-x-8-00-1micron-w-draw-string.html

This morning I put in a 200 micron felt, I think an Aqueon? I got it in a hurry from Amazon in a 2 pack that was Prime so I got it shipped super fast (BRS takes a week to get to me unless pony up for faster shipping)

I don't really understand the micron ratings when you cross fabrics though...the mesh socks let through vastly bigger particles by nature so...


Yeah if I can verify that a reasonably priced skimmer can work properly in ~7" of water, I might push the button. The Reef Octopus NWB 110 is the current leader in the clubhouse. Also looking at the Vertex IN-80.

 

[rambler67]

the difference between them is the pore size. the 100 micron will take out smaller particles than the 200 micron. you just put the felt one in this morning i would let it go for a day or two and see if it clears up. or you can order them from salt water critters you should get them next day http://saltwatercritters.com/inc/sdetail/1071/1075.