Super cloudy tank

[Len]

So, last week, I had a few things happen:
1. Skimmer cup overflowed.
2. Added about a gallon of RO water to my 176 gallon.
3. Removed some minor patches of bryposis algae.
4. Installed my replacement Tunze Streams.

The next day, the water turned super cloudy, like rolling white clouds. It's been like this for nearly a week. I've changed carbon, removed my phosban, and added a filter sock.

The skimmer is foaming very effectively, creating big fluffy heads of foam (more than it ever has) and lots of smelly nog. Also, I haven't had any diatom growth on the glass for over a week, which is really odd. My Ca is 330ppm, but it's never been higher than 380ppm (and I haven't done a water change in a couple months and my kalkwasser in my reactor needs replacing/refreshing). Fish are all fine. Scolys and most LPS corals seem uneffected, but there is a bit less PE on my SPS corals. Clams are normal.

So, the question is: What do you think this problem is? Bacterial bloom? Algae die-off? Calcium precipitation? Other?

 

[Anonymous]

I'd think it was a bacterial bloom of some sort from how you describe it. Could the new powerheads be "detrious storming" the tank fueling a bloom?

 

[Saltlick]

Based on the general stasis of your tank and inhabitants, I would say you have a powerhead
issue. I put on that ROlls Royce Jet engine of a Resun 15000 "wavemaker and it sandblasted
the back wall of my tank and took a three inch sand bed down to the glass, and the water was
as you described. We get our sand beds to stop being cloudy, but the tiny micrograins are
still down there, waiting to re-emarge. The white sediment in the water column may have inhibited
algae from attaching to the glass. The fish are the real indicator. If they are fine, then I imagine
you are going to have to place your water motion low, facing up. But from way over here, what
could I possibly know. Oh, and just as an aside, once you get this worked out, you should expect
another diatom bloom, as something about disturbing the sand bed just starts that cycle over.
Assuming it is the bed. Were there any dramatic depth changes in your SB that you could see once
this started? Bare glass? Piles of dunes in one area, thin to nothing in others. Check the "blast zones".

 

[Anonymous]

So, the question is: What do you think this problem is? Bacterial bloom? Algae die-off? Calcium precipitation? Other?

Got a diatom filter lying around? If so you can answer the question pretty quickly. Diatom filter will clear up the first two, not sure how it would handle calcium precip but I think it would. If you try it and it doesn't work, you could pretty safely say "other"

If you do another water change while the condition persists, put some of the waste water into a five gallon tank and try a flocculent. See if that has an effect. If it's sand micro grains, as has been suggested and could well be, the flocculent would work.

 

[Len]

I don't see any sand being kicked up, but I'll turn off the new Tunze and see if that helps. I'll try to dig up a diatom filter, but I haven't used it in over ten years.

 

[Anonymous]

Stupid question, you don't have any caulerpa in the tank do you?

 

[Len]

No Caulpera, but some green hair algae (minor Byropsis patches and a fluffy green type of hair algae growing only on the back glass and pvc pipes). Algae going sexual is a possibility I've considered.

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds bacterial to me. The added flow just swirls it around more. The skimmer cup dump would make it worse and may have even thrown off your Alk and pH, which also tend to cause hazy water.

 

[Anonymous]

Try taking 2 (1 gt) jars of the water out. leave one in lights and one in total darkness. Both with no circulation. See how they clear up. then take appropriate action.

just a thought

worth at most .02

 

[Anonymous]

Calcium carbonate precipitation
Snail/Urchin spawning
Algae going sexual
Coral going sexual
Bacterial bloom

Tank water + vinegar in a jar should go clear if #1.
Skimmer + 10 micron filter sock should remove #2-5.

 

[Len]

I took some water samples. It looks like there's little white fibers floating around in the water. I am using a 100 micron filter sock, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. I don't know where to buy a 10 micron sock (or how to use it without a pressure system).

I added vinegar to a sample and not much changed. My skimmer is foaming like a madman ... very frothy, stable foam that stays frothy in the collection cup, so I suspect it's some organic product causing the cloudiness. I'll keep a sample in the dark, but I imagine the stuff is just going to settle to the bottom. I've decided to go without halides for the next 48 hours.

My fish now seem a little irritated by the water. I've had this condition before in the early stages of tanks (with algae and bacterial blooms), but I don't recall it ever lasting this long. It's a week and a day now, and nothing has changed.

 

[Anonymous]

http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories ... h/micron/0

You just wrap it around the 100 micron sock and use it the same way.

Don't buy the monofilament bag for this application.

 

[Len]

Thanks. I'll order tomorrow. I'm also prepping a 50g water change.

 

[Saltlick]

Wow, what a mystery. The fibers sound like some plant or algal fiber breaking down, but I have
definitely NOT seen it all. So I guess I will wait and see how this hashes out and then at the end
say that "that's what I was thinking. :lol: I hate to see good tanks go bad. Best of luck.

 

[Anonymous]

My skimmer goes nuts when the snails spawn. It also makes my water a little cloudy. And I only have about 6 snails.

 

[Anonymous]

I wonder if the little 'fibers' are worms of some sort.

 

[Len]

Did a 50g water change, and it helped. I'm sure it's not Ca precipitate by some sort of bloom/spawn. Skimmer is still foaming very thick foam, and the cabinet now smells a lot like Cilantro 8O

 

[Anonymous]

Dang... how about some fish tacos, then? All ya need is a little squirt o' lime.

 

[Anonymous]

Did you have any large snails die?
Or a group of snails?
I had a large turbo croak and the skimmer went nuts. The tank smelled as well.

 

[Anonymous]

I've never smelled a dead turbo that smelled like cilantro, though. Len, are you a cilantro-lover, or hater? It seems no one falls in the middle on this issue, you either love it or hate it.