Cloudy tank
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Help
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Topic: Cloudy tank
Posted By: larseb
Subject: Cloudy tank
Date Posted: September 19 2013 at 1:53pm
| I turn on my lights like an hour ago and the tank is all cloudy most of the corals are pissed off, but the fish seem ok any ideas? I am currently testing the water and moving most of the coral into another tank. I have no idea what caused this? |
Replies:
Posted By: larseb
Date Posted: September 19 2013 at 1:54pm
| I just tested ammonia and it says zero could it be a nem that died? |
Posted By: larseb
Date Posted: September 19 2013 at 2:03pm
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Ph is low around 7.8 or 8.0 nitrates are high at like 40 ppt
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Posted By: Molli
Date Posted: September 19 2013 at 2:17pm
| Do you have macro algae and if so how does it look? |
Posted By: Jimbo
Date Posted: September 19 2013 at 2:21pm
The cloudiness could definitely be caused by something dying. If it's your anemone get it out of there and do a water change asap. |
larseb wrote:Posted By: Ann_A
Date Posted: September 19 2013 at 3:19pm
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I wouldn't remove corals. I would put in carbon and do a large water change. If an anemone died, the cloudiness most certainly could be a result of it. Also, if you are running macro algae check it to see if it has turned white/clear. If this has happened, remove the algae because it's gone sexual, releasing it's nutrients back into the water. Regardless of what the cause is, I would definitely say to do a large water change (50% or more) and run AC (activated carbon). ------------- http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53856&title=annes-65g-rsm-reef" rel="nofollow - RSM 250 Reef |
Posted By: larseb
Date Posted: September 19 2013 at 4:00pm
| Ok so I just got enough water for a 50% water change. I have a little bit of cheato but it is still green and looks fine all of my nems look ok except for one I haven't seen it in a couple of days because it started moving. so that might be the problem. I already moved most of my corals into my nano before I read your post Ann. I will keep you guys updated |
Posted By: arthuriv
Date Posted: September 19 2013 at 5:35pm
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Had you changed, added, or dosed anything lately? What color is the cloudiness? Is it white, green or neither? If white it could just be a Bacteria bloom, especially if your nitrates are high! ------------- Quality Marines Aquaculturing & Captive Breeding program! Presented by Ashley & Chelsea from Reef On Thursday 6 Oct 2016 |
Posted By: ReefdUp
Date Posted: September 19 2013 at 6:02pm
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Do you have a clam? ------------- www.reefdup.com Diving since 2009, reefkeeping since 2007, & fishkeeping since 1987 200g, 75g, & 15g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water |
Posted By: larseb
Date Posted: September 19 2013 at 6:57pm
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I think it was more of a white cloudy. I did a water change on Monday but nothing out of the ordinary from what I usually do. I don't have a clam I think it had something to do with my nitrates because after i looked at the test a couple minutes later I look at It again and the test had change more drastically then I thought. My nitrates may have been extremely high. I have done a 50% water change and my fish all look Ok. I will test the water again in a little bit.
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Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: September 20 2013 at 6:52am
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When I saw the topic of this thread, I immediately thought "Bacterial Bloom" and everything you have said above confirms that a strain of bacteria living in the water column has gone out of control. I'm sorry. I should apologize ahead of time. My advice will go contrary to what has been said above. I'm not offended if you choose to disagree or offer contrary opinions. ******************** Water changes typically will not matter because new water has nutrients to feed the blooming bacteria.  (This happened after a water change, right?)The fast way to correct this is to hook up a UV Sterilizer for just a few days. The other way to deal with this is described below. Two of the items below are good to do anyway, from time to time, to keep a tank refreshed, vibrant and doing well in the long run. Don't worry, tanks typically survive these occurrences without any damage. Moving the coral was okay to do, probably not necessary but okay, especially if the other tank can support them. A good course of action is to replace the AC with twice as much as usual and then just wait it out. AC can remove nutrients that may have sparked the bloom. Bacteria blooms will eventually overpopulate, strip the water of the nutrients and die off. The high Nitrate level is probably due to the large bacterial population in the water. (It takes a lot of bacteria to make the water cloudy.  )If this were my tank, I would also add a good amount of macroalgae and several scoops of LS from the tank of a friend. The added LS will provide other strains of bacteria to compete with the strain that has bloomed. It may even provide a new organism to eat the blooming bacteria. (Yes, there are organisms which eat bacteria, keeping it in check.  ) It's all about balance and equilibrium of the microbial organisms of the biofiltration. I might also increase the photoperiod, or even turn on the lights 24/7 for a while. The increased illumination will cause all the algae in the tank to compete with the bacteria for nutrients. (I wouldn't scrape the glass because that's good algae too.) This procedure of promoting algae growth is, IMO, better than water changes for dealing with nutrient spikes because it reduces polluting N and P very fast. In my experience large water changes are labor intensive so I avoid them. I'm a lazy reefer. Large water changes also cause additional stress to tank inhabitants.Aloha, Mark  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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