Came home to a cloudy tank....Why?

[sean obergfell]

I have been out of town for 5 days....it got in the 90's as I was gone....my AC was off so I'm not sure how high my temp got in the tank....150 gal. Established reef...I have been in hobby since 05.... Never had this before....

Any ideas....any help?

Thanks

 

[AmherstReef]

Sorry but I have to ask the obvious question. You've been in the hobby for eight years but you go away for five days and leave your AC off in the middle of July.

Why ?

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

Often big temp swings will trigger snails to spawn.

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Any other issues (dead fish or corals) or just cloudy water?

 

[sean obergfell]

I know ...AC Should have been ON! Bummer!

There are no losses...all coral and fish look great.
It's just cloudy...

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Some controllers record temps. In any case, your aquarium MUST have been running very warm because of the recent heatwave. The cloudiness MIGHT be the result of a bacterial bloom.

 

[Eastamherstbias]

No apex to send you an email when things get out of whack?

get a used controlled.....

 

[sean obergfell]

What can be done foe a bacteria bloom.....have never had one...

 

[Eastamherstbias]

stabilize the tank's temp and do a water change.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

stabilize the tank's temp and do a water change.

X2

Make sure skimmer is running properly 24/7
You're lucky to escape with no major losses!

 

[RandyO]

Any chance there was a dosing malfunction? Kalk, bionic, or something?
What color is the cloud? White or greenish? Does it look like smoke rolling around in the flow, or just an overall haze?

 

[tmz]

Temperatures over 85 to 90 speed metabolic rates for the organisms in the tank. They use more oxygen expel more waste and genrrate more ammonia and CO2 . For a double and triple whammy the water holds less oxygen than cooler water and less calcium and carbonate in solution.

A dosing malfunction could have caused precipitation of calcium carbonate or precipitation may have occurred from the increased temperature and the lower solubility that goes with it.

A bacterial bloom may have occurred(white haze) by increasing their growth at higher temps and due to the extra food from the increased waste from other organisms.

An phytoplankton bloom(greenish cloud) is also possible for the same reasons.

It could be a spawn or extra dissolved organic material from somr die of in the microfuana

If any or all of those occurred I'd :

stabilize the temperature;

do several partial water changes of 15 to 25 %;

Skim aggressively;

Insure good surface agitation to help gas exchange especially oxygenation

run some fresh gac

 

[sean obergfell]

The color of the cloud is a haze......no green tint...
It is not getting any worse....
The first thing I did was check perms.....
ca...400
alk...9.6
Nitrate....less then 20

The day before I left I added new carbon and GFO...

All coral has full extension....they really look great

 

[GMaquarium]

Its a bacterial bloom. Happened to me a number of times. Buy or borrow a UV sterilizer.