Had a cloudy water episode and determined today what was causing it. Based on tank data, can you figure out what problem was?
When tank lights on my 75 came on yesterday, the water was slighty cloudy. Not tea or green colored. Just cloudy.
Sump contains skimmer, chaeto/grape caulerpa algae, GFO/GAC reactor, and UV sterilizer.
Tank is mixed reef. 4+ years old, with 2 x 3-4” juvenile Kole Tang/Single Spot Foxface, 3” flame Hawkfish, and 4” yellow watchman goby with attendant pistol shrimp. Been battling all manner of nuisance algae for more than a year in this tank but for last 2 months tank has been nuisance-algae free. (Hallelujah!) I feed a 2 x 4” strip of norii plus a pinch of Blue Zoo formula pellets/etc. a few hours after lights come on, and some frozen food in evening (either Formula One, Mysis Shrimp, or Larry’s Reef Frenzy).
Tanks is lit by 2 x 250 watt 1400k phoenix metal halides plus 2 x 54 watt ATI Blue Plus ATI bulbs.
I stopped dosing vinegar several months ago due to proliferation of bacteria snot.
Also stopped using kalkwasser a few months ago because it is a PITA. I dose calcium carbonate solution. Since 9/14 calc levels have generally declined from 450 ppm to 400 ppm. I am tweaking dose daily to stop additional drop.
I was dosing sodium bicarbonate to maintain alk, but recently switched back to soda ash solution. As I was adjusting new dose, alk dropped from 8.1 to 7.7 from 9/14 to today.
NO3 = 0; magnesium = 1400; no idea what PO4 level is: Salifert and Red Sea say zero – Hanna ultra checker says .002, .019, and .006.
Could my Tridacna clam have spawned? This has happened before in tank, but this time I was not around to witness it if it happened.
No sand storms in the tank.
Only thing I was aware of that had changed over past 2 weeks, is that I had problems with skimmer and removed it for a few days until I figured out what was wrong. (What was wrong was that I am an idiot.) Problem solved and returned skimmer to sump three days later, where it resumed performing like a champ. (Vertex Omega 130)
Today, water looked a little cloudier. During routine water change/maintenance, I discovered unequivocally what the problem was and fixed it.
So what was it?
Mike
When tank lights on my 75 came on yesterday, the water was slighty cloudy. Not tea or green colored. Just cloudy.
Sump contains skimmer, chaeto/grape caulerpa algae, GFO/GAC reactor, and UV sterilizer.
Tank is mixed reef. 4+ years old, with 2 x 3-4” juvenile Kole Tang/Single Spot Foxface, 3” flame Hawkfish, and 4” yellow watchman goby with attendant pistol shrimp. Been battling all manner of nuisance algae for more than a year in this tank but for last 2 months tank has been nuisance-algae free. (Hallelujah!) I feed a 2 x 4” strip of norii plus a pinch of Blue Zoo formula pellets/etc. a few hours after lights come on, and some frozen food in evening (either Formula One, Mysis Shrimp, or Larry’s Reef Frenzy).
Tanks is lit by 2 x 250 watt 1400k phoenix metal halides plus 2 x 54 watt ATI Blue Plus ATI bulbs.
I stopped dosing vinegar several months ago due to proliferation of bacteria snot.
Also stopped using kalkwasser a few months ago because it is a PITA. I dose calcium carbonate solution. Since 9/14 calc levels have generally declined from 450 ppm to 400 ppm. I am tweaking dose daily to stop additional drop.
I was dosing sodium bicarbonate to maintain alk, but recently switched back to soda ash solution. As I was adjusting new dose, alk dropped from 8.1 to 7.7 from 9/14 to today.
NO3 = 0; magnesium = 1400; no idea what PO4 level is: Salifert and Red Sea say zero – Hanna ultra checker says .002, .019, and .006.
Could my Tridacna clam have spawned? This has happened before in tank, but this time I was not around to witness it if it happened.
No sand storms in the tank.
Only thing I was aware of that had changed over past 2 weeks, is that I had problems with skimmer and removed it for a few days until I figured out what was wrong. (What was wrong was that I am an idiot.) Problem solved and returned skimmer to sump three days later, where it resumed performing like a champ. (Vertex Omega 130)
Today, water looked a little cloudier. During routine water change/maintenance, I discovered unequivocally what the problem was and fixed it.
So what was it?
Mike
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