Cloudy tank question.....Need some help

[docwells]

My tank was a little cloudy last night, but no big deal. Well this morning on my way out to work I looked at the tank and it is cloudy. The fish and coral look fine. Corals still have polyp extension. I did a quick parameter check:

ph 8.20
alk 3.3
calcium 410
nitrate/ nitrite 0
mag 1250

I am trying to narrow done my causes. I am going to do a water change tonight. I had a cloudy tank before and it was due to my calcium getting too high and settling out of solution. I don't think this is the case with the above parameters. I am using a calcium reactor. There have beena couple of changes lately. I did start using rowphos and carbon a few days ago. I also changed out the filters on my RO/DI unit a few days ago. I wasted 5 gallon of water before i started using the water from the unit. I am also going to check my skimmer to make sure it is not clogged and performing like it should.

Thanks for your help.

 

[tmz]

Bacterial bloom? Ammonia?

 

[docwells]

Maybe bacterial bloom. I did not think of that. I guess the water changes will help this?
I did have wife check ammonia and it is zero.

I am just a little puzzled. tank is lookinmg good then all of a sudden this pops up.

 

[bertoni]

Those parameters are all fine. A bacterial bloom can cause gray cloudy water. Some water change might help a bit, but I'd also watch for signs of oxygen deprivation.

 

[weluvfish54]

happened to me and everything died coral wise. parameters were fine, then went crazy. think bacteria bloom. i took everything out and saved what few things i could..water changes and letting it sit was only thing that worked and setting skimmer for highest performance. good luck hope it doesnt come out like mine.

 

[docwells]

I am definitely going to do water changes. I have ozone hooked up on tank. Maybe this will take care of the oxygen deprivation issues until I can remedy the bloom issue.

I am hoping not to have a big die off. I think this would push me over the edge.

 

[weluvfish54]

not gonna lie it was a huge discouragment.
if you slacked on water changes (my prob im guessing) thatll do it...
hope for the best..my tank was up for 6 months and just finalized an AMAZING reef tank.
is your skimmer going crazy? mine did..

 

[docwells]

Funny, but I have been pretty good with the water changes. I change out about 10-15 gallons of water a week. I just did a 5 gallon change tonight after work. That was all the water I had at present. Will be able to do bigger change tomorrow. I used filtered saltwater from local college.

My skimmer is not going crazy. I just checked the airline and silencer to make sure no blockages. I run a BK mini 160. It is oversized, so it does not make too much skimmate these days and that is not unusual. Fish and coral look ok right now.

Are there any other causes of bacterial bloom? I don't know much about it but will have to learn quickly. I have never had this happen to me before.

 

[bertoni]

There are a lot of potential causes of such blooms. Most often, they do no harm. I'd just keep the skimmer going and do a few 25% changes.

 

[docwells]

Well, tank looks better this morning. Still cloudy but seems to be clearing up. I will do a bigger water change this evening after work. So far, no change in corals or fish.

 

[docwells]

Just an update. The tank has been clear since the water changes. The corals look no worse for wear. No closer to figuring out why the bloom happened.

 

[bertoni]

Sounds good!

 

[tmz]

Good to hear.