"Cloudy" water coming and going!

[iwishtofish]

I can't figure out why this is happening! Over the past couple of days, my water has been clouding (enough to block a little light, I think) and clearing. It's a peninsula tank, and when I look through it I can see the water looking a little like saltwater does when one adds freshwater. There is no precipitation on any surface, my two acro corals still have good PE, and my mushrooms and GSP appear undisturbed as well.

The only animals I have that might spawn are 10 or so recently added snails, aside from little critters in my live rock.

Can pH swings cause anything like this? Last time I checked my alk, it was around 10.5. I need to test again, obviously, when I get a significant chunk of free time.

Ideas??

 

[tmz]

Hard to tell what it is from the description and more information.. Could be precipitation from an alk/calcium overdose with high ph. Could be a bacterial bloom, particularly if you are using pellets or other organic carbon dosing. May be an algae bloom. Ammonia spike is another possiblility.

 

[iwishtofish]

Hard to tell what it is from the description and more information.. Could be precipitation from an alk/calcium overdose with high ph. Could be a bacterial bloom, particularly if you are using pellets or other organic carbon dosing. May be an algae bloom. Ammonia spike is another possiblility.

I haven't dosed the tank with anything but MB7 (maintenance dose, a few days ago) like I've been doing from the start. Water is plain old IO.

I also haven't fed the tank in a while. The only significant ammonia source I can imagine would be a dead snail, or the tiny clown goby I haven't seen now for quite a while.

I put GFO online the day before yesterday, I believe, and carbon yesterday. I believe I started to notice the cloudiness just prior to introducing the GFO. It had almost completely cleared up last night, but this morning it was back again.

I have a moment now, so I'm going to try to test ammonia and pH.

 

[iwishtofish]

Ammonia 0
dKH 8-9
pH 8.2
Temp 78.6

No time to test Ca...I'll try to do that soon. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[iwishtofish]

I suppose a bacterial bloom - should I just wait it out? Will my skimmer provide enough oxygen?

 

[iwishtofish]

Cleared up again. Filter sock is filthy and skimmer is foaming like crazy, even so. Weird little things going on in my tank, but at least the most important parameters (ammonia, alk, pH) seem ok.

 

[bertoni]

The foaming skimmer makes me think something spawned. It's hard to be sure, though. pH swings won't cause cloudiness.

 

[iwishtofish]

The foaming skimmer makes me think something spawned. It's hard to be sure, though. pH swings won't cause cloudiness.

That would be really interesting to know for certain - all I can think of would be snails. I doubt my two week old acroporas would be spawning just yet. Dying, more likely!

 

[bertoni]

Bristleworms spawn, too. I don't know what's happening. If you have access to a microscope, that might help.

 

[iwishtofish]

I don't, but that's a future investment possibility. And I do have bristleworms!

 

[iwishtofish]

Another event, this morning - just like yesterday morning. Bizarre. If something is spawning, I wish it would finish.

I just hope my corals treat it as food, and don't get stressed.

 

[oscar.millan]

If I had to take a guess I would say bacterial bloom from the MB7. Any other info you can share with us?

 

[iwishtofish]

If I had to take a guess I would say bacterial bloom from the MB7. Any other info you can share with us?

Hmm -not that I can think of, other than that it comes and goes, and that I dose MB7 only once a week now. Oh, it seems to be happening in the mornings now.

 

[iwishtofish]

When I got home late tonight, the water was pretty clear. There is still a slight mess of decaying algae on the rocks. I think the snails, hermits, and flow are breaking a lot loose, as the filter sock is cruddy and getting ready to overflow, and the skimmer has heavy foam. I'll take care of those tomorrow.

It will be really interesting to see what the water looks like in the morning. CLEAR, I hope!! I think I will not dose the weekly MB7 this weekend.

 

[DarrinSimon]

Do you run a fan blowing into the tank for cooling? I did and that's what was causing my come and go cloudyness.

 

[iwishtofish]

My tank this morning:

Lights are not on yet. Most of the dark spots on the rock are coralline that started to grow. Temp is 78.8.

 

[bertoni]

The water might have a bit of a greenish or brownish tinge? That might indicate some photosynthetic pest. If you could borrow a UV for a bit, that might help.

 

[iwishtofish]

The water might have a bit of a greenish or brownish tinge? That might indicate some photosynthetic pest. If you could borrow a UV for a bit, that might help.

I'll have to take a closer look at that when the next "bloom" occurs - probably tomorrow morning I'll notice one. The water is clear now.

The flash really brought out the brown on the rock from the algae. I think the water is more hazy white, in reality. Regardless, something nasty is going on in there! I'll look into the UV, though.

I am beginning to fear the possiblilty of dinoflagellates, from looking at my rock.

 

[iwishtofish]

Jonathan, the water clouded up again this morning, but seemed to do so as the ambient natural sunlight in the room increased. It is not direct sunlight. (Funny, though, that the water clears up as each day progresses into evening, with full lights on.)

By "photosynthetic pest," do you mean bacterial or plant? I'm thinking this might be waterborne algae, as the new filter sock I put on yesterday browned up immediately. If so, perhaps I need to buy the UV sterilizer, if there are no other solutions...

 

[bertoni]

I don't know which you're seeing, bacteria or other phytoplankton. A UV unit might clear it up quickly. You could try a lights out period along with some water changes, or maybe more GFO, as well.