Cloudy water (not sand) can not solve. HELP!

canadian_srt4

canadian_srt4

New member
OK I am starting to lose it. I have been battling this problem since I did a water change about 2-3 weeks ago, and now I just don't know what to do anymore.

One evening the water was clear as usual, but I did a water change as I haven't in the past month or so, and the next morning it was all cloudy. Didn't think much of it, fed everyone and headed off to work. Got home, and its still cloudy? Next morning same thing but almost looks yellow too. Figuring it will go away with time I just leave it for the week. Now its seems as if its getting worse and going green? I have done 2 water changes (roughly 40g ea time) in the past 4 days and STILL the same look, what the F?

Everyone in the tank seems happy, the few corals I have are fine, and my water tests (see below) seem normal as usual? Skimmer is doing its job, added a new batch of carbon to my reactor that runs through the sump, R/O unit has fresh filters and DI Resin. Nothing is dead in the tank, no extra food floating around as the sand bed is actually really clean for once. Filter socks on return to sump are changed every week, no bad smells, what else should I be looking for?

I have yet to change the lights and all the bulbs are about 6 months old now, is that something to look into?

Its a 120g tank and the start up date was about 3 days before the first "test date," so about 7 months old at this point. Any suggestions or thoughts?

Any help is greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance! :beer:

(keep in mind this issue started just before March 26th)
tank_tests.gif
 
I had this problem, but found out what it was after a couple of days. My Bubble Anem got caught in my power head. The power head chopped him up & was spitting it out into the water. It caused the water to cloud up real bad.
 
biggraham said:
I had this problem, but found out what it was after a couple of days. My Bubble Anem got caught in my power head. The power head chopped him up & was spitting it out into the water. It caused the water to cloud up real bad.
Click to expand...

Wow, now that's funny.... not really, but kind of.
 
This may sound ridiciously simple but have you verified the pump feeding your carbon reactor is indeed pushing water in and flowing water out the other side of the reactor. I have never seen a tank with yellowing water not clear up with a new batch of carbon.
 
Shane Hoffman said:
This may sound ridiciously simple but have you verified the pump feeding your carbon reactor is indeed pushing water in and flowing water out the other side of the reactor. I have never seen a tank with yellowing water not clear up with a new batch of carbon.
Click to expand...

just doubled checked, and yes flowing very well. There is about 3 cups of carbon in the reactor as well. Like you said, its bothering me that its not clearing up with that amount of carbon and being fresh as well.
 
If its a see through reactor can you verify the water is being pushed up through the media and not somehow bypassing it. I cant remember what brand of reactor it was but I once had a clients reactor some how pumping water in then it would flow across the top of media and directly out the out line. A gasket or something in the reactor crapped out and wasnt forcing the water through the proper channels. Maybe throw a large amount of carbon in a micron bag and throw it it the sump. Of course passive use of media isnt as effective as a reactor but if the water clears up it would verify your reactor isnt working.......I know a faulty or worn out seal in a reactor is a long shot but it seems thats what your lookg for right now. Also have you verified all of your pumps are in good working order. If you have any large external pumps and even some in sump pumps you can have seals, gaskets, or o rings start to disinigrate after lots of useage. Theres is a chance a pump could be introducing some foreign debris into your tank.
 
Another thought is that if you just recently changed your RODI filters I would turn on your rodi and fill a clear or bright white container and see if the water your putting into your tank is clear to start with.
 
It is a clear canister, got it from BFS, and yes I'm pretty sure its going through the reactor the way it should be. When I turned it on for the first time I actually watched it fill up and then run through the carbon before it started flowing out the line back into the sump. Also when I dial the flow valve I have before the reactor I can see the carbon going up and down with the amount of flow I allow. Maybe I'll take it all apart in the morning and verify.

Also cleaned out my return pump today and it all seemed fine, its only 1 month old.
 
Shane Hoffman said:
Another thought is that if you just recently changed your RODI filters I would turn on your rodi and fill a clear or bright white container and see if the water your putting into your tank is clear to start with.
Click to expand...

sorry I should have clairifed that part, since its been like this for the past week or more I decided to change all the filters and resin to see if anything would help. I also made sure to fill a 5g jug before I used any of the RO water in the tank with the new media. None of that has seemed to do anything.

Thank you so much for you help, keep the ideas coming!
 
I wouldnt waste any more time on the reactor if you saw it fill up and saw the carbon tumble when you cranked it up. Its working. Good luck....I will do some thinking and get back if I come up with something.........Im gonna go look at my tank and see if it triggers any thoughts.
 
Well I double checked the reactor anyways, and the water flow is correct.

I took the line feeding the water from the carbon filled reactor into the sump and filled up a 2L jug to see what the water is like coming out of the reactor. The water isn't as green but still has a hint of color to it, could be less just because I'm looking at a smaller volume though...... I'll assume that is normal? Or should the carbon take out all the color in one pass?
 
Carbon does sometimes take more than one pass to clear up drastically colored water, also the more contaminates there is to remove the faster the carbon expires. You have to have something continuing to yellow your water and turn green. Do you dose phyto? Is there any livestock missing? Are all your inverts (snails and hermits) doing well?
 
No dose of anything, livestock is all accounted for and perky as can be. All snails, hermits, and starfish are rockin around as usual.

I've also tried keeping the lights off for a couple days, feeding less, nothing seems to work.
 
Any chance you have any odd decorations in there?? Such as a piece of wood meant for fresh water tanks or something you found laying on the beach??

Any chance you have a child who thinks its cool to dump stuff in the tank/sump or a wife or someone else who comes in your house who would dump something in there because their mad at you??????
 
Do you have a fuge with macro???? My LFS once had one of their tanks constantly with a dark yellow and green hue to it. They ended up figuring out the fuge which was full of caulpera was causing the issue. The caulpera was almost melting (thats the only way I can describe it)....it was slimy and when you touched it you could feel the slime and see green on your hands......
 
Nothing in the tank that shouldn't be, no kids around my place and all my friends are mature enough and actually respect it enough not to do any stupid or harmful.

As for my fuge, it was something I was starting to suspect over the past couple days.

I have Grape Caulerpa I think its called? (not my pic)
GrapeCaulerpa.jpg


Started off with a handful of it about 1-2 months ago. Its like it just started disappearing. I was told since I have such low nitrates it can't grow.

Is that type of macro known to cause these types of issues?

EDIT: I'm going to cut off the water flow to the Fuge so that water can not circulate back into the system and see what happens.
 
Last edited:
Hey looky there, we may be getting somewhere. I would definately try taking the fuge offline for a day or 2 if possible. I would take it off line, do a 25 to 40 percent water change, and replace the carbon again. If the caulpera was doing the same thing we saw at my LFS it may have exhausted the ability to remove anymore color from the water. If its the fuge you should notice a draastic difference in 12 to 24 hours. Maybe throw a powerhead or air pump in the fuge to keep it airated and alive while its offline just in case its not the problem.
 
Also, make sure you're not getting some kind of microbubbles. I had cloudiness for a while and it turned out to be a little hole in the return hose.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Tank is not cycling
2 3
Replies
44
Views
980
wvned
wvned
griss
Mystery Solved
Replies
12
Views
545
Sugar Magnolia
Sugar Magnolia
G
Back after 20 years - cycling advice
Replies
4
Views
171
Guygettnby
Guygettnby
E
Setting up 10g quarantine tank
Replies
9
Views
445
Dr. Reef
Dr. Reef
B
Left Tank for a long time, now want to reboot
Replies
8
Views
381
SantaMonica
S
Back
Top