Cloudy water ?

[duerr]

This afternoon, I received my live rock from LiveAquaria.Com , and promptly added it to my tank.I will be cycling my tank with the rock.

I have a 30Gal Wide tank, and currently have 25LBS live rock(uncooked, and lightly rinsed w/saltwater)

I'm working on getting my S.G. up to par (for some reason, its staying right around 1.021 ) and my temperature has been 80-81-5 F.

My skimmer is going nuts (AquaC Remora) and up until 3 hours ago, I had my return water from the skimmer flowing through a carbon pad.


Thing is, my water is fairly cloudy, with and without the carbon.

Is this a natural part of the cycling process ? Did I fail to rinse my rock enough (if so, what are the ramifications of this?) Should I pick up a HOB Cartridge style filter, and run carbon while cycling ?

my test kit is currently sitting in my apartment complex office,along with my maxijet 1200 for flow. (my UPS guy is getting lazy, and leaving my stuff there. I work nights and rarely wake to answer the door. I left him a note that said "BANG ON MY DOOR")

thoughs, opinions, comments ? Am I just working myself up?

 

[BlackOnyx]

Yeah your working yourself up. There's junk all over that rock. By runnning you PHs and skimmer your letting it stay stirred up. Turn everything off and give it a day to settle.

 

[Blown 346]

I would actually keep everything running to filter the junk out, otherwise if it setles it will settle on the substrate and the rock. Once you start the pumps and such again you will end up stirring it all back up again.

 

[bertoni]

If the "dust" is from the sand, it might be abrasive on some pumps. I would leave the skimmer and pump going, though. Otherwise, the water will stagnate and the live rock might be a lot less live... Cloudiness is pretty common, and I would ignore it for now.

 

[stelow]

duerr
[welcome]
Tank looks great, definately keep everything running. The tank will gradually clear up, so don't worry about it.

 

[duerr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6654864#post6654864 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Blown 346
I would actually keep everything running to filter the junk out, otherwise if it setles it will settle on the substrate and the rock. Once you start the pumps and such again you will end up stirring it all back up again.

Thats what I figured. The output on the AquaC makes a real convenient place to stuff a waddd up container on carbon, anyhow.

I imagine it will all clear up tonight, and then I can test my PH and ammonia tomorrow when I get my stuff. I can also get my maxijet up and running, too.

Also, would adding any additional uncured live rock at any point during the curing process cause my tank to 're-cycle' ?

I plan on getting some shelf rock for the LFS tomorrow.


Thanks for the advice.

 

[clown2be]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6654990#post6654990 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stelow
duerr
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>
Tank looks great, definately keep everything running. The tank will gradually clear up, so don't worry about it.

Agreed:smokin:

 

[duerr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6654984#post6654984 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bertoni
If the "dust" is from the sand, it might be abrasive on some pumps. I would leave the skimmer and pump going, though. Otherwise, the water will stagnate and the live rock might be a lot less live... Cloudiness is pretty common, and I would ignore it for now.

The dust is most certainly not from the sand, I washed the devil out of it, and It was crystal clear prior to adding my rock.

Thanks.

 

[bertoni]

If you add live rock to the tank, you might see an ammonia spike. That depends on how much die-off there is on the rock.

 

[duerr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6655020#post6655020 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bertoni
If you add live rock to the tank, you might see an ammonia spike. That depends on how much die-off there is on the rock.

Thanks for the advice. The live rock I picked up (just a little 5 pounder that had a good shape) from the LFS had been curing in their tanks for a good two months or so. No die off, covered in coraline.

I'll probably swing over there tomorrow and try and pick up a few peices of shelf rock for aquascaping.


I'm using the standard 20W flourescent lights that came with my hood for now. I'm going to let the tank cycle and cycle and cylce to grow up a nice amount of coraline, and when I can afford it, start adding livestock.


I may switch add a 15Gal sump once the funds come together a little, but I'm trying to stay thrifty while I'm 'learning'


I'm just going to put a stupid question out there, so if anyone wants to answer it, feel free, please.


I understand HOB overflows down into a sump (w/skimmer/heater/baffles, ect and a mag return)

My question is, How do people return water back from the mag5 ? Do they just use a piece of flexible tubing, into a U-shaped piece of PVC, and just dump it in?

Shouldn't there be some better way of returning water, rather than just dumping it back in through a piece of PVC ? Maybe through a bottom-fed carbon filter ? Maybe one that trickles back over the tank, like rainwater ? Surface agitation, and aeration all at once ?

Eh'?

 

[bertoni]

There's lots of ways to do a return. You can run tubing to a simple nozzle, to a Sea Swirl, or to a spray-bar type of setup. You don't want anything that causes much splashing, though. Too much salt buildup.

 

[NeilPearson]

Just give it time, it will clear up