dirty tank water

[hulklilgt]

So i have been fight a losing battle it seems. I had a filter clog up on my about a few weeks ago. The filter was on my aquaclear 70 with the big cage. Now i only have had my tank for about a month and a half, so i didnt think that filter would have go dirty so fast. But now its been a losing battle i had the water pretty clear for the past 3 or 4 days and been doing good.

I was told by some one that has had salt water tanks for years to blow the rocks off every week or two. So i did today and it seems that a lot of the dirt that was in the settled on them, because as soon as i blow them off dirt was all over the tank again. What kinda methods should i do to help clear thing up for good? I was thinking taking a old fish net and getting cheese cloth and making a net out of that, and blowing them off again and taking the net and try getting alot of it that way. Any info to get a crystal clear tank again thanks for the help.

 

[sporto0]

How did your filter clog? Do you mean the sponge was dirty? What kind of rock did you use, Live Rock, dry rock, Marco Rock? You should have rinsed the rock in saltwater before you used it, a new tank should not have a floating debris problem. Are you using sand as a substrate & did you rinse it good before using?

 

[hulklilgt]

yes the filter inside the cage got clogged. No i didnt rise the rock off i should have but in my defense i asked the guy at the LFS (TROPIQURIM) if there is any thing i need to do before i put it in thank. I used crushed coral i washed it before placing in the tank, the rock is live rock Kupang and FIJI 20lbs of each.

 

[sporto0]

Oh boy, I would have advised against crushed coral because of the fact it will trap lots of detritus later on, but right now, keep your filter clean, keep blowing the rocks off, you can eventually get most of it out.

 

[hulklilgt]

would the cheese cloth idea have any impact on helping me out?

 

[evsalty]

If you are having a lot of detritus settling on your rocks and sandbed then you probably want to up your flow a lot. The object here is to keep the stuff suspended until your filter can remove them.

 

[sporto0]

If you are having a lot of detritus settling on your rocks and sandbed then you probably want to up your flow a lot. The object here is to keep the stuff suspended until your filter can remove them.

BaBingo +1

 

[hulklilgt]

how many gph wave pump should i get for a 75gal to keep things moving around pretty good?

 

[sporto0]

The flow in your tank should be tailored to your tank, there is no magic GPH answer, are you keeping corals or just fish? It is always a good idea to have high, medium & low flow areas in your tank, as well as no dead spots, but keeping the rocks clear of debris is very easy to accomplish. You have a new tank, you are in the learning stages, give it some time, your HOB filter will do its job.

 

[hulklilgt]

ok will do ill give an update in a few days thanks for the help.