Milky Cloudy Tank

luntiz

luntiz

New member
Okay guys, I got this tank up and full of water after the July 4th weekend and transferred my old 65g into it the weekend after and everything died. I had to move all the contents of my 65 into the 150, which required me to drive an hour during the hot hot heat. A lot of the rocks became dry, and I think thats what caused my ammonia spike. During that process I tested my Ammonia and it went from 0 to .5 to 1.0 to 2.0 and today its at 8.0ppm and now the water has gotten milky cloudy. It started last night with a slight cloudiness but now its ridiculous. I pretty much can't see 10 inches into the tank and this is with 250w MHs over the tank. What could be going on?

Here are some pictures

IMG_0049.jpg


And now its like this

IMG_0050.JPG


I am in dire need of help!
 
chrissreef is right your tank is cycling. You had to much die off during the move. You are right once your rock dried out anything that was live on it and in it died of course. Even if the rock you kept wet went through very high temperatures as you stated that rock would also have some die off. Find someone that will give you some sand to reseed your tank and reduce cycling time. Sorry for your losses.

Edit: yes that is a bacteria bloom
 
Whoa...its just got 10x worse and I can see a bunch of dead pods, bristle worms and mini stars floating around and on the tank floor...
 
Are they going to be able to survive? I have a fairly large feather duster and hes coming out of his protective sleeve, and he looks pretty gross but I've never seen one come out of their sleeve, so it worries me a bit.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13029989#post13029989 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by luntiz
Are they going to be able to survive? I have a fairly large feather duster and hes coming out of his protective sleeve, and he looks pretty gross but I've never seen one come out of their sleeve, so it worries me a bit.
Click to expand...
If your ammonia continue that high everithing will die if it is not already there.
Keep doing water changes trying to keep ammonia under the 1 ppm level. That level will be more than enough to complete the cycle while at the same time avoid ending the cycle with an unusual high level of nitrates.
 
in my opinion, either do like 10+ water changes to keep ammonia down (not worth it i think) - or remove any livestock you paid for, have another reefer hold it or just bring to store for credit (maybe) - and then just let the tank cycle.

the pods/worms will mostly die (hence the clowdy) - but they will come back.

read up on cooking live rock... if you don't, all the nutrients released from the dieing worms/pods will turn into algae. do a few water changes during the cycle to remove debris.
 
Update, the feather duster died and so did my sea urchins that hitchhiked. The tank really really smells too.
 
You could remove any livestock and finish curing it this way. This was copied from liveaquaria.com

How do you cure your live rock?

While you may cure your live rock in many different ways, the following method has been shown to be very effective. Curing typically takes from one to three weeks.
• Place the live rock in a new 30-gallon plastic garbage can.
• Cover the rock completely with freshly mixed saltwater.
• Use a heater to keep the water temperature near 80 degrees to speed die off.
• Create constant water movement with a powerhead or air stone.
• Keep the area dimly lit to prevent algae blooms.
• Perform 100% water changes twice a week.
• Scrub the rock between water changes to remove dead material.
• Consider adding bottom drains to the container to speed draining and water changes.
• Check water quality and test for ammonia. When ammonia tests are negative, the rock is safe for your aquarium.
 
one thing to consider is that nothing died off untill the bacterial bloom got 10 times worse (to quote you).. with a bacterial bloom like that, it is not uncommon for the oxygen levels to become depleted rapidly.the bacteria will consume the o2 itself... no corals have died off, correct?.. if so it is because they use much less o2 from the tank and also produce thier own through photosynthesis....ad a wooden air stone to the tank.. 2 reasons, 1 the wooden air stone produced millions of micro bubbles at a high rate this will help to bring up the o2 levals..2, the air stone will also help to disipate any ammonia in the tank as ammonia is a gas......good luck...i have had great experiances with bacterial blooms...changing water may just fuel the so called fire.. my advice is to stand your ground bite your lip and hope for the best....if you can remove the fish and live stock that is left do so.. then its just a waiting game that could take weeks....sorry to tell you....any questions let me know....jaime
 
I didnt expect the ammonia spike because I didn't anticipate my LR dying off so much so all of my fish died. =(.

I lost quite a bit of fish too, 6 to count, including my prized clown in my avatar, an Emperor Angel, a Porcupine Puffer and a Yellow Tang.

I have some corals that appear to be fine, although one of my rics look like its melting, hopefully the damage has been done and the ammonia is on the downhill climb to 0.

I actually just did a 5g WC to siphon all of the dead stars, worms, and pods, I hope I made the right call on that, since I figure all of them decomposing in the tank would prolong my cycle.
 
Oh yea, should I leave my UV Sterilizer off or turn it on during the cycle? and what about Activated Carbon?
 
yes leave the uv on... it will kill bacteria suspended in the water. that will help clear the water. and yes to carbon ...it will help to remove disolved organics....keep us posted...
 
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