Milky/Cloudy Water - HELP

K

kiMxD

Member
Hello folks!

I am having an issue that has been going on for about 4 months now and I need your knowledgeable input on this, bear with my story please.

I had a 75g mixed reef tank established for a year when I had to move to another house.

Since I was going to move, I decided to go with a bigger tank, 120g in this case.

A week after the tank move, My powder blue tang got ick, infested the tankmates and I ended up losing 6 fish (powder blue, tomini tang, midas blenny, orchid dottyback, anthias and a canary blennie). Besides the fish, I also lost some corals (probably due to the stress of the move as well)

My water wasn't super crystal clear back when I lost my fish but was good.

After all the losses, my water went REALLY cloudy, I can't see anything over 10 inches in my tank, and this is still going on for about 2 months now.

I understand that can be going on because of bacteria due to the fish losses, which I never removed the corpses because I was under the impression that my huge clean up crew would take care of it, and they did, well, apparently in parts only.

So here are some important information on all that:

Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 79F
Alk: 8
Calcium: 400
Mag: 1250
Phosphate: 0.01
Ammonia: 0

I run two skimmers, one rated for 65gallons and a DYI (Joey version) but doubled the size (4' PVC pipe with two wooden airstones);

Sump with chaeto;

---After the bacterial bloom I have done:

Installed my reactor with 50% Red Sea Reef Spec Carbon, 49% Seachem Matrix and 1% Filter floss at the top of the reactor;

Installed my Fluval 306 canister filter (last night) with 100% filter floss;

Added 6 capfulls of Seachem Clarity (last night).

---Concerns about last night:

1) Clarity seems not to work AT ALL.

2) Will the canister with the filter floss trap the bacteria and reduce the cloudiness?

3) I was thinking on doing a 75% water change tomorrow, but I am afraid that might be too much for my tankmates as well my corals to tolerate, thoughts?

Guys, thank you all for reading this long post, and I really, really appreciate any help on the matter!
 
kiMxD said:
Hello folks!


3) I was thinking on doing a 75% water change tomorrow, but I am afraid that might be too much for my tankmates as well my corals to tolerate, thoughts?
Click to expand...

As long as temp and salinity match, and alk is within about 1 dKH, then do as big of a water changes as you want.
 
kiMxD said:
But do you think that will help with the water cloudiness?
Thank you!
Click to expand...

Probably, but hard to say for sure. 2 months is a long time to be cloudy, so I would try a big water change.

Random question: Are you sure it isn't a microbubble issue from a skimmer, pump, sump level, baffle design, etc?
 
I don't think I've ever used Clarity, but I'd suggest giving it a little more time before assuming it didn't work, unless they promise near instant results. Sounds like a huge bacterial bloom, you left a lot in there for them to feed on so not surprised it is persisting. A big water change would likely help, adding in a UV sterilizer would as well.
 
nereefpat said:
Probably, but hard to say for sure. 2 months is a long time to be cloudy, so I would try a big water change.

Random question: Are you sure it isn't a microbubble issue from a skimmer, pump, sump level, baffle design, etc?
Click to expand...

Thanks man. Yes it's not micro bubbles, I wish it was tho haha.
What percentage of water change do you guys recommend?
 
kiMxD said:
3) I was thinking on doing a 75% water change tomorrow, but I am afraid that might be too much for my tankmates as well my corals to tolerate, thoughts?
Click to expand...

just my opinion. But for me.....I would just do a 90% water change and go from there. I've done a TON of 90% WCs to save the tank

As long as you mix the 90% in a separate container(s) BEFORE REMOVING 90% FROM THE TANK .....and allow 2hrs for the NSW mix to acclimate before putting into tamk, you'll be PERFECTLY FINE
 
Last edited:
NO3 said:
Just my opinion..... But for me.....I would just do a 90% water change and go from there.

Ive seen SW turn cloudy if temp gets cold.... But it has to be like 68 in the tank
Click to expand...

Thanks mate!

Yeah I had a bunch of losses during the ich breakout. I also tend to feed a lot of frozen food at night, especially mysis shrimp, because I have a mandarin goby.

I am going to do a 75% water change tonight after work and see from there, doing maybe a 40% weekly... Wish me luck...
 
Think about it..... a lot of Frag Swap Professional Travelers make 100% of their NSW onsite the morning of the fragswap. They suffer very little casualities due to NSW. The casualities are usually during transport with dirty water and temp swings
 
NO3 said:
Think about it..... a lot of Frag Swap Professional Travelers make 100% of their NSW onsite the morning of the fragswap. They suffer very little casualities due to NSW. The casualities are usually during transport with dirty water and temp swings
Click to expand...

That's true but I am afraid of losing what's left from my ich breakout, you know?

I lost around 2k in livestock (fish and corals).

I am hoping this will work.
 
kiMxD said:
After all the losses, my water went REALLY cloudy, I can't see anything over 10 inches in my tank, and this is still going on for about 2 months now.
I understand that can be going on because of bacteria due to the fish losses, which I never removed the corpses because I was under the impression that my huge clean up crew would take care of it, and they did, well, apparently in parts only.
Click to expand...


Maybe I am reading your post wrong, BUT most of your fish died and you just left the dead/decaying carcasses in the tank?? I'm no marine biologist, but in a closed system I can't imagine why you would want anything dead in your tank. The obvious the solution would be to completely remove anything that is dead and do as a much of a water change as possible. You might want to get yourself some of the denitrifying bacteria to dump in after the mass water change.

https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Ocean-BIO-Spira-Treatment-Aquariums/dp/B002AK47JS

I bet you did not cycle your tank completely after the new setup:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rhf/index.php
 
Thank you all for your inputs and useful tips!

It turns out it was an algae bloom (I did the white bucket test).
So on Saturday I bought the Deep Blue Clarity + UV Sterilizer, sized for up to 250 gallons.
As off this morning, my water was already crystal clear!

I apologize spending your time on a wrong issue.

Thank you so much!!!
 
I'm glad the water clarity got sorted!

Just remember...

If even a single fish lived, you still have ich in your tank, and you will continue to have it forever. It may not become an outbreak until a stressor event happens (Like changing tanks!), but its still there shortening the lifespan of your fish.
 
Rover88 said:
I'm glad the water clarity got sorted!

Just remember...

If even a single fish lived, you still have ich in your tank, and you will continue to have it forever. It may not become an outbreak until a stressor event happens (Like changing tanks!), but its still there shortening the lifespan of your fish.
Click to expand...

Hey Rover! Thank you for your reply.

I had (since the outbreak) fallowed my tank and I have treated all my fish with copper for 2 weeks following by hyposalinity for another 4 weeks.

They're all happy and strong now. And I hope the 72 days has killed the parasite off of my DT.

Thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Aquascape Opinions on 55gal mixed reef
Replies
7
Views
191
Reefing102
Reefing102
I
I Have problems with my new saltwater tank
Replies
1
Views
73
griss
griss
F
MY 1000 GALLON TANK NEEDS CASTER WHEELS ON TANK STAND THAT CAN ACTUALLY HELP MOVE THE TANK TO WITHOUT WATER TO A FLATBED TRAILER
Replies
7
Views
170
Vinny Kreyling
Vinny Kreyling
C
Help with fish illness diagnosis
Replies
4
Views
108
Dr. Reef
Dr. Reef
P
Skimmer or No Skimmer in AIO 120 gl
Replies
5
Views
241
hvcreefer
hvcreefer
Back
Top