Murky tank

[juzz.raath]

Hi guys,

Thanks for having me on the forum.

About 4 months ago I started my first reef tank after seeing a friends I was inspired by the way you could have your own part of the ocean in my very own lounge.

Everything started fine as I followed all. Instructions by the local reef shop and did not put any fish in there for 6 weeks kept my filter, skimmer and wave maker running through this whole time, (all. I had in there was live sand directly from a beach) and some live rock (reef shop) then added my first couple of blue chromis and then 2 blue devils I think they are called, Small little electric blue type fish.

Everything was running fine with no problems, water tests every second day, I then added some hammer head corals and also some anemones and a patch of zoo on weekly intervals. Fish were feeding comfortably as well.

Every Saturday morning since I've had the tank, I go out on my boat retrieving Cray fish. so I take my same water cannisters with me and do a 75% water change without fail..

Yesterday morning I woke up to find my tank was quite dirty and murky so I pulled out my submerged filter and hang on filter, replaced all the items recommended by the supplier eg bio balls, foam pads etc and put it all back and went to work for the day.

My wife got home from work and called me saying it was brown and much much worse than the morning and it stunk to high heaven.. So I raced back clipped the boat on ran out about 6 mile offshore (to ensure cleanest grade) came back removed all sand and water from tank.. Added new sand base (direct from ocean) and 100% water change.. During this process I put some of the new water in a separate bucket and placed all corals and fish in there.. I then filled the tank up with new water after cleaning it thoroughly and replaced all my corals and fish slowly back into it.. After cleaning all filters skimmers etc thoroughly.

Woke up this morning and I seem to be having the same problem still and the water is increasingly going brown again. Please note that all corals and fish are still alive, it took the coral a while yesterday to start showing some colours again..

Any ideas? Have I done the wrong thing when I did full water and sand replacement? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Justin. [emoji4]

Tank dim-4x2x2
T5 flouro lights-accintic blue and sunlight combo
Aqua one submersible filter
Aqua one hang on filter
Bubble magus skimmer
Titanium heater set at 26deg

 

[juzz.raath]

Oh and here are some before and after photos of what's happened [emoji4]

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Too many variables that you can't control with using sea water. Sounds like a plankton bloom but can't say for sure it really could be anything. I would stop getting sand and water from the ocean or where ever it is you get it and get the salt that is mixed with all kinds of good things you need for your tank.

But if you want to go the way you are going I suggest you look up PaulB on this site and read his threads. He does pretty much what you do and has been for I think 35 years.

 

[Deftones2015]

Agreed, I wouldn't use water from the ocean. I also wouldn't bother with the foam pads and all that unless you clean/change them frequently. Otherwise the waste it catches will end up rotting and causing issues. I would try doing water changes with home made water and see what happens.

 

[juzz.raath]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the feedback I'll start getting my water from the reef store

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Most lfs sell water mix for about 50 cents or so a gal , so it's actually probably cheaper than launching your boat and the fuel you burn going out to get water. Besides in the long run you will probably have a healthier tank

 

[chimmike]

depending on where you are, your sand from the ocean may be silicate sand, too. It's that way here locally (quartz based)

 

[Green Chromis]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the feedback I'll start getting my water from the reef store

:fish1: Hi Juzz, first, where do you live, and what are the conditions of the area where you collect your sand and water? I would try to collect your sand from the local reef area where you live, instead of the beach, and what is the water like where you collect it? I only use natural sand and water that I collect from the ocean, and I live in South Florida. The sand I use in my system is collect off the outer reefs of the Florida Keys, and all the Sea Water that I have ever used is collected offshore in the Gulfstream or outer reefs. I have been using natural seawater and live sand for over 35 yrs. and have never had a problem with either one, after all the ocean is where all our life comes from, that we keep in our system. :fish1:

 

[figuerres]

As was said you may have a growth of any of several things when you added that sea water. It sounds like you are using some filters and that might make it worse deepening on what the setup is. If the fish and coral are healthy and coral and anemones are open and feeding then the visual look of the water may not be a long term problem, also changes in the level of salt and other trace elements and in water temperature can trigger that cloudy look or the bloom of algae or plankton.

 

[Green Chromis]

:fish1: Hi Deftones, why would you never use sand or water collected from the ocean, after all it is where all the life in our systems come from. If you have easy access to the ocean and you can collect your water and sand, there is nothing wrong with using it as long as it is not polluted. Living in an area that is close to the ocean with easy access to reefs and clean ocean water is one of the many benefits of living in a tropical or subtropical area as you can use the local resources for your system as long as you are not breaking any of the State or Federal laws. Hi Juzz, like I stated above, keep using the water and if you can collect the sand from the area of your local reefs instead of the beach, as there will be less pollution, if any at all. Good luck with your system. :fish1:

 

[figuerres]

Also I would look into getting a reef ready tank and a sump, hang on filters and in tank filters are not really the best way to do a reef tank.
Read up on some of the past tank of the month to get some info.
Our reefkeeping online magazine has a lot of good reviews of tanks.

 

[Deftones2015]

:fish1: Hi Juzz, first, where do you live, and what are the conditions of the area where you collect your sand and water? I would try to collect your sand from the local reef area where you live, instead of the beach, and what is the water like where you collect it? I only use natural sand and water that I collect from the ocean, and I live in South Florida. The sand I use in my system is collect off the outer reefs of the Florida Keys, and all the Sea Water that I have ever used is collected offshore in the Gulfstream or outer reefs. I have been using natural seawater and live sand for over 35 yrs. and have never had a problem with either one, after all the ocean is where all our life comes from, that we keep in our system. :fish1:

Do you filter the water at all? I have read a few threads where people use water from the ocean but they run it through various filters to take various organisms out of the water.

 

[figuerres]

Do you filter the water at all? I have read a few threads where people use water from the ocean but they run it through various filters to take various organisms out of the water.

Also where the water is collected, if near a river for example may have a lot of turbidity from sand and fine silt. And some places may have more fresh water from rivers, many factors to know about.
The poster mentioned Cray fish which to me is a fresh water or brackish water organism so where are they going? Might not be the best place.

 

[Green Chromis]

Do you filter the water at all? I have read a few threads where people use water from the ocean but they run it through various filters to take various organisms out of the water.

:fish1: Hi Deftones, no I have never filtered the water, and I use it the same day it is collected for a water change. Using NSW for a system is fine as long as the water you collect is from a clean area of the ocean. I would never use water close to a river run off or a large industrial area, unless you could go far enough offshore to collect pristine water. :fish1:

 

[Green Chromis]

Also where the water is collected, if near a river for example may have a lot of turbidity from sand and fine silt. And some places may have more fresh water from rivers, many factors to know about.
The poster mentioned Cray fish which to me is a fresh water or brackish water organism so where are they going? Might not be the best place.

:fish1: I saw that too, but I believe he was referring to crawfish, or spiny lobster. :fish1:

 

[figuerres]

:fish1: I saw that too, but I believe he was referring to crawfish, or spiny lobster. :fish1:

That's the thing is we do not know for sure what they mean.... Cray fish means different things depending on where you are in the world.

 

[Arkayne Reefer]

And 75% water is change every week? That seems really unnecessary. Stick to 10% a week.

 

[hotelbravo]

Using sand from a beach can be very bad. Unless you research your area you dont know what type of sand you are getting. The sand at the beach could be composed of silicates which will make for huge algae blooms in an enclosed eviroment like the aquarium. Just because its natural doesnt mean it's a good thing to have.

Using natural sea water can be great if its filtered. When collecting water from the shore there WILL be pollutants
When collecting for off shore the chance for polutants are lower but they still exist

 

[juzz.raath]

:fish1: Hi Juzz, first, where do you live, and what are the conditions of the area where you collect your sand and water? I would try to collect your sand from the local reef area where you live, instead of the beach, and what is the water like where you collect it? I only use natural sand and water that I collect from the ocean, and I live in South Florida. The sand I use in my system is collect off the outer reefs of the Florida Keys, and all the Sea Water that I have ever used is collected offshore in the Gulfstream or outer reefs. I have been using natural seawater and live sand for over 35 yrs. and have never had a problem with either one, after all the ocean is where all our life comes from, that we keep in our system. :fish1:

Hey mate, based in Perth Western Australia. North of Perth actually water here is really clean and there are some amazing reefs not far by boat here. Generally which is where I go to drop my Cray pots and gather my Cray fish every morning.

 

[juzz.raath]

Sorry guys, all these great people trying to help with my solution and I didn't even reply!! I thought I would get some sort of notification if anyone replied to my thread. Oh well.

Ok so since my murky bloom that killed everything within a week excluding a small polyp of hammer coral and a few polyps of sun Corals and I saved the only fish which was a blue damsel (little champion).. I really thought I wouldn't be too upset if anything happened to the tank, but I was absolutely gutted when I realised all these living organisms and fish had been brought to an end because of me.

So I did my research all over again and started fresh. While keeping the survivors in a small 40 litre nano tank (intended for a quarantine purpose) I have a new setup. Tank was bought second hand locally and I drilled a hole in the back and plumbed it through to my old (bloom tank after a good clean!) , got rid of the old filter, a nice new piece of live rock from the shop and filled it with ocean water again from about 10 mile from shore. In total I have about 280 litres of water.

I used an old Bar fridge as a cabinet for the sump/Refugium tank and placed an led light in there.

It is now in cycling mode and all tests are showing parameters are good. (I hope, what do you guys think?)

PH 6.2
Ammonia 0
Calcium 400


Here's a pic of the setup day.