New tank won't clear

[92reefer]

Just setup a new WaterBox Frag 105.4 tank.

First time using live sand so after receiving advice I filled the tank with fresh RO/DI. After 2 days of filling I finally started the pump (Sicce Syncra SDC 6.0) and turned the heater on. Once the tank was at set temp (76.5 F) I started adding salt (Instant Ocean).

Brought the salinity to 1.025 and filtered tank for the next 2 days. Next day added 3 bags of Carib-Sea Arag Alive Fiji pink sand. As expected the water became cloudy but not excessively clouded as I've used dry sand in the past which tends to become quite a bit more cloudy on the initial fill due to the all sand dust. The Waterbox sump has a 225 micron mesh filter sock for first stage and then 225 micron felt sock for second stage. All of my past sumps have only 1 felt sock and I was expecting that the tank would clear overnight and be very close to crystal clear the next morning.

Well 2 days after sand addition it was still very cloudy. I changed out the first pair of socks and added 2 new fresh socks in place. 2 more days of filtering and the tank is tiny bit clearer but still cloudy and hasn't really changed in the past few days.

I added the "clarifier" packets from the Carib Sea sand to the tank (following directions) and 2 additional days later, no change and the same exact level of cloudiness in tank. There is a also a fine white layer of white silt laying on the bottom of the sump area (this accumulated on the first day after addition of the "live" Carib Sea sand)

I don't understand why there is still cloudiness and I've never had this happen to any of my new tank installations? I've held off adding my Marco Rock dry rock aquascape until I've been able to clear the water.

Any suggestions on what's going on and how to resolve the "cloudiness" (I've attached pics of the water cloudiness from the long end of aquarium as well as pic of the filter sock alignment and fine white silt sitting in the bottom of the sump)

 

[smokenax]

Let it be it will clear up.


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[Gangous]

Add the rock and some bacteria


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[92reefer]

Add the rock and some bacteria


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Done.

Added my Marco Rocks and about 1.5 containers of IO Bio Spira. Let's see if that helps clear it up..

 

[92reefer]

So confused and I've never had this issue on several of my previous reef setups that were similar using "dead" sand, Marco Rocks and bottle bacteria (Bio-Spira).

I'm currently going on week 7. My tank has been crystal clear after an initial cloudiness for a few days.

The past 3 days show the tank completely clouded. I have 4 blue tail damsels that are doing fine, eating well and seem to be unaffected. I was proceeding slow and was not looking to increase the bio-load in the tank for quite some time but I'm baffled as to why the tank became cloudy almost overnight and has remained that way for 3 full days. My skimmer is running and filter socks are non-clogged and clean.

I was adding some Microbacter 7 at about the 2-3 week mark to add some bacteria diversity and aid in the cycling process but stopped just short of the suggested "new tank" period of 2 weeks (stopped at day 11) because there were several small 1" patches that appeared on sand. I reduced the photo period from 5 hours to 3 and the water remained clear up until 3 days ago.

Anyone know what is causing the this cloudiness and what if anything I should do at this point?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

The damsels will add quite a bioload. Is there a reason you added 4 at once?

 

[92reefer]

Sugar;

They are small damsels and added 4 at the suggestion of the local fish store. I wanted to have enough bio-load so the cycle could get a good start and not stall. The Microbacter 7 was supposed to help with the bio-load during the cycle

 

[92reefer]

Sugar;

They are small damsels and added 4 at the suggestion of the local fish store. I wanted to have enough bio-load so the cycle could get a good start and not stall. The Microbacter 7 was supposed to help with the bio-load during the cycle

The LFS suggested 4 damsels to start and I didn't think that was a large bio load for 110 gallons in the tank system?

 

[markovkaa]

I added the clear stuff and with filter mine cleared up in like three days

 

[Sk8r]

92 reefer, fish should not be in there until the cycle is complete. It's a method from 50 years ago, and its rough on the fish, possibly lethal. Just drop a few flakes of fishfood in daily until you cycle, and you're just as cycled, with no dead fish.

 

[92reefer]

I added the clear stuff and with filter mine cleared up in like three days

What "clear stuff" are you referring to?

 

[92reefer]

92 reefer, fish should not be in there until the cycle is complete. It's a method from 50 years ago, and its rough on the fish, possibly lethal. Just drop a few flakes of fishfood in daily until you cycle, and you're just as cycled, with no dead fish.

I agree with you. But you should know that there's also new products out there now that eliminate the filter cycle as we knew it. Bio-Spira is one of them and I've used that product to start my last 2 tanks with no issues at all. It contains live bacteria cultures cycles the tank quickly and avoids the ammonia/nitrite spikes associated with normal cycling. If you look at the directions it states to dose the tank then add the first tank inhabitants..

BIO-Spira® makes your marine aquarium fish-safe instantly.
With patented nitrifying bacteria, BIO-Spira® accelerates the establishment of the bio-filter in newly set up saltwater aquariums. The live bacteria start working immediately to provide a safe and healthy environment for your fish without the long wait. BIO-Spira can also be used after a water change, when adding new fish or after medicating.

Live nitrifying bacteria start working immediately to reduce dangerous ammonia and nitrite
Prevents new tank syndrome
Patented mix of nitrococcus, nitrosomonas, nitrosospira and nitrospira is proven to work
Shelf-stable "“ requires no refrigeration
5 mL treats 10 gallons of water

 

[markovkaa]

The "œ clarifier" that add. But what I also added was a bit of carbon and bio balls. That might of helped.

 

[92reefer]

It's been a full week now and the tank is still completely cloudy. The damsels are still eating when they can actually find the flakes that I put in the tank.

Is there anything I can do right now or do I just have to continue waiting for the tank to clear?

 

[Oldreeferman]

Have you attempted to vacuum the new substrate to test if it has excess micro fine dust that needs removing? Id check that if it was not carefully pre-rinsed.
After that id try a finer micron filter bag next. Its the attack id follow next if it was mine. Otherwise it may be a bad bacteria bloom lastly.

 

[92reefer]

Have you attempted to vacuum the new substrate to test if it has excess micro fine dust that needs removing? Id check that if it was not carefully pre-rinsed.
After that id try a finer micron filter bag next. Its the attack id follow next if it was mine. Otherwise it may be a bad bacteria bloom lastly.

Can't be that. I used Caribsea Araga Alive Fiji Pink. That substrate comes sealed with bacteria included and instructions state specifically not to rinse as that would definitely kill the "live" bacteria.

My tank was nowhere near as cloudy as it is now after directly added the 3 bags of sand. It took 3 days and then the tank was crystal clear for the next 6 weeks. It only started to get extremely cloudy within the past week and has stayed like that. Some kind of bloom going on but never encountered this at all. I have to admit this is the first time using the "live" sand in my tank startup...

 

[Oldreeferman]

Strange issue, id re-check the temp to be sure its stable & did not rise with a temp monitor you trust, i use a Cooper very accurate. High temp could do this..
Checking temp and using a super fine micron filter is all that comes to mind TBH.
I used live substrate in my setup & had no issues like this but since it was live i added no additional bacteria just live rock i trusted from my other tank that i knew had no pests.

 

[92reefer]

I'm running a new Inkbird and reading 76.5 degrees. I have a Sicce SDC pump and it reads out the temp as well, currently showing 75.8 so definitely not due to a temp change in the aquarium.

I went into the closet and grabbed some lignite GAC I bought from BRS and added that to the Felt filter sock inside a mesh filter sock. All I have on hand is 200 micron filters and honestly never had any issues polishing the water with those so whatever is suspended is definitely tiny...

I'm going to wait overnight and if no change I might goto the loca Petco and pick up a Green Killing Machine 24w UV to see if that will clear it up?

 

[92reefer]

Well I added the GKM 24w sterilizer and low and behold, the tank cleared within 6 hours. I don't know what was causing the cloudiness though, was it bacterial or algal and more importantly how do keep this from happening again?

I'm hoping that I can take the UV sterilizer out of the sump at some point as I didn't intend to be running it 24x7. Is this the wrong decision?

 

[92reefer]

Water is clear but the light grey, light brown whispy spots are still on the sand throughout the tank. I've only been using the lights for about 10 minutes a day so the damsels can come out and eat a bit of the flake. The tank has no direct light yet the patches are not going away. This scares me and leads me to believe that it is truly Dinos. I feel like I'm in prison and can't enjoy my tank being held hostage by whatever this stuff is. If it is dinos, I definitely don't want it to get a foot hold on my new tank.



I'm still running Lignetic carbon in the felt fitler sock, skimmer on and the UV is still running. I also added a few doses of Vibrant the past 2 weeks, no change.



I also can't seem to find anyone that will borrow me a microscope. I Downloaded a Mangifying Glass app and was able to snap a few more pics.


ID, advice, suggestions please????