particles floating in the water

[LPFSTheFett]

I'll be taking the tank down here in about 20 days and moving it to the new house, but I want to make sure I get my 120 looking better.

When I first put the tank together the tank was really clear, nothing floating in the water, as time went on the water had more and more particles in the water. Some were micro bubbles and some is just stuff floating. I'm pushing 2 750gph pumps and a 350gph pump to the tank every hour, so I have plenty of flow going in and out of the tank. I also run 3 MJ 1200's in the tank.

At any rate, my theory is that the hermit crabs and my sand sifting gobbies are the ones making the mess. I see them all the time kicking stuff up in the water. The water looks decent in the morning and as the day goes on gets worse and worse.

I don't really know how clean the water should look? But I refuse to build this new huge 500+ gallon tank unless I can get my little 120 to look perfect.

Has anybody heard of a snail only tank, to avoid hermits from kicking crap up into the water? what would the downfall of this type of tank setup be?

Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Jason

 

[asnatlas]

What kind of skimmer are you running ??

You may want to look into Ozone aswell... It will make the water crystal clear...

 

[CaveManNOhio]

First thing I would suggest is to make sure you have good flow going towards the top of the tank. Get the surface to ripple and it should clear things up.
If you can set up a Carbon canister that will make your water sparkle, and a lot less chance of it stripping the water of some of the nutrients that the Ozone will remove. Ozone is real good on systems with large water volume, how ever in systems that aren't to large, there can be major changes in the water chemistry. That you may not want to have happen.
IMO

 

[wsnyder6]

Yeah, it could be you need more surface agitation, or there was some sort of bacteria bloom (if the water is cloudy-ish).

 

[LPFSTheFett]

that's got to be it. all my jets either point down or sideways, none point up. Good info to know!

My skimmer is a SuperSkimmer. Can't remember who makes it.

I'll move my jets up tonight and see what kind of difference that makes.

How should I have my return lines pointing.? I have them all pointing down right now.

Thanks!
Jason

 

[Treg]

Filter socks can help out some too.
There are no crabs in my system (well, a few Acro crabs) and I have very few snails.


I dont mean this to be offensive in any way, Its just a recommendation. If you have only 2 months hobby experience, a 500g system in your near future just might not be quit the best idea. Like you said, perfect the 120 first. My advice, spend a couple of years - atleast trying to.

I had a small FO for 3-4 years. Then my 90g reef for the past 4. I learn more every day and my 90g still isnt perfect!
But I would much rather have a nice smaller system running the way I want it too than a very large one that is'nt.


You will learn a lot in a couple-few years time and a lot of things that you thought you wanted will change.
Replacing equipment gets expensive Learning about potential problems and just good husbandry skills first are priceless.

 

[CaveManNOhio]

In my tank my returns point towards the surface since they are a couple inches under the water.

 

[sammie]

Treg is giving good advise, if you can do well on a small system and apply that expearence to a large system you'll be a lot better off. A large system is at first easier to maintain but once something goes bad you've got a BIG problem. Learn to recognize problems early on your smaller tank first. You won;t regret it.