Some advice on cloudiness

A

appacalypse

New member
Hello.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I'm a novice saltwater aquarist and am in the process of setting up a 75 gallon reef tank.

Here are the steps that I have done so far.

I was able to do some research in RO/DI units and make my own RO/DI water, reading at 2TDS.

I purchased approximately 100 lb of CaribSea Arag-Alive Bahamas Oolite live sand.

I purchased ~ 80 lbs of dry rock which is in the process of curing.

I purchased the 5 gallon drum of instant ocean Salt (1/2 cup per gallon of water)
Added ~ 60 half cups and performed refractometer reading (1.028) I did not add any additional salt after that. (note: my refractometer did not come with calibration solution, so it was used as it was) (12/28)

Another note: the salt was added to the tank when the water and sand was already in there. :/

After that, I added 1 piece of live rock along with one bottle of BioSpira that treats 75 gallons. (12/30)

I have my FX6 running with SeaChem Matrix as well as 1 gallon of Marine Pure Bioballs.


Tank is still significantly cloudy, more than I anticipated even after two to three days.

I've included some pictures and was wondering if someone can give me some advice on what to do next.

I just added a small piece of shrimp today to get the cycle going so I don't think the cycle has started yet ie no bacterial bloom.
5f521a1e0252c115269c9795521ca19a.jpg


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I'm new also and made the mistake of not washing my rock first and it took a good 3-5 days to
Clear out the fine dust/mud. I was using a HOB filter back then which helped get the dust in line.

My guess would be your sand got
Mixed up and need to settle or filter out.

Using filter socks?


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Hello,
Best method is to rinse the sand beforehand if possible, hard to do to live sand & keep the live part tho.
And its best to pre-mix the salt & water in a separate container and not all at one time but a few cups in, mix a bit then a few more until all the majority is mixed in so that the mix does not precipitate & cloud the water, either or both of these are the issue. May want to do a google on this condition & the causes.

You can get the hydrometer close by using distilled water to set it at zero. That is one of the recommended ways to calibrate closely, stability is way more importaint then one point off in salinity in the long run, and you can always tweak it with a test water that is assured to be a known salinity way later as the tank is just setup . I set mine this way & then tested it against my LFS Reef tank water spot on...They tested it too to show me.
Re-check salinity after using distilled to calibrate probably not off much but .025 is what you want usually.

Does it have a sump? That is where the filter sock will be to filter the water. Or it will need a few to get started & have extras.

Clearing that cloudy up ...........the best way at this point is just to run a filter till its clear & don't heat the tank water until its clear, better to mix salt at room temp before use.

Id recommend reading some more about how to mix saltwater & setting up a new tank a bit more then just dumping in & mixing things, needs to be done a certain way in a certain order. Not so importaint now but when you have livestock you will need to know exactly how to keep everything stable & how to test etc...
 
Krchfam said:
I'm new also and made the mistake of not washing my rock first and it took a good 3-5 days to
Clear out the fine dust/mud. I was using a HOB filter back then which helped get the dust in line.

My guess would be your sand got
Mixed up and need to settle or filter out.

Using filter socks?


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Click to expand...
No.. no filter socks being used. (not sure how I would do so in a canister (FX6)

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Oldreeferman said:
Hello,
Best method is to rinse the sand beforehand if possible, hard to do to live sand & keep the live part tho.
And its best to pre-mix the salt & water in a separate container and not all at one time but a few cups in, mix a bit then a few more until all the majority is mixed in so that the mix does not precipitate & cloud the water, either or both of these are the issue. May want to do a google on this condition & the causes.

You can get the hydrometer close by using distilled water to set it at zero. That is one of the recommended ways to calibrate closely, stability is way more importaint then one point off in salinity in the long run, and you can always tweak it with a test water that is assured to be a known salinity way later as the tank is just setup . I set mine this way & then tested it against my LFS Reef tank water spot on...They tested it too to show me.
Re-check salinity after using distilled to calibrate probably not off much but .025 is what you want usually.

Does it have a sump? That is where the filter sock will be to filter the water. Or it will need a few to get started & have extras.

Clearing that cloudy up ...........the best way at this point is just to run a filter till its clear & don't heat the tank water until its clear, better to mix salt at room temp before use.

Id recommend reading some more about how to mix saltwater & setting up a new tank a bit more then just dumping in & mixing things, needs to be done a certain way in a certain order. Not so importaint now but when you have livestock you will need to know exactly how to keep everything stable & how to test etc...
Click to expand...
Thank you for the response and advice.

Yeah I figured I was doing something wrong but couldn't really find a resource at the time in terms of mixing the salt in the tank.

I have 2 powerheads 800gph in the tank now along with the filter running. I'm hoping this will help mix the salt as long as it doesn't stir up the sand.

No sump.. only canister filter (Fx6) so not sure where to put filter socks.

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Canister is fine, your mechanical filtration stage (sponge) should start to pick up the fine particles.

Agree on the mixing process. I use 5 gallon jugs which I fill up with RODI and then put in the salt. Roll it around and usually it's pretty much clear. When I used to do it reverses (salt - water) it was cloudier.

I believe I saw a post on here about the "œscience" with this that was interesting. . . But can't locate it.





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I removed the sponge to replace it with the bio balls. Should I put the sponge back in?
It was originally used in a freshwater cichlid tank.

I couldn't really find a clear answer regarding this. I found a YouTube video of a person who removed the sponge and replaced it with the Bioballs.

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The balls serve as the biological filtration which is needed but the sponge would be needed to filter out the particles. I'm sure some will say that you can remove the sponge for normal operation but to get the particles out, you need something to run it through.

I don't have knowledge of canisters for salt water so can't offer any advice (good or bad) on those. I use one on a freshwater tank that I think works good.

After some failure with a HOB, I went with the sump and have been very happy I did so.

The above would be more focused on any dirt particles from the sand. . . If it's cloudy because the salt just hasn't fully Mixed, then I would put in a power head and get the water churning.


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Not ideal but no biggie. Give it another couple days. Charcoal in your canister will help. When you get to your first water change, mix the salt and water separately.

Since you're a newbie, you need to research pretty much everything you do, beforehand, to avoid costly mistakes. Before you know it, you'll be an expert, offering good advice to another newbie, here on RC!

Good luck!
 
To OP,
When you have access on a PC verses a cell google the videos of anything imagined to do with Reefkeeping. Eats up a cells battery so go PC and the videos are very interesting to watch ( very addictive actually), for a while.... with many from Reefers that also sell corals & other marine animals online so you can hear their experiences & see their shops first hand from people with a serious hand invested in the hobby.
Even choosing something as seemingly simple as snails will require research is it a herbivore or carnivore & what will it get along with?

Research everything first that you contemplate as it will probably effect or interact with something else down the rd. Reefing is almost like playing Chess, you have to always try to think a few moves ahead with what your planning as the end result.
 
Haven't been able to check just yet. Hopefully tomorrow.

I'm thinking of putting back the carbon filter, the sponge, or both.

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Awesome! Just remember that if this was from dust/dirt, you'll continue to deal with a little cloudiness when you do your water changes and it spreads the fine stuff back out. Eventually you'll get it all out. Takes time . . . Which I'm learning is the tag line of the hobby. Time and patience!!!


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It will really clear in a few days, and clear a great deal more once the biological processes of cycling have run their course. Read the label on your marine salt, and you will see that there is a great deal more in there than sodium chloride (salt)...and some of it takes longer to dissolve.
 
I feel like the front glass had a haze to it d/t the salt or something.

I can run my finger on the inside glass and have it clear up.

Should I scrub that away? Or leave things the way they are?

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Michael Hoaster said:
Run a mag float type cleaner around the glass. Have you got one of those yet?
Click to expand...
Not yet. I was thinking about using my old one from my freshwater but it has some algae on it and I didn't want to take a chance so I figured I would just get a another.

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