Tank cloudy in cycling tank normal?

9

92reefer

Active member
Cycling a 60G cube with 100% Marco Rock and 4 yellow damsesl:

I'm at 6 weeks now and cycle should be almost nearing completion but I'm out of test kits.

I've noticed that my tank has gotten rather cloudy the last 3 days. Anyone have a clue as to what that's about? I'm wondering if I need to do a partial water change to help the cycle out?
 
A tank should not be cloudy after the first few days and the sand storm clears. Did you or something in the tank stir up any sand, like fallen powerhead?

Could be a bacteria bloom. Yes do a water change. Maybe run some GAC.
 
You might be seeing some debris or maybe a bit of a bacterial bloom. Some water changes, maybe a few at 10% each, might be useful at this point. That's what I'd try.
 
I'm guessing it's a bacterial bloom.

LFS tested water. Ammonia normal (almost 0), Nitrite still present although on the low end, Nitrate (low but present). Told me to test next week and make sure that Nitrite is on the way down instead of up.

So I'm hoping that the cloudiness is from the fact that the cycle is almost complete? I have a TLF reactor and was contemplating running some GAC/GFO at this point to see if it clears up?
 
What's the best way to rinse my GFO/GAC. Can I just fill up the TLF reactor and then discard the first gallon or so?
 
when I change the media in my reactors. I do a water change and then use the old water to flush through the reactors into a bucket until the water runs clear.
 
Great idea Parker.

Thx Randy. I have the regular BRS GAC but I think I'm going to have to try the ROX on my next order
 
FWIW, I just cycled my tank and it was cloudy for more than a week. Once the protein skimmer started to kick in (and I added a reactor with GAC (and GFO) it cleared). So I don't think there's cause for concern.
 
A friend of mine was about 6 weeks into cycling his tank when the same thing happened. In his case, he initially thought that it was a bacterial bloom and followed many of the suggestions listed above. About a month later when things seemed to be getting worse rather than better, he began to realize that the water got less cloudy when the lights were out. In addition there was a bit of a green hue to the cloudiness that originally seemed to be white. Long story short, turns out that he had algae growing in his water column. A UV Sterilizer cleared up his tank in 2 days.

I'm not suggesting that you don't have a bacterial bloom, just throwing out another possibility for you :).
 
Well I did 10% water change and threw about half/container BRS GAC in the TLF reactor. 24 hours later and the water is still cloudy. I don't get it? It's been cloudy now for about 7 days..
 
More info needed.

What is the source water you use for top off and to make saltwater?
What are your parameters. Temp, Alk, Ca, Mg, pH?
Have you tested for nitrates and PO4?
Do you dose anything?
Do run any filters? Skimmer?
What kind of sand and powerheads?
What kind of lights and how long are they on?
 
drparker said:
More info needed.

Latest test:

What is the source water you use for top off and to make saltwater?
4 stage RO/DI currently reading 0 TDS
What are your parameters. Temp, Alk, Ca, Mg, pH?
Temp 78
Alk= 5.9
CA= 430
Mg= 1200
Ph= 8.1
Have you tested for nitrates and PO4?
Yes. Nitrates are low and PO4 (salifert) tested 0
Do you dose anything? NO
Do run any filters? Running 200 micron filter sock
Skimmer? Yes SWC-120
What kind of sand and powerheads? ESV fine Calcium Carbonate
What kind of lights and how long are they on?
Ecotech Radion. Photo period from 11am to 7pm (intensity at 40%, way down)
Click to expand...
 
With that low of an Alk you might have precipitation instead of algae or bacteria. I consider my current 7.7 reading to be on the low side.
 
I just retested and ALK is 6.4dkh

I agree and still think it's low. I buffered awhile (2.5 weeks back) ago to bump it back up to about 8dkh or so and it went down again.

Any idea why the ALK keeps dropping? I mean I have dead rock (Marco Rock) in the tank so there's no corraline or corals using ALK/CA
 
Some decay byproducts are acidic and will lower the dKH at least temporarily. I wouldn't worry very much.
 
Well it's been about 11 days and the tank is still cloudy. This is really starting to bug me. Never had a tank stay cloudy like this before?
 
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