Very cloudy tank Please Help

[KJAhp098]

Hi everybody -

I just got my 90 gallon tank going. It is a bare bottom with only eggcrate and a fuge with live sand and cheato. After I put the sand in I ran it for a while with no problems. The next day the tank was very cloudy. I also put a filter sock in after a day of cloudiness and am running carbon. I know this isn't an SPS question but I plan on making an SPS dominant frag tank. Does anybody know what would cause this?

 

[KJAhp098]

I forgot to mention that the temperature jumped from about 65 degrees to about 84 degrees overnight. Not sure if that matters...

 

[paveking1]

That is what we call a algae bloom ,It will clear up in a couple days or so.You will need some live rock in that tank as well to get it cycled .Live sand alone will not support anything or much at all.You are going through a cycle give it time & get some good live rock.

 

[KJAhp098]

Thanks. Why would it be an algae bloom and not a bacteria bloom? I also plan on keeping only corals and snails in the tank. No fish. Do I still need liverock in addition to the fuge?

 

[detect007]

rock

rock

you should have some rock for biological filtration. if you don't want it in the display, maybe you could put some in your sump? or you will need some type of filter with bio filtration. usually 1-2lbs of rock per gallon.

 

[crmjacks]

i have found the cloudiness you are describing to be caused by "sterile" water. meaning you just added salt and water together and the cloudiness is simply a result of the ion exchange occuring as the salt dissolves. adding rock and or GARF grunge or detritus from a mature tank plus time will clear this up. give it some time. if it is still cloudy after a week...would be worried.

 

[KJAhp098]

Thanks guys. Would anybody feel that that a fuge with a 5" sand bed and cheato is sufficient for an SPS bare bottom frag tank with no fish?

 

[kaskiles]

No answers, just questions.

Are you going without any protein skimmer? If there are no fish, will you feed the SPS corals? If you don't feed the corals, what will feed the cheato?

 

[KJAhp098]

I have a turboflotor 1000 skimmer to put on. I do plan on feeding the corals a variety of foods...cyclopeeze, KZ CV, LIGHT. I have a couple damsels in there right now that I may decide to keep in for a little detritus for the corals.

 

[kaskiles]

If the water is still cloudy, you can pull out a glass full of it and add a tablespoon or two of vinegar to it. If the cloud goes away, it could be undissolved salt mix. If it stays, it's probably the bacteria or algae. I'd think that if you put on the skimmer and let it run a while, it will reduce a bacteria or algae cloud.

When I had a cloud in my new tank, it stayed for a week or so until I put some live rock in. Once the rock had been in a few days, it cleared up...

 

[seapug]

The cloudiness will eventually go away, but you really ought to put some live rock somewhere in the system for long term stability. It does more than just serve as decoration and a place to stick corals.