Water Condition - Help

SWBeginer

SWBeginer

Member
My water is so clouded even I did 4 times 70% water changes in the last two weeks. I have to clean my glasses 2x a day. I started with no socks thought that was the problem so I added the socks but seems not helping much.

I have 2" live sand in the tank with 60lb live rocks. Rubbles and chateo in the sump. BRS running GFO and TLF running carbon. oh tank been up for running for a little more than 2 months now.

I have a Elos 120 (90g) with only 10 small fish and feeding pallet in the morning and froozen mysis every other day at night.

All parameters were tested and fine.

Is it too much detritus or................

how to get the water clean?
 
clouded? Are you dosing 2-part? Or running a calcium reactor?

Water changes with saltwater that has high calcium/alkalinity can cause precipitation into fine calcium carbonate particles causing a white cloudiness.


Also, in general, probably not a good idea to do such massive water changes in a short time. It can cause your corals to not tolerate the drastic change in water quality. At this point, you've already changed the water, so let corals get used to the "new water"...

Is your skimmer working ok? Are you pulling stuff out of the water?
 
+1 what the other guys said. You are doing too many water changes too quickly. Have you tested the water? what are your readings? What corals do you have? More info would help.
 
zeroinverse said:
clouded? Are you dosing 2-part? Or running a calcium reactor?

Water changes with saltwater that has high calcium/alkalinity can cause precipitation into fine calcium carbonate particles causing a white cloudiness.
Click to expand...

Yes, i see some particles in the water but also thin layer of dust like (film algea?) on glasses which I need to clean everyday sometimes 2x a day.

I used RO/DI fixed with aquavitro. I does 2 part. Kent's CA (8ml, 8x/day) and ReefBuilder ALK.

should I cut down on the CA does or stop it for few days?
 
Last edited:
I had the same problem before when i first added the bright green formosa i got from Grant.... turned out it was spawning :)
 
480ppm on CA seems a bit high. 420ppm is NSW. What test kit do you use for CA?

You might try dropping the CA dose back to 7ml, 8x/day. I would not stop it. Might be too much of a change.
 
I agree with all above its Prob most likely precipitation.. You might try to cut back on the dosing and just watch your levels.. If they aren't dropping from consumption keep cutting them back..

Another way to quickly clear the water is to get a finer filter sock to polish the water.. I've seen as low as 10 micron sold.. I think your dosing too much along with the already high calcium in the salinity the water is just saturated and causing a snow storm with every dose.. Or if your dosing the A/B together or too close it will also precipitate out..
 
Use this to dial in your calcium and alk



This graph showing possible values for calcium and alkalinity in marine aquaria. The red zone is the recommended target, and the blue dot represents values in natural seawater. .

I would get as close to the blue spot as possible. More calcium and alk doesn't speed up coral growth, but if you are in the sweet spot, your corals will grow like they are on steroid.

In your case I think you are also getting diatom so your phosphate and nitrate might be on a higher side. If you corals are growing then it might not be too bad but if you control those two things your corals will color up even more. I also use Ozone and it makes a huge difference in the clarity of my tank.
 
Being as you Ca is so high I would stop dosing it. This will allow you to check your Ca daily and figure out what your daily usage is. Then when the Ca is back around 420 you can start dosing to compensate for the daily usage. This may not help with the cloudy water but it will help you figure out exactly how much Ca to dose.
 
64mg of calcium a day seems very high. When my tank was a couple months old I dosed .5mg 12 times a day = 6mg total. Now that my SPS tank is 2 years old I dose 3.3mg 12 times a day = 40mg per day. My tank is only 65 gallons and there is much more that goes into to how much to dose, but just wanted to pass along how much I dose.
I also dose Calc and Alk 1 hour apart to limit precipitation.
 
SWBeginer: how much SPS do you have?

My guess is that your Calcium is precipitating out of solution so effectively you are wasting 2-part solution. ^_^ Basically when there is too much Ca+Alk, they combine and your just get "fine dust/aragonite". An expensive way to make aragonite, that's for sure.
 
zeroinverse said:
SWBeginer: how much SPS do you have?

My guess is that your Calcium is precipitating out of solution so effectively you are wasting 2-part solution. ^_^ Basically when there is too much Ca+Alk, they combine and your just get "fine dust/aragonite". An expensive way to make aragonite, that's for sure.
Click to expand...

Pretty much that's the case :(

Had adjusted the volumns on doesing.
 
My guess is that your new system will not consume high levels of calcium yet. The best way to figure out your calcium consumption is to not dose for a week, measure your calcium level, and divide the difference by 7. That will be your daily consumption. Magnesium levels are very important to keep high levels of calcium dissolved in the system. If mag is low, the calcium you add will just precipitate into calcium carbonate, which will result in cloudiness. I've never heard of anyone accomplishing 480ppm calcium. I would get another test kit and see what you come up with.
 
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