Water emergency!!!

[gtstylez87]

i have 4 tank and all 4 are cloudy. one of them in a a fresh water tank. the worst is the seahorse tank. when i tested it, it didnt have NH3. my reef and fish only tank are not as bad. the only thing they have in common is the R/O water i put in them but i havent put it into any of the tank recently. also the temperature here in FLA has been up and down so i dont know if this has anything to do with it. PLEASE I NEED INFO!!!

 

[mike_cmu04]

Did you test your water for ph, alk, cal, mag, salinity

 

[gtstylez87]

yes all the level are in the safe/normal range. you have to remember that all 4 of my tanks are cloudy, even my fresh water tank. all of the filters are work working properly and except for the seahorse tank i feed every other day. im not new to the hobby i have never seen anything like this in 13 years

 

[Sk8r]

If you added buffer and calcium near the same time, this can happen.
It can happen when caulerpa spores.
It can happen when a clam or corals spawn.
If you have an ATO accident with kalk this can happen. But a FRESHWATER tank?
Is there any possibility of an angry person with access to your fish tank?
If the second or third or last could be true, and you have to do a water change, you can do it up to 40% a day for two days. If it looks really bad, prioritize using the new water and buckets just as a refuge for specimens, and get to the hardware for a RUbbermaid Brute trashcan to make more water (thats 32 gal)---it's coming up Christmas and you need to be prepared.

 

[gtstylez87]

sk8r thanks for the info i dose my tanks once a week which is this friday and my fresh water is a 10 gal with a cichlid what im wondering is could change in water temperature or something else do this???

 

[chuckreef]

Sounds like bacterial blooms.

 

[Sk8r]

Chuck may have it: if there is a water reservoir with slime going on, it could hit the water and do weird stuff. It would mean some danger of the stuff dying off in the tank and ergo an ammonia spike. Having a bottle of Amquel in house is just a real good idea. I've never had to open mine, but if you need it you need it bad. Try running carbon and see if that helps any. No chance you've got a 1 micron filter sock or an old Vortech Diatom Filter....or that your lfs might? The fact it's hit all tanks and there's no irate ex- says water source problem.

 

[chuckreef]

May not be the water source, it can come from the air, or from your skin.
Its easy to cross-contaminate when you have multiple tanks.
Usually lights out and don't touch for 48 hours and it will clear up on its own.

 

[Fibinotchi]

How about sun exposure? Do they all receive the same amount of light, and are they exposed to sunlight? Still a stretch.

 

[mscarpena]

Sounds like bacterial blooms.

Thats what I thought as well.

 

[syrinx]

With it being the holiday season, I would also look into the practices of the household. Cleaners, sprays candles etc etc can cause issues. Generally a white cloudy apperence is from heterotrophic bacteria that are free swimming. If the tanks look better before lights on, and then cloud as the day progresses- then it is most likely this bacteria. Usually these bacteria colonize before the substrate dwelling bacterias, when waste levels are high- so to see them after a tank has been well established-means something has happened. Obviously if water has been added to all these tanks from the same source I would check to be sure your bucket did not get any cleaning supplies in it. Some soaps will kill bacteria, but not fish. I would guess though it was something airborn.

 

[OwenInAZ]

Heterotrophic bacteria don't depend on light (those would be phototrophic), so it's unlikely that they'd increase in cell density as a function of light exposure. However, I'm with you on something in the air introducing a carbon source (or, alternatively, killing off something in the tank and therefore liberating carbon) and causing a bloom.

 

[Amp2020]

Did you use any strong solvents or cleaners? Painting, stripping, acid washing, strong glues, bug poison bombs, floor cleaners, high levels of CO2, or anything else that releases fumes into your house could cause this to happen.

 

[mscarpena]

ANy updates.