reefer2b's tank

[yote]

My 75 is in the bed room.And I'm running a Coralife super skimmer 125 on it and I cant hear it all at night.
With your HOB filter running,you wont even know the skimmer is there.

[reefer2b]

I guess the ones they show are the noisiest ones then. I'm running a fluval 305 not a HOB. I can barely hear it running even when I'm right next to it. I know a skimmer helps to keep nitrates levels down but how would it help with the waters cloudiness if my levels are still at 0? I assume the marine SAT you mentioned would deal with the green tint to the tank.

[cthegame]

A skimmer is a more efficient way of removing organic wastes from your water. Now that i see the pic, im thinking maybe the filter has something to do with the cloudiness, is it the only filter you have running?

[yote]

The SAT will use up the nutrients that the algae needs.Basically starves algae out.
With the skimmer,you may hear a little bit of a water trickle,but thats about it.And not only will it pull out the dissolved organics,it'll pull the bacteria/algae out of the water to.

[reefer2b]

yes it is. Since it's rated for up to 90Gal I was hoping it would be adequate for a while. When I had my 55G I'd never even heard of a skimmer. I had an UGF for a while then a HOB (no sump either) and never had an algae problem so I don't know if that's the problem. I'm sure the LR causes some of it since I didn't use it before.

[fatman]

Just take a couple coffee filters and double or even triple them up and pour some tank water through them. If it comes out green, you will know your tinge is due to waterborne algae caused by excess nutrients. You can try to remove and eliminate nutrients, through water changes, limited feedings, assured excellent water supply. Or there are the super clarifiers. Ozone or Ultraviolet light. Most people take the sensible approach through removing the organics before they break down into nutrients by using a skimmer. Ozone and ultaviolet lights are sterilizers and kill the end products of organic breakdown but do not remove the organics. Skimmers remove the organics before the generation of end products. I view the sterilizers as best used as supplements to skimmers. The sterilizers are very quiet though.

[reefer2b]

I'll try that when I get home later today with the coffee filter, I'm also going to clean the filter. If that isn't the case, a green filter. Then should I just keep the lights off for a few days and see if gets better. I'm using ro/sw from the lfs for my changes, at least they tell me that it's ro water.

[reefer2b]

The coffee filter wasn't green, so IDK just wait and see I guess. I've been keeping the lights except for when I feed them and an hour or so in the evening. Last night I turned the filter way down to see if the disturbed sand was creating any of the cloudiness. It wasn't. Since I've had the lights off I have now seen all 3 hermits at once. So all critters are accounted for and doing well despite the cloudy water. All the crabs and the shrimp have also shed. Which is why I wasn't sure about the crabs.

[fatman]

If there is no green in filter then running your lights should not be a problem as water borne algae is not an issue. Ther was no heavy brown stuff filtered out either, I assume. Brown, diatom, algae can also be water borne and cause obvious cloubing. If not your pretty much left with bacterial growth which will pretty much eliminateitself in time when it has over bred for its envirinment and dies off as a result. Smal waterchanges will help, as would carbon, but change it every few days as its pores will probably fill quickly due to the cloudiness. Maintain good circulations and consistent water parameters as far as salinity, temperature and pH.

[reefer2b]

I've got some water warming up now so I can put it in the filter when I clean it. I think it's just bacteria; but it makes my eyes hurt trying to see through it . There are still some diatoms but not nearly as much as much before and not being mixed up by the fish either. As long as all levels are 0 and critters doing well, I'll just wait and see if it gets better. Hubby though keeps telling me I had to have done something wrong. like he has clue as to how to set up a tank.