have any ideas?

poksal

Well? .. I AM trying
We are still working on the cloudly issue.. AND it is bio-pellet related.. or at least I think it is.

After I cut back my pellet quantity to about a 1/4 cup the cloudy water began to improve. At that time I decided it was not the pellets but was because I had blasted the algae and the water had cleaned-up. Although it was cloudy before I blasted the dead algae (for those not in tune, I had changed from MH to LED's too. This triggered a blessed event of algae die back.. ALSO.. my fuge is kicking in and assisting in the algae kill back.. So this is not a simple problem combination to figure.. not to me).

OK ,back to the story, I added some more pellets, only about another just over a 1/4 cup and the water started to cloud again. So... I have removed all but about three heaping tee spoons.. (my best guess).

The cloud looks more like a spooky mist that swirls through the tank, like a fog rolling in, but everywhere.

Here are the current test stats as of the last half hour.

temp .....................................79°f
Salt ......................................1.026
Ammonia ..............................not detectable
Alk .......................................11.2
Calcium .................................520
Copper ..................................not detectable
Phosphate ............................not detectable
Mag .....................................1100
Nitrite ...................................not detectable
Nitrate ..................................not detectable
pH .......................................8.3


Boi-pellet Reactor = Vertex, running vertex pro-bio pellets. The GFO & carbon reactors listed in my tanks line aren't actually on line yet. I want to get a handle on this first.

My tanks line tells size and equipment..


Advice, hand slaps... whatever??? .....bring it!
 
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So I got frustrated the foggy water and (my fault not yours) with the lack of advice (I assume this is because I ask a question no one has a reasonable answer for or because I just need to shut-up and be patient). Anyway, I removed the bio-pellets and filled my bio-pellet reactor with LR rubble, then put my GFO and carbon reactors on-line.

Filling the Vertex reactor with LR rubble makes sense to me from my days of fresh water experience because I had wonderful results running a reactor filled with gravel. So, we shall see.
 
+1 Sarah...All these reactors....makes me think of three mile island...see how that turned out or Chernobyl. Anyway I know of a great way to add the things you want and take out the things you done....Water change with a good reef salt lol :twocents:
 
Now I don't feel so bad for asking this, but what is in a pellet? If it is carbon and you don't rinse it, you will get a very bad dust. That's all I know.

But do tell us when you figure out the cause of the cloudiness. I want to learn from your experience. :)
 
OK, update...
I "think" my cloud is because I rearranged my piping to the fuge, skimmer, sump, & reactors and apparently managed to create a nice crop of micro bubbles.

I think I understand the best way to rid my tank of those is to first fix the reason. In my case I am moving the returns from these gadgets, and working on non or less bubble making exits into the sump ..... and will be adding more bubble trap partitions.

Second, more frequent, larger water changes until the over oxygenated water has cleared.

Am I on target???? Please tell me more... I would expect these little bubbles to go away all by themselves... but no????

...being a retired engineer... I want to fix and solve... waiting it not my strength... grrrrrrrrr..
 
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Now I don't feel so bad for asking this, but what is in a pellet? If it is carbon and you don't rinse it, you will get a very bad dust. That's all I know.
:)

I'm not sure, they look like little ceramic buttons and I thought they took on bacteria like LR does but apparently they either take on special bacteria because of their chemical make up or are impregnated with some sort of bacteria. ... and yes you do have to rinse them off to rid the pile of dust. ... and yes you do want them to tumble but not so wildly that they grind each other to a pulp too quickly.. other than that I have no idea....... that reactor is now filled with well pulverized LR rubble. .. at least until I get smarter and better understand what has happened.

EDIT: I think the tank is responding..(it is early to be sure of it), if so mostly to the rearrange of returns because I haven't gotten to the water change part yet.

There is a good sticky thread on bio-pellets here https://www.livingreefs.com/running-bio-pellets-t33011.html
 
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If the microbubbles are being caused by a bit of air being sucked into the system somewhere, then you need to find that and address it. They won't go away on their own. I don't think you need to do extra water changes to get rid of them. They will dissipate on their own in time.
 
Quick synopsis on bio pellets. They are a bio plastic that is used as a carbon source to feed bacteria. Basically, life need three main elements to build cell structures. Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Carbon. In an aquarium, the limiting factor tends to be usable carbon. So the nitrogen and the Phosphorous tend to build up. Bio pellets are a way to resolve this build up by supplying adequate carbon for the bacteria to utilize the nitrogen and phosphorous in the water column. It is similar to either vodka or sugar dosing, just a bit simpler since the product is in a reactor and doesn't need as stringent testing and dosing.

That is my understanding of the bio pellets and I hope I am not accidentally misleading anyone.
 
Quick synopsis on bio pellets. They are a bio plastic that is used as a carbon source to feed bacteria. Basically, life need three main elements to build cell structures. Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Carbon. In an aquarium, the limiting factor tends to be usable carbon. So the nitrogen and the Phosphorous tend to build up. Bio pellets are a way to resolve this build up by supplying adequate carbon for the bacteria to utilize the nitrogen and phosphorous in the water column. It is similar to either vodka or sugar dosing, just a bit simpler since the product is in a reactor and doesn't need as stringent testing and dosing.

That is my understanding of the bio pellets and I hope I am not accidentally misleading anyone.

That is interesting.. odd that the pellets are white though. ..carbon being black... oh... dauh at me... sugar is mostly carbon, as is .... .. .. lots of things that aren't black, never mind.
 
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