New tank - Cloudy water

cudamon

Reefing newb
I just recently set up my 220 gallon aquarium. I'm assuming I didn't rinse the sand enough. After putting in the water, I can't see through the tank. I'm thinking of running mechanical filtration to pull some of the fine sand particles out of the tank. Suggestions?
 
The water will be cloudy as the fine dust particles from the sand settle out of the water column. And then it may get cloudy from a bacteria bloom. All part of setting up a new tank. ;)

Filter sock would help with the sand dust.
 
Thanks everyone for the info. I've only used gravel in the past. I rinsed each 20 pound bad of key west sand for 20-30 minutes and had thought it would have been relatively clear. I'll give it time and maybe some filtration to clear up.
 
20 lbs of sand in a 220 gallon tank? That's not very much. It generally takes 1 lb per gallon to get 1 to 2 inches of coverage. I'm not saying that's a problem -- it's fine to have little or no sand if that's what you want.
 
20 lbs of sand in a 220 gallon tank? That's not very much. It generally takes 1 lb per gallon to get 1 to 2 inches of coverage. I'm not saying that's a problem -- it's fine to have little or no sand if that's what you want.

I actually used 7, 20 pound bags. To be honest, that quantity gave me the 1" of sand I was looking for. Once I have the water quality and quantity where I need it, I will then add the 200 pounds of live rock.
 
Sounds good. Be sure that you put the rock directly on the glass bottom and not sitting on top of the sand. Burrowing animals and your powerheads can shift the sand, and if the rock is sitting on top of it, that can cause a rockslide and can even break your glass.
 
Sounds good. Be sure that you put the rock directly on the glass bottom and not sitting on top of the sand. Burrowing animals and your powerheads can shift the sand, and if the rock is sitting on top of it, that can cause a rockslide and can even break your glass.

The original tank setup, prior to my purchase, has a catacomb type material glued to the bottom of the tank set in a grid fashion. I filled the sand to the top of this material. The rocks are fairly large. I imagine they will sit on top of these structures and therefore on the bottom. Do you see any problems with this?

The catacomb type material is about 0.50 inches tall by 0.25 inches in width. It runs the perimeter of the tank, along with across and down the middle. It is kind of tough to describe without showing a pic.
 
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I forgot to follow up on this thread. I ran mechanical filtration for 24-48 hours to pull some of the fine particulates from the tank. Worked like a charm. It's been clear ever since.
 
Rather than start a new thread...

Yep, I have cloudy water.

Let's see ... the pertinent information. 75 gallon tank that's been setup for a few months. However, I only got the tank about a month ago. I've got a sump with biofiltration (I had a pond for years back in Michigan, the sump is using what I would call a bioball) and a built in skimmer that has been running since I got the tank and has yet to start foaming, which I presume is another issue possibly related to my current problem.

The guy I bought it from was actually someone from a local fish store who had it running for about six months. It is a custom build tank of the lfs.

So, I got the tank set it up myself, added live rock and one damsel. I then waited for it to cycle and nothing after one, two, three, and four weeks. Okay.

So, I assumed it cycled before I owned it. Probably a bad idea. Was not worried that I did not have the water because of the bio balls in the sump. I had the tank up and running the same night I brought it home (and used RO/DI water from a newly purchased unit ... tested TDS at 0 ppt; temperature corrected and calibrated)

I've read time and time again to take things slow so I added one clown. About a week later and my water is cloudy. I can easily see through the end of the 4 foot tank, but it's hazy and definitely not as clear as it should be.

So, of the water tests I have done everything is good except for the nitrite, which are likely around 0.2-0.3 ppm. Though I have not tested it, my guess is there is ammonia around.

My worry is that the tank has not cycled and that I am not starting off on that. However, I was also wondering about the possibility of a small cycle having to do with the addition of another fish to the system.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance!
 
Yeah, more than likely your tank is cycling. Give it some more time but also take a sample to your lfs to test for ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite. See what the results are and go from there. If you purchased the tank, tore it apart, drained it, and then set it back up, your tank is going to cycle.
 
The cloudiness is usually due to a bacterial bloom. If you have a tank that didn't cycle (or that only had a very small cycle), when you add a fish, the bacterial population will explode in response to the input of the new food source. This clouds the water. Just wait it out and things should be fine -- nitrite should drop back down to zero again.
 
Thanks biff!

Due to lack of any other option, this is essentially what I am left doing. I did test the ammonia and found it to be zero. Thought the test kit was feeding me a load, so I took water into work with me and tested it again. Yep it was zero.

So, I've calmed down about it a bit.

You nailed the bacterial bloom though. Looks like diatoms to me, which is something else I find odd as nitrates also read at zero, which of course I also tested at work. Not quite zero, but I am sure my test was more sensitive than the test kit, so close enough.

Anyway, I think the take away here is that I should add a few inverts to help me. I was thinking about scarlet hermit crabs (because they play nice and don't exhibit shell envy) and margarita snails...
 
Margarita snails are a cold water species...

Well now, there is a minor oversight... forgot I did read that about them.

Crossing them off my mental list is not a good idea when your short term memory is for the birds.

Heh, thanks for the reminder.
 
Diatoms feed off of silicates; they are not a typical algae. You can introduce silicates into your tank if you use tap water or silica-based sand (like play sand or sand from the hardware store). If you do not use tap water and use an aragonite sand, then the diatoms will eventually go away on their own. They are a really common thing to see in a newly set up tank and are not harmful to anything. Don't worry about them -- they are just ugly, but it's a short-term ugliness. :)

Also, don't count on the hermits (ANY HERMITS) not killing snails for their shells. They will. :)
 
Good to know that this will go away on it's own.

I did purchase a ro/di unit to fill the tank, use for water top-offs, and water changes. I am pretty sure the sand I used was aragonite, but would have to go back to the lfs to check on that as I used it all.

It's good to know that I should not be too worried about it either, though it sure is an eyesore; especially on the bright white sand.

In any event, it's still a good excuse to get a cleanup crew started as I am lacking that. This just gave me the kick in the rear end to get it done.

So, as suggested, I picked up some turbos and nassarius snails. At the last minute, I pulled back from the crabs. I've got an iphone app (pocket reef) that claimed the scarlet hermit crab did not exhibit shell envy. At the lsf I decided to think about the logic behind one crab of the same class not having the shell envy issue ... it did not sit well, hence I canned the idea. Was planning to ask here about that, but you answered that for me :)

Anyway, for everyone else, that pocket reef app is nice and helpful, but there are small inaccuracies like the one with the scarlet hermit crab.

I might try to get that silicates tested on Monday just to rule that out. However, not many tests for that come to mind, which might force me to pickup a kit. Should probably purchase my own refractometer too as opposed to using the one at work...

Anyway, I am rambling. Thanks for the help once again :)
 
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