water is looking dirty need help ???
- Thread starter rbb302
- Start date
Bifferwine
I am a girl
What do you mean dirty? Like cloudy or brownish? Or greenish? Or stuff floating around in it?
Bifferwine
I am a girl
I don't think it's a temperature change. Cloudy water usually indicates a bacterial bloom, and in that case you should just wait it out. Cloudy water can also happen if you just add sand or moved your rock around, and in that case it will settle with time.
Adding rock now won't hurt, I read in your other post you were wondering if you can add rock while it's cloudy. I just wouldn't add any animals until it clears up and your tank completely cycles.
Adding rock now won't hurt, I read in your other post you were wondering if you can add rock while it's cloudy. I just wouldn't add any animals until it clears up and your tank completely cycles.
yote
In Memoriam
Your more likely to get the bloom,when you dont have any live rock or sand.
yote
In Memoriam
Once it starts,theres not much you can do about it,but let it run its course.
How long has the tank been set up?
How long has the tank been set up?
The bacteria will deplete all the readily available nutrients then die back. Live rock being added during a bacterial bloom would be very hard on the beneficial nitrifying bacteria living on the live rock as they require dissolved oxygen and a bacterial bloom depletes dissolved oxygen. Raising the water temp a few degrees will speed the process of taking the bloom to completion, however waarmer water holds less dissolved oxygen. Are you running any pumps or power heads? Supplying circulation/aeration will supply all the oxygen the bacteria need to run their course the quickest, even with the water warmed up.
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IraqVeteran
HOOAH
I know this thread is a little old, but...I too have cloudy water in my 75 gal fowlr. I dont think it is an algae bloom rather I think it is just the fish, lunar wrasse in particular, dive bombing the sand a lot causing fine particles to free float. I also have a blue throat trigger, spotted puffer, squirrel fish and sailfin tang in the tank. I change 10 gal of water each saturday in that tank and the parameters are always good. What can I do to combat this? Or do I just have to suck it up? The tank was always clear until I added the wrasse two months ago and then it started to get a little cloudy, not too noticeable. Once I added the puffer and trigger it got worse. The trigger hits the sand a lot also.
The sand is really fine sand. Should I change the substrate to something different? If so, how do I go about doing that?
Thanks,
Mark
The sand is really fine sand. Should I change the substrate to something different? If so, how do I go about doing that?
Thanks,
Mark
Bifferwine
I am a girl
If you think it's the sand, running some sort of mechanical filtration will help to get rid of the suspended particles. You will have to clean the filter often though, so you don't get water parameter problems. I would not change out the substrate; that can just lead to problems.
IraqVeteran
HOOAH
I do run mechanical already and I clean it the same time I do the water changes. Should I add more mechanical filtration? Right now at the moment I just have an Emperor 550 HOB filter along with a protein skimmer.
yote
In Memoriam
Since your running a FOWLR,it propbably wouldnt hurt anything to add a wet/dry.That along with what you already have might help.
IraqVeteran
HOOAH
I'm not so sure. Dont wet/dry set-ups possibly lead to nitrate problems? Unless you are talking about a regular under the tank sump.
yote
In Memoriam
As long as its kept clean,it wont cause any problems.There just like canisters or HOB filters.They have to be maintained.
I ran a wet/dry for over a year and never had nitrates over 5.But I rinsed out the media and bio-balls every week.Washed it out good and hooked it back up.
Plus you could use it as a sump.Basically the same thing.
I ran a wet/dry for over a year and never had nitrates over 5.But I rinsed out the media and bio-balls every week.Washed it out good and hooked it back up.
Plus you could use it as a sump.Basically the same thing.
IraqVeteran
HOOAH
Good advice. I might try slapping on a powerful Eheim cannister filter. I used to use those and they worked pretty good. They arent too bad to maintain. I just hate that the fish make the tank couldy all the time from diving bombing the sand.
