Cloudy Water

[adam502]

Hello all...i have a 75 gallon tank with 60lbs of live rock. it has been going for about 1 month now. it was doing great. now it's very cloudy. i've done water changes at least 4 times, isn't helping. everything has been tested and everything is well in the range that it should be. the water has a green haze to it. so much that it is hard to see what i have in the tank. how do i clear the water up?? help please

 

[mkzimms]

are you testing for phosphates and using RO/DI for top offs? it kind of sounds like the beginning of an algae bloom.

 

[lexluethar]

First make sure you are using RO/DI water. If everything else seems normal, run carbon in your system - that usually clears it up.

 

[adam502]

phosphates level is where it should be. using RO/DI water for the changes. everything is where is should be, that's what has me stumped. even went to the saltwater shop to get everything double tested to make sure there wasn't something i was over looking.

 

[nycbob]

like lex said, run carbon.

 

[adam502]

i've had the carbon running for about 2 days now. no improvement. what about that "algae bloom"? if it's that, how do i stop it?

 

[lexluethar]

Make sure you have activated carbon - and make sure it is new. Also make sure there is a lot of flow over the carbon so it can clean the water.
You will see a diatom bloom around 1 month from start. This will not make the water cloud however, you will just have brown crud growing on your sand and glass.
Can you provide some pictures?

 

[adam502]

the carbon is good to go. the diatom bloom started about 1 week ago. nothing making the water cloudy like you said. just the brown stuff on the sand and glass with a lot of air bubbles. this a green haze. i will have pictures on here in a little while.

 

[adam502]

Originally Posted by Adam502
the carbon is good to go. the diatom bloom started about 1 week ago. nothing making the water cloudy like you said. just the brown stuff on the sand and glass with a lot of air bubbles. this a green haze. i will have pictures on here in a little while.
Pictures are added.......

 

[oceansidefish]

This is going to sounds ridiculously simple...Are you sure you didnt knock a powerhead towards your sand bed??? You could just have you water getting stirred up

 

[lexluethar]

Perhaps cut your light cycle down - like by half for a few weeks.

 

[anonome]

Your tank looks fairly bare.....no light loving corals,clams etc., so I would cut the lights back by half the time for at least a week, then slowly increase the time. It is deffinately an algae bloom. Get some Poly Filter to help with the absorbing of nutrients. This a highly absorbent pad that in my opinion is a must when you have something out of whack. I suspect that you have very high phosphates. Phosphates feed algae, and they multiply very quickly. Keep us posted.

 

[adam502]

It has been over 24 hours since I cut off the lights. the water looks way better than it did. I would say over half of the algae bloom is gone. i didn't use anything but turn off the lights. a few more days and it looks like it will be gone. everything else in the tank seem to be doing fine. the soft corals are hanging in there well without the light. thanks for all the help everyone.