dirty a$$ water!

[mujtba]

my tank is in its 6th day cycle. the water is very dirty. i am pretty sure my LR and LS did it. since they were fresh from the ocean-- total 140lbs of them combined..
i know if i remove all the water, and re add it, the cycle starts again.. is that correct?
how do i get the dirty water removed.. wat do i dooooooooooooooooo

 

[xoxox]

You say you got the rock and sand from the ocean? I would think that if you used any direct ocean items it would be in small additions (say, maybe a rock or two or a small amount of sand). Its kind of a crap shoot in what your putting in your tank, it could be polluted but look good. I would advise to run carbon but you might just have to wait and see if things settle.

 

[mujtba]

ya i purchased it from a guy in florida. he got it fresh from the ocean for me.. i though being direct from ocean is best.. anyhow wats done is done..
does changing the water all over restart the cycle?
any other methods to get rid of my cool brown water??/ :scared:

 

[xoxox]

The rock and sand could be O.K. but the mear fact that the waters gone dirty shows what you face with adding all Ocean items at once. I wouldn't worry about cycling through a water change if thats what it has already been doing. Is there anything in the tank, fish, crabs, etc... All a big water change will do is just prolong a cycle, which in your case with brown water, I don't think will matter.

 

[sly]

You probably have silt and mud in your tank from the ocean. This can cause problems. In the ocean, certain bacteria and algae remain in check because of the vastness of it and the predators that are there. But in a tank, the system is closed and therefore is succeptable to more problems. Relatively poor filtration and lack of predators mean that these things can overrun a tank. That's why most people won't use actual sea water in their tank. It simply has too many things in it.
I would recommend a water change actually. Use synthetic sea salt. Vacuum your substrate to remove any junk that you can. Changing your water may slow down your cycle a little, but it will also remove some of the excess algae and junk that is causing problems in your tank; things that will later cause big problems.

 

[latino277]

OK
this is what I would do. since you cycling I would not touch the water. NO WATER CHANGE. since there is nothing in the tank let the cycle finish and then worry about doing water changes.
also... go back to you LFS and get the HOB filter again. strip it and fill it with Carbon. this will help clear the water. change it every week until your happy.

 

[latino277]

also do you still have your tank only 1/2 full. if so... fill the tank up. just adding more salt water my help.

 

[msd2]

BTW after it finishes cycling I would be very careful when u add any livestock. Since the rock is str8 out of the ocean you might have some unwelcome hitchhikers. That is one of the major drawbacks to fresh from the ocean.

 

[evilss]

what kind filtration are you running? your not far into your cycle. i would just do some water changes. you have to think about the long term affects in setting up a saltwater aquarium. you would hate to leave it as it is and when you start adding livestock start experienceing problems. i say fix the problem now. break it down and start it over. JMO

 

[mujtba]

okay i have no livestock in the tank.. what are hitchhikers? are they bad?
my tank is a 55G but i only had 26G of water in it. Im getting my RO/DI unit tommorow. should i just fill the tank with more water or do a water change?
if I do a water change, do i change it all or partial?
i just got me a 300GPH HOB filter. thats all im running with my LR. and two 300GPH PHs.
add carbon in my filter will remove the dirty water?
i think my LS did it. when i added it, it was somewat muddy or browny you can say...

 

[latino277]

1) gut out the HOB and fill it with Activated carbon. this will remove odor and help clear the water.
2) mix up some fresh SW and fill the tank with the SW. this may also help.
3) if this is from the sand, when the good bacteria (SP?) starts to grow it will attach itself the the sand particale floating in you water and wiegh it down - in other word it will settle in time
have you been testing your Water? if so post your reading (just want to know by the way)

 

[mujtba]

my nitrites were at zero yetserdya...
ammonia is at like 8.5...
ph is at 7.8...
ill get some carbon for the HOB..
thanx

 

[latino277]

you also need to get you PH up a bit. it should be no lower the 8.0 but 8.2 should be your goal
WOW you Ammo. is sky high. I would add fill that tank up to try an dilute some of that Ammo.

 

[sly]

Drain some of that water out before you fill it up and you will lower your ammonia even more.

 

[latino277]

OOo by the way your cycle is going well. just need some adjustment (PH) hopefully by the end of the week??? maybe next week you'll see ammo come down and nitrites go up.

 

[psychoskater]

umm most live rock providers get their rock from the ocean or the gulf. the person I bought my rock from harvests his in the keys. I didnt cure mine for some dumb reason so I had an amonia spike.

 

[birdy]

Not sure what all the fuss is about, Your tank is cycling, you have suspended particles from the LR and LS, this is completely normal. Do not worry about your pH while your tank is cycling it will drop low then come back up as your ammonia and nitrites return to normal, with water changes the levels will be fine. My suggestion would be to run carbon as was suggested, then do a series of water changes to keep your ammonia level below .50, this is not the normal suggestion but there is no reason not too, it will help not kill off all the live stuff in your tank and clear up some of your nasty water. I would do 15% changes as often as necessary to keep your ammonia level down.

 

[mujtba]

so even though i have no livestock, the ammonia level matters? it can kill the bacteria?
i didnt change water cuz i thot it made no differnece..
i can add my new water tomorow to fill the tank, then in 2 weeks change 15% of water..
ill add carbon tomorow too. i should remove the filters in the HOB filter? i thought I can leave it in so any particles will be collected...
the PH matters even tho theres no livestock?
i also got worms in my tank!!!

 

[mujtba]

no its not beach sand.. he dove for it.. but muddy stuff is always in it no matter wat.. i guess in time it shud go away

 

[xoxox]

umm most live rock providers get their rock from the ocean or the gulf. the person I bought my rock from harvests his in the keys. I didnt cure mine for some dumb reason so I had an amonia spike.
True, but unless you know EXACTLY were he got it from your taking a risk. I guess since mujtba has just started his tank it doesn't matter, he doesn't have anything to kill yet.
Its from Ocean obtained rock where the legend of the monster hairy mantis shrimp comes from...
:scared: