Help!! Cloudy water all of a sudden, low ph. WHY?!

[samanthalyn850]

I've recently been having a struggle with "red slime algae" and did a 90% water change a month ago. Nitrates are still on the high end and the crap is still growing. I've reduced the lights to 4-6 hours a day. Today I come home and turn my light on and the water is pretty cloudy and I can't seem to find my condy anemone. My ph is pretty low, around 6. Nitrates are around 80. As stupid as this sounds, could my anemone just have exploded or something? Haha because there is NO trace of him anywhere. How do I raise the ph and lower the nitrates, and why the hell is it so cloudy all of a sudden?! Also, I only use ro water in it.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by samanthalyn850 http:///t/394998/help-cloudy-water-all-of-a-sudden-low-ph-why#post_3516027
I've recently been having a struggle with "red slime algae" and did a 90% water change a month ago. Nitrates are still on the high end and the crap is still growing. I've reduced the lights to 4-6 hours a day. Today I come home and turn my light on and the water is pretty cloudy and I can't seem to find my condy anemone. My ph is pretty low, around 6. Nitrates are around 80. As stupid as this sounds, could my anemone just have exploded or something? Haha because there is NO trace of him anywhere. How do I raise the ph and lower the nitrates, and why the hell is it so cloudy all of a sudden?! Also, I only use ro water in it.
Hi,
I'm just tossing some ideas out there...
The anemone could be the cause of a cloudy tank if it died....nitrates above 40 is deadly to inverts. That would mean, the anemone, the snails, any crabs.
The corals die when the Nitrates go above 20...What I'm saying is that if you did a 90% water change, and you still have nitrates in the 80s, your test kits are off. Are you using API kits? They are known for reading 80+ nitrates when in reality it is way below that number.
Phosphates are also to blame for cyano to flourish. Over feeding, or sometimes what you are feeding ...low flow to certain areas. It all causes problems. If you have macroalgae such as feather caulerpa going sexual, that causes cloudy water.

 

[samanthalyn850]

All I have is the 5 in 1 strips from Walmart, it's all I can get without driving an hour. Month and a half ago I tested water after adding some zoas, mushrooms, and the condy. Nitrates read over 200. So I've been questioning the accuracy of that because my clowns didn't notice and the zoas/shrooms were happy up until last week when I transferred them into another tank. I just did a 50% change and noticed two tips of my condy floating around. Insane that around noon he was happy and healthy and at 8pm completely gone. Maybe my clowns feasted on him? Maybe? I'd love to know haha. As far as feeding goes, after the 90% change/light reduction for over the last month, I'm only feeding the clowns flake food twice a week and once a month I feed half a block of mysis to the clowns and the rest to the condy. Also I have an emerald crab that is insanely happy right now so I have no idea what is going on.

 

[samanthalyn850]

Also the cyano is blooming just as heavily in the highest flow areas.

 

[kiefers]

Know thine enemy. In this case the cyno. read up on it from some websites. Cynobacterium can be a formative foe and I'm sorry but water changes can not and will not cure the problem, may help a little, mostly with your nitrate issue, but with the cyno not so much, sorry just my opinion.
I really didn't read much into your posts, rather I glanced a little but 'i do have a few small questions for you.
Do you have a turkey baster?
As Ms. flower asked, what do you feed and how often? One of the more important questions.
Do you have a pic?
If you indeed have a turkey baster use it to carefully blow off the cyno sheath off the rock and substrate and suck it up SLOWLY as not allowing it to flow around and land somewhere else. Put the cyno water you sucked up into a bowl and when you are done throw it outside not down the drain in your sink or toilet.

 

[flower]

Hi,
Sorry for not being around much...Passover cleaning.
You NEED lab type test kits...the strip tests... IMO, are only useful when you are watching the first cycle, or a hospital/quarantine tank looking for any ammonia spikes. Some folks won't use test strips even then. Order on-line. In the Great USA there is no such thing as I can't get it because the LFS is too far away. Test equipment should be the first purchase after the fish tank...and you can never keep corals and know what's going on using strip tests. I use the SeaChem kits because they come with a regent to be able to double check for accuracy. Your nitrates are not that high, or all your coral and inverts would be dead. Stay away from API kits.
I suspect you have phosphate issues, cyano loves phosphates. A phosphate reactor, running GFO will take care of it in no time. Run a skimmer to clean up the organics out of the water, and do your water changes 3% not 90%. Do use a (NEW) turkey baster (Mark it FISH ONLY) to remove what cyano is already in there.
How much live rock do you have.
What are you feeding, and how much?
What type of equipment, and what brand?
As already mentioned...we sure could use some pictures.

 

[samanthalyn850]

I've already sucked it all out twice, I'm guessing my next step is to scrub the rocks? I have approx 5-6lbs of live rock, and it's in a 6.6 fluval edge. As for feeding, I'm down to flake twice a week and half a block of frozen mysis for the clowns once a month, other half to the anemone.

 

[samanthalyn850]

Oh and after doing a ~50% change last night, the cloudiness is gone. Guessing it was because my anemone just destroyed itself/exploded/god knows what. I'll get a pic of the cyano when I get home tonight and post it.

 

[mr. limpid]

Flake is known to contribute to phosphate problems also start rinsing all your frozen foods in RO water. First do as Flower says get yourself test kits (not strips). If you are going to keep coral you'll need all the test kits to keep them alive and healthy. If you want FO tank you'll need the basic test kits. Fast way to get red slime gone, slime away, it wont kill coral, I've used it on my tanks. Second find the source of high nitrates and phosphates or it will return. Some causes over feeding, extra un-eaten food in tank, old light bulbs, over crowding, poor quality water and salt mix, etc. Some solutions, feed less, make sure there is no extra food, change bulbs as needed 6 to 12months, test RO water with TDS meter, add protein skimmer, add macro algae, add Auqa-Pure. (yes Flower I'm getting one, its on my Christmas list).

 

[flower]

Agreed, I hate flake food. A few shrimp along with a serpent or brittle (not green) sea-star and you won't have to worry about uneaten food... I wouldn't be that skimpy on feeding the fish, it harvests aggression as they fight over every morsel. Fish are used to grazing all day long on the tiny critters that live in the rocks, so it isn't like they need to be fed more than once a day...But I think they should be fed each day at least. It will also stump the growth of the fish to not get enough to eat..
You say you have only about 5 to 6lbs of rock??? How large is your tank? You should have 1 pound of rock per gallon of water as a rule of thumb. So unless you only have a 10g tank, you need more live rock...live rock is your natural filter.

 

[samanthalyn850]

I have a 6.6gallon

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by samanthalyn850 http:///t/394998/help-cloudy-water-all-of-a-sudden-low-ph-why#post_3516279
I have a 6.6gallon
Hi,
In saltwater the smaller the tank the harder it is to keep. A 6g tank is for experts, and you are now seeing why. A 55g or 75g is a much better beginner tank. It's so hard to keep a tiny tank, you have no wiggle room for error. I have been keeping fish for over 30 years and saltwater for over 10, and I wouldn't attempt to keep any tank under 30g.
I hope this experience doesn't sour you on the hobby. I know lots of folks try small to see if they can do it...they get the opposite result and think they can't. The tank you selected is too small.

 

[samanthalyn850]

Well, I've had it up and running for the past 3 years fine. So I think I'm doing okay with it! Also not my first tank at all.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by samanthalyn850 http:///t/394998/help-cloudy-water-all-of-a-sudden-low-ph-why#post_3516325
Well, I've had it up and running for the past 3 years fine. So I think I'm doing okay with it! Also not my first tank at all.
LOL...I have you mixed up with somebody else, sorry. There is a beginner here on the site with a tiny first tank.
3 years to keep a micro sized...you are an expert and way beyond any help I could offer, the smallest I ever managed to keep alive was a 30g seahorse/reef tank. I don't count the 10g quarantine. Maybe one of those mini canisters...it should work for you to run GFO and carbon in it to get rid of phosphates and keep the tank looking clear. I got mine from Foster and Smith to run in my sump to keep sediment from building up. It's a tiny little thing, but it sure does it's job....LOL it even comes with a little spray-bar.