How to get crystal clear water help please.

[unbreakabl]

:help: I was just wondering how to get your water crystal clear. I have 3 phs. 1 bak-pak protein skimmer and 1 hot magnum bio-pro system. I still really cant tell a difference in the water. It always seems to be a little dirty. I was using well water but switched to ro water about 3 weeks ago. Any ideas of what i could do please help i really want it to look really (crystal) clear. Oh by the way i have a 44 gallon corner tank.

 

[kzoo]

Man well water is bad stuff I would do a large water change. Also how much live rock do you have?

 

[db]

water changes with ro water and run some carbon.

 

[richie1742]

fresh active carbon every week or so.

 

[elitephoto]

Carbon isnt good if you have live corals though I am told...so double check on that if you have any corals in the tank.

 

[unbreakabl]

Yes i have just added about 40 pounds of lr 4 days ago and i only have 1 frog spawn and 1 fish for right now. It just always seems to be that there is always something in my water. If you guys have any idea about the hot magnum bio-wheel filter. How do you add carbon all at once and leave it in the filter or what do i do. please help thankyou for all your replies.

 

[kzoo]

Originally Posted by ElitePhoto
Carbon isnt good if you have live corals though I am told...so double check on that if you have any corals in the tank.
Why is carbon bad for coral?

If you use good carbon, there is no ill effects. I have used it on my small tank and have not had a problem, carbon may also help get out some of the bad stuff that well water put in. I would use a media bag or a non dyed panty hose to hold the carbon and wash it first. But you still may have problems due to the well water it has alot of heavy metals and will be very bad for any inverts.

 

[elitephoto]

You shouldnt be using well water anyway. I will only use R/O D/I water in my tank. Tap water is a BIG no no. Anyway I havent confirmed the carbon being bad..I was just told this by 2 diffrent LFS in my area. They say if you have corals it robs the nutriants they need to stay healthy. I was in the store ready to buy these carbon bags and they told me not to...so they loose a sale over telling me this...so I tend to belive what they say may have some truth to it.

 

[mcsd22]

I have coral and the carbon has never been a problem. The live rock is probably has some die off and thats not helping the water clarity. What is Am, Ni, Na, Phos, Cal, Alk, Ph, Temp, Sal ?

 

[saltfan]

Originally Posted by mcsd22
I have coral and the carbon has never been a problem. The live rock is probably has some die off and thats not helping the water clarity. What is Am, Ni, Na, Phos, Cal, Alk, Ph, Temp, Sal ?
Ammonia-Nitrite-Nitrate-Phosphate-Calcium-Alkilinity-PH-Temperature of tank-Salinity of water(or SG Specific Gravity)

 

[kronnk7]

I would diffently add more LR and carbon does not hurt corals. I would go with the old formula 1.5 pounds of LR for each gallon of water. D I think you said it "NO more tap water". JMO

 

[crzyfshygy]

Change 10% of your water every week using RO(if its not cycling) once the volume of you tank...in your case because it was well water changes 2x you should be good.
DO NOT USE GRANULATED CARBON I hear that it could be bad after a while. Use the black magic carbon sheets and change every week to 2 weeks. Test your phosphate levels and nitrate levels and feed every other day. Not so much frozen. Also keep the back of your tank wall clean with a scraper...this will help greatly. Place a nice background sheet on there.
Also blow the detritus off the rocks while doing water changes...this will desrease you nitrate levels.
my tank sparkles big time and those are the things I do.

 

[unbreakabl]

Yes thatnkyou for all your replys and crzyfshgy what do you mean change 2x your volume. I just did a 10% water exchange and blew off the rocks and a lot of suff came out. Please any other ideas would be of much help i am fairly new this this hobby thankyou.

 

[crzyfshygy]

What I mean is....lets say for example you have a 100gl tank and you change 10% a week. Thats 10gl right???? If you do that for 10 weeks you will have changed out the volume of the tank once with the new RO water...mixed of course. So I would say follow the steps above until you have done that twice then you should be good.

 

[unbreakabl]

would it be bad to do 20% water exchange each week. I still have hazy water even after i did a 20% water exchange today and i have a hot magnum bio-pro system and i really have no idea how to add carbon to the filter. when i pour the carbon into the filter and rinse it out do i leave the carbon in there or do i take it out after i am done rinsing it in the filter. please advise on what i should do thankyou any suggestions would be much of help thankyou.

 

[lubeck]

Doing a 20% water change is totally fine to on a weekly basis, its just expensive. I do 20% every week. About the carbon You should rinse it extremely well and put it in the filter. But, I don't know how the hot magnum work, I put my active carbon in my sump.

 

[unbreakabl]

my am is... have no clue my ni is .5 my na is 40 phosphate no idea my cal is 420 my alk is betweem 240-300 my ph is 8.4 my temp is about 77 and my sal is 1.020

 

[kzoo]

Man your levels are all screwed up. If you dont have fish start over.

USE RO WATER. Has this tank even cycled? You also have you sal to low needs to be at lease 1.22 higher for reef.

 

[unbreakabl]

Originally Posted by kzoo
Man your levels are all screwed up. If you dont have fish start over.

USE RO WATER. Has this tank even cycled? You also have you sal to low needs to be at lease 1.22 higher for reef.
what should my levels be at and how would i start over. How do you know when you start your cycle. How would i raise my sal.

 

[kzoo]

If your in your cycle this may be why you have high ni and na. How long have you had this tank setup? You have done water changes to get the well water out right? If so you have not finish your cycle. You need to buy a saltwater test kit if you dont have one and test your am, you shouls see a spike and then go to 0, also your ni and na should be at 0 after the cycle. Do you have fish in the tank? Also sal just make your next water change with more salt. I hope you have some way to test it? :happyfish