Lights causing cloudy water?

[marcb]

Hello.
I've been having an issue with my water becoming cloudy. The water itself is clear, but there are a lot of very fine suspended particles. The wierd part is that my lights make it worse.
In the morning the water will be fairly clear, then during the day, as the lights are on, more and more particles seem to accumulate. Then, the next day, after the lights have been out overninght, the water starts out clear again.
Is this some phytoplankton bloom or something? Any ideas?
Thank you.

 

[jackri]

What are your water parameters like and what kind of filtration are you running?

 

[marcb]

Originally Posted by jackri
http:///forum/post/2935387
What are your water parameters like and what kind of filtration are you running?
Ph - 8-8.2
Salinity 1.025
Amm, Trites and trates - 0
Calcium 360
Filtration is via C-Skim protein skimmer, refugium and circulation. I also added a prefilter foam over my closed loop intakes to get some particles out, but the stuff is too small. I ordered and am waiting for an external filter for water polishing. Its just freaky how the particulates increase during the light cycle.

 

[jackri]

Have you tried running carbon? that can really clear up your water
Everything sounds good so far.

 

[marcb]

Originally Posted by jackri
http:///forum/post/2935442
Have you tried running carbon? that can really clear up your water
Everything sounds good so far.
Yes. I ran carbon for a few weeks, and the problem actually developed during that time.
Oh, and did Kh today, 12-ish, forget the exact number, but its within acceptable parameters too.

 

[dans]

I seem to have the same problem. I cleaned my bulbs, they had a bit of salt build up on them. It made things a bit better. Does anybody know how often I should change my bulbs?

 

[renogaw]

OP what corals do you have in there, and might it be micro bubbles from your skimmer?
dans--really best to start your own thread, but timelife for lights are: 6-8 months for pc, 12-18mo for t5's, 12-18 mo for MH, 5+ years for LED

 

[marcb]

Originally Posted by renogaw
http:///forum/post/2939746
OP what corals do you have in there, and might it be micro bubbles from your skimmer?

Actually I have two developements.
First, my band-aid while waiting for my external filter was interesting. I cut strips of filter cotton and wrapped them around my koralia pumps. It actually filtered out the suspended particles really well and greatly cleared the water. Might work for someone else as a temporary fix. The external pump arrived late today, so I will hook it up for a while tommorrow to help more.
Second, I found out whats clouding the water. I was watching my pair of diamond gobies, and realized that they are the culprits. While sifting the sand they are sending up clouds of fine dust. Apparently the live sand I used has enough super fine particles to kick up a sand storm when the gobies sift it. Obviously, when the gobies slept, the sand settled, then built back up when they went back to work during the day. I just hope that with time these fine particles will be filtered out.