My water is cloudy...also questions about...

[jer4916]

Hey Guys,
For some odd reason my 55 gallon tank is cloudy as ALL get out and i cant figure out why! ...its been this way for about 2 weeks...i controll my feedings, and my levels are all perfect...but im not running carbon in my canister filter...do you guys think that would fix it?
also im moving in a few days and once im in my new house im setting up my 125 gallon in which i will be setting up, its a 125 gallon acrylic tank, with a 30 gallon acrylic refigum, anyways i have the option of making my own water out of instant ocean..etc...or i can buy water from my pet store that is in there reef systems... ie. pre-cycled water plus it will have high levels of calcium. .... do you guys think its worth paying 85 cents per gallon? ...also do you think it would be ready for my fish?....also note i would be bringing over the live sand from my 55 gallon and i would also be bringing over my live rock. im only going to bring over a thin layer of sand because the ecosystem instructions say that the miracle mud it runs is my substrait and that the sand in my tank is nothing more then a decoration.
any and all views are wanted/ needed...
~chris

 

[lion_crazz]

Carbon will definitely make the water clear again if all the levels are good.
If you ask me, I would make your own water unless you really are that busy and/or lazy. I do not see any reason to pay .85 for "cycled" water. That's just an easy way for an lfs to make money if you ask me. (And take it from me, I work at an lfs). If you were to do a 10% water change per week with this water, in one month you will be paying $45 for water that you could have made for less than a quarter of that. And if you fill your tank with this water, you are going to be dropping $64 for "cycled water" when in reality, you do not really need it.
If you bring all of the live sand, and all of the live rock over from your 55 into your 125 and do not shock the system by adding any new fish for a few weeks, you should not go through another cycle. If it were me and the 125 was going to be a reef tank, I would bring over all the sand regardless of what the instructions say. A deep sand bed is better than a thin sand bed, plus, that way, you will have all that more bacteria from your previous tank.