Please someone answer some questions.....

kittenboo

kittenboo

Member
Ok I have posted before but no one seems to answer. So let's try one more time. LOL My tank has diatoms like crazy. Put in a cleaner crew. But the water is super cloudy. What is causing this and how can I fix it? Tank is cycled. Just did a water change yesterday. Also I know my ph is a little low. How do I fix that?
Here are my water parameters:
temp: 77
SG: 1.023
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
PH: 7.8
KH: 10
 
brokendeck

brokendeck

Active Member
Originally Posted by Kittenboo
http:///forum/post/3031405
Ok I have posted before but no one seems to answer. So let's try one more time. LOL My tank has diatoms like crazy. Put in a cleaner crew. But the water is super cloudy. What is causing this and how can I fix it? Tank is cycled. Just did a water change yesterday. Also I know my ph is a little low. How do I fix that?
Here are my water parameters:
temp: 77
SG: 1.023
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
PH: 7.8
KH: 10

Heres a link I have going now to help me with my PH problem. Some good info in this link.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=357246
With the diatoms, I have been told to get fighting conchs. All they eat is diatoms and clean your sand. I havent bought any yet, but going to tomorrow at my LFS if they have some in stock. Hopefully they will help me with my diatoms problem. Ill let you know how they do.

Hope some of this info helps.
 
premilove

premilove

Active Member
diatoms on the substrate? could be a possibility of poor water circulation..
how long has the water been cloudy?
what size is the tank?
what are you using for filtration?
what are you using for water flow?
I would raise your SG to 1.025-1.026...post a pic of your setup if you can..
 
kittenboo

kittenboo

Member
I have a fluval fx5 on the tank. It blows 960 gph. And I have 2 powerheads 250gph. Tank is 48x24x24. The water started to get cloudy after the diatoms went out of control and the temp outside started to go up. It appeared like the water getting hot, up to 84, was making it worse. We took care of that with a jbj 1/5 hp chiller. So temp has been at 77 since Sat. Cleaner crew has been in since Sat. Diatoms are WAY better! But the water is still cloudy. Don't get me wrong it has cleared up a ton. But still seems off. We are running carbon in our filter. Do you think we need to change it? The diatoms were on the sand. AND there were bubbles coming off them like the water was carbonated. Kinda crazy looking. I never had this happen in my old tank. Oh and we have MH lighting.
 
sk8shorty01

sk8shorty01

Active Member
Did you recently add any rock to the tank?
What kind of substrate are you using?
What kind of CUC do you have right now?
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
sounds like you may need some more flow. Get a couple of hydor koralia 4s. One more towards the top on one end and one more towards the bottom on the other, then put your other pumps on the back. You should have at least one pump pointing at the top so you get lots of surface movement
What does your cleanup crew consist of??? Do you have a skimmer??
T
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
A diatom bloom is a normal part of a new tank. It is an indicator of high Nitrates and/or Phosphates. What are you using for source water? They will go away eventually with good husbandry. Good circulation is also important so that there are no dead spots in the tank. You can blow some of them off the rocks with a turkey baster. Snails that shift the san around and eat diatoms like Nassarius, Cerith, Nerite and Fighting Conch will help.
The cloudy water may be a different problem. An algae or bacteria bloom perhaps. Keep a close eye on the amount you are feeding the tank, no more than can be eaten in about 1 minute or so. Make sure you are cleaning the mechanical filter pads often. Water changes of 10% weekly at least until you get it under control. Carbon should be changed out maximum of 1 week.
JMO
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
Definetly need more flow, your only turning your tank over 12x an hour 20-30x is the minimum that I recommend. The type of coral you are planning on keeping will dictate the amount of flow you will need for example SPS tanks need to have at least 50x-60x turnover to maintain healthy coral.
I think you might have cyano not diatoms regardless though one of the best ways to combat both is increasing the flow in your tank. The cloudy water may be a bacterial bloom and again may be cleared up by the increased flow and a protien skimmer will help also.
 
kittenboo

kittenboo

Member
Originally Posted by sk8shorty01
http:///forum/post/3031472
Did you recently add any rock to the tank?
What kind of substrate are you using?
What kind of CUC do you have right now?
No haven't added any new LR. We have live sand 130#s. And not sure what cuc is.
 
kittenboo

kittenboo

Member
Originally Posted by TeresaQ
http:///forum/post/3031477
sounds like you may need some more flow. Get a couple of hydor koralia 4s. One more towards the top on one end and one more towards the bottom on the other, then put your other pumps on the back. You should have at least one pump pointing at the top so you get lots of surface movement
What does your cleanup crew consist of??? Do you have a skimmer??
T
Celan upi crew is 15 red hermit crabs, 15 blue hermit crabs, 10 snails, 2 ninja stars, a cleaner shrimp, a peppermint shrimp, a sexy shrimp(not that he does a lot) lol and a diamond watchman goby.
Really more flow..... I thought I was doing good with my filter. Don't get me wrong I knew I would need different powerheads before adding corals but I didn't know I would need them now. oops
 
kittenboo

kittenboo

Member
Originally Posted by natclanwy
http:///forum/post/3031649
Definetly need more flow, your only turning your tank over 12x an hour 20-30x is the minimum that I recommend. The type of coral you are planning on keeping will dictate the amount of flow you will need for example SPS tanks need to have at least 50x-60x turnover to maintain healthy coral.
I think you might have cyano not diatoms regardless though one of the best ways to combat both is increasing the flow in your tank. The cloudy water may be a bacterial bloom and again may be cleared up by the increased flow and a protien skimmer will help also.
Ok we have to put the protien skimmer on. Didn't think that was such a huge deal as of right now since we are still fish only. going to look up more info on cyano. I do know we have diatoms though unless cyano looks like diatoms????

The tank having dead spots makes total sense. Thanks to all of you for the info. I will work on making these changes and see where we go from there.
 
kittenboo

kittenboo

Member
Ohhh one more thing. I use RO water in the tank not tap. But I have also heard that RO is very low in ph levels..... Should I add a ph up?
 
sk8shorty01

sk8shorty01

Active Member
Nope, your salt mix should buffer the tank for you as long as you continue to do your water changes. Those pH buffers are quick fixes, not solutions. Have you tested your pH?
 
kittenboo

kittenboo

Member
bout 2 months old. My last tank never had this issue though. PH was pretty much spot on after 6 weeks. <sigh> So you are saying that it takes time then? I can wait. LOL Just want to make sure there isn't something I am doing or something that I could be doing. ya know
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
Time will make it more stable, but to figure out what is going on with your Ph you need to test your water for calcium, alkilinity, and magnesium. You also need to do the mason jar test to see if you have CO2 build up in your tank. All of these can cause your Ph to be low.
If you aren't keeping coral I wouldn't worry about your Ph being at 7.8 its still in the normal range although at the bottom. I would only do the mason jar test to rule out excess CO2.
 
gypsana

gypsana

Active Member
I remember your old post. Pictures are the only way to give people some understanding of what might be going on. Without them is like poking around in the dark. Is one of your pieces of equipment emitting micro bubbles?
 
bjlsnez

bjlsnez

New Member
If you are testing the pH at the same time everyday that could be something. pH is at a constant up and down cycle. When you have your lights on for full day measure the pH at mid day because the water is the hottest and it could show you a more accurate reading on your pH. Another way to raise your pH slightly is cause more oxygen in your tank. (Make more bubbles) it will help out a little...
 
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