water has white haze

[eeldarb21]

I have been running a fluval 204 and the ehiem 2203 or whatever both are rated for like 50-70 gallons..i have a 55 gallon tank. With both of these running and water running through fuge tank i would think my water would be crystal clear. I tested my water and my nitrates are at 0 and my ammonia is at .10 ... My water has a white haze to it when i look in the tank from the side. does anyone know what this is? how do i clear it up? i am also using activated carbon 24/7... does this matter?

 

[sea goblin]

the white haze is probably from the ammonia...as it decreases it will go away.
Sea Goblin

 

[sea goblin]

I should also add that you need to do a water change if you have ammonia with those fish and inverts in there....ammonia is very deadly to them, even is small amounts such as you have
Sea Goblin

 

[eeldarb21]

i am planning on a water change tomorrow.. about 5 gal. Is that what it is? i think maybe my levels might have spiked due to some moving of things..i added a filter from established tank and added some new lr...it has happened before but it went away rather quickly....thanks

 

[dreeves]

Are you running carbon? If not..give that a try too.
Your amonia should be at zero...but .10 isn't that awful...if your nitrates are in a reasonable range...hold your water change and let the bacteria rid the amonia.

 

[broomer5]

I agree with the others.
You added some new live rock.
New live rock likely had some die off.
The die off may have led to a rise in ammonia.
As expected, this rise may have led to an increase in bacteria growth.
The hazy water may be a result of this bacterial bloom.
The ammonia should drop to zero shortly.
Watch your fish for signs of stress.
Do not add any buffers or chemical to the tankwater that would raise your pH.
Test for ammonia often.
Do not feed the tank for a couple of days.
That's what I would do.

 

[eeldarb21]

thanks guys....everyone on here makes things as easy and plain as day. I can never ask the lfs for advice because they always think i need to buy something to make problems better....

 

[nacl-man]

Originally posted by eeldarb21
thanks guys....everyone on here makes things as easy and plain as day. I can never ask the lfs for advice because they always think i need to buy something to make problems better....
I've found that to be a very widespread problem. When I first started I said I only wanted to keep a FOWLR tank, and the sales guy at the LFS said in order to do that I would need to buy 3 250 watt MH enclosures, for a 44gallon!!! That would have been about $1000.00.... since then I found this board and have been spending my money wisely ever since. Also, the LFS is the reason I screwed up my tank in the first place... since I didn't have the money for $1000.00 worth of lights they eventually sold me CC and a UGF and Lava rock, and said it would be OK.
Sigh.
Never trust the LFS.