yellow cloud to water

[caz]

Hey guys... I don't know what I need to do to get rid of the yellow.
75g tank, 100lbs of lr, 80lbs of sand. Coralife skimmer, 2 250w de mh & 2 54w t5 actinics. I have about 1 cup of carbon in a little pouch at the bottom of my filter sock. Help! What do I need to do?

 

[nycbob]

not enough surface agitation.

 

[matt b]

do u have any powerheads?

 

[caz]

2 mj1200's
return pump is a q1 3000

 

[caz]

I do plan on modding one or both of the mj's... but there is a bunch of surface agitation...

 

[caz]

alright... I ordered 2 sure flow kits. They should be here Friday. I was planning to do this anyways for flow reasons, but will this take care of the yellowish color?

 

[jimmy 4]

do you have any macro algea in your tank. I've been told that Calupera can turn a tank yellow when they go "sexual". Never seen it my self and i have a ton of it.

 

[caz]

Nope... I have some cheato in my sump, but thats it

 

[caz]

bump..?

 

[bang guy]

Use about 4 cups of carbon for 48 hours. Remove the carbon and throw it away, don't leave it in all the time.
You'll probably need to repeat every 4 to 6 weeks to keep the yellow away.
Using ozone from a high quality generator will also work.

 

[angler man]

What is the the yellow exactly?

 

[bang guy]

It's an accumulation of organic acids created by the breakdown of organic molecules. It's most commonly associated with algae tissue breakdown but that's not the only source of organic acids.
The common name for this is DOM - Dissolved Organic Material.
It's is also sometimes referred to as Gelbstoff.

 

[angler man]

What is generally the culprit for algae tissue breakdown?

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by Angler man
What is generally the culprit for algae tissue breakdown?
It's just part of the cycle of life. Algae grows, animals eat algae, digestion only takes out some nutrients, what's left over is consumed by bacteria, that's left from that makes the water yellow. Sunlight would eventually degrade the DOM but we don't usually get a lot of that in our closed systems. GAC will absorb it fairly quickly.

 

[angler man]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
It's just part of the cycle of life. Algae grows, animals eat algae, digestion only takes out some nutrients, what's left over is consumed by bacteria, that's left from that makes the water yellow. Sunlight would eventually degrade the DOM but we don't usually get a lot of that in our closed systems. GAC will absorb it fairly quickly.
Wow, I'm in awe of your knowledge. Thank you for adding to mine.