bcoop78 April 17, 2012 Share April 17, 2012 Hello, I have been filling my tank over the weekend, and finally got all of the water and salt in there this morning. The water is still super-cloudy. My SG reads. 1.027, using reef crystals salt. What's going on? See pic. Help! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef April 17, 2012 Share April 17, 2012 it takes 24 hours for the salt to mix.. so your reading may actually be ALOT higher tommorrow... plus with sand and the new water it just needs to settle.. are your powerheads and EVERYTHING on?? just have your main pump on and turn off your powerheads.. this will help.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcoop78 April 17, 2012 Author Share April 17, 2012 it takes 24 hours for the salt to mix.. so your reading may actually be ALOT higher tommorrow... plus with sand and the new water it just needs to settle.. are your powerheads and EVERYTHING on?? just have your main pump on and turn off your powerheads.. this will help.. Thanks. My main pump is all that is on, but maybe I should dial it down a bit. It is turning my tank water over 10 times per hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishie April 17, 2012 Share April 17, 2012 What's the tank temperature...turn the heater on to to normal operating range ...I think that helps too.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef April 17, 2012 Share April 17, 2012 yeah the heat needs to be in the 72-78 range to help with the the salt mixing in.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltwaterworx April 17, 2012 Share April 17, 2012 Cloudiness happens frome to time on initial setups. Give it time, and change your filter pad(s) or sock(s) after a couple days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcoop78 April 17, 2012 Author Share April 17, 2012 What's the tank temperature...turn the heater on to to normal operating range ...I think that helps too.. yeah the heat needs to be in the 72-78 range to help with the the salt mixing in.... Temperature is 77.7F Cloudiness happens frome to time on initial setups. Give it time, and change your filter pad(s) or sock(s) after a couple days. I have neither. Is this bad?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishie April 17, 2012 Share April 17, 2012 (edited) U don't need pads or socks...infact if u don't keep up with cleaning its worse Just give it few days...mine was very cloudy for 3-4. Days I think ..it will all settle Edited April 17, 2012 by Fishie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcoop78 April 17, 2012 Author Share April 17, 2012 Thanks guys. I plan on adding live rock on Thursday. Does anyone foresee a problem with this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltwaterworx April 17, 2012 Share April 17, 2012 (edited) U don't need pads or socks...infact if u don't keep up with cleaning its worse Just give it few days...mine was very cloudy for 3-4. Days I think ..it will all settle Though it sometimes proves true that you don't need sponges or pads in a sump or fuge, I find it helpful when starting out, especially when adding good live rock and the debris left floating. even if you scrub your rock. It definitely helps with what looks like dust that may have came from when adding sand to your aquarium. Edited April 17, 2012 by Saltwaterworx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef April 17, 2012 Share April 17, 2012 Just make sure to push it in your sand to the bottom of the tank... it needs to be settled to be safe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefoholic April 17, 2012 Share April 17, 2012 It is normal to have cloudy water for a couple of days when you first set up your tank. Did you mix the salt in the tank? This could well be the main reason that it is cloudy. Once things settle down and you can see thru the water I think it is safe to add live rock. Of course, please check parameters (salinity, temp) before adding live rock. You need to make sure that all salt has been mixed in the water. Temperature definitely helps with salt dissolving in water. When I first started I mixed saltwater before adding it to the tank. I added sand and last I added love rock. Still my tank water was cloudy for at least three to four days. I think what happened was the fine dust from my sand got blown off by the power heads. Also, when you add live rock, fine dust on live rock will be blown away by current as well. At this point a filter sock or sponges will help immensely pull out these free floating tiny particles out of the water column. You can always discard the filter media or clean it and replace it in the tank after things settle down a little bit. Please keep in mind that you are creating an environment from scratch. Think of it as if a new reef is erecting in the ocean. Given this, the natural process can be messy sometimes but things WILL settle down eventually. The setup looks really nice btw. I love your tank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grav April 17, 2012 Share April 17, 2012 Salt doesn't take days (or even hours) to clarify. It is the sand you are seeing. This will go away faster once you add live rock and a bio film forms on the very fine sand particles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltwaterworx April 17, 2012 Share April 17, 2012 Salt doesn't take days (or even hours) to clarify. It is the sand you are seeing. This will go away faster once you add live rock and a bio film forms on the very fine sand particles. Well put. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcoop78 April 17, 2012 Author Share April 17, 2012 Just make sure to push it in your sand to the bottom of the tank... it needs to be settled to be safe I'm assuming you are refering to the rock. Good point, on my past tanks I put the rock first, and then placed the sand around it- but have been told that this is no longer the "current" method. It is normal to have cloudy water for a couple of days when you first set up your tank. Did you mix the salt in the tank? This could well be the main reason that it is cloudy. Once things settle down and you can see thru the water I think it is safe to add live rock. Of course, please check parameters (salinity, temp) before adding live rock. You need to make sure that all salt has been mixed in the water. Temperature definitely helps with salt dissolving in water. When I first started I mixed saltwater before adding it to the tank. I added sand and last I added love rock. Still my tank water was cloudy for at least three to four days. I think what happened was the fine dust from my sand got blown off by the power heads. Also, when you add live rock, fine dust on live rock will be blown away by current as well. At this point a filter sock or sponges will help immensely pull out these free floating tiny particles out of the water column. You can always discard the filter media or clean it and replace it in the tank after things settle down a little bit. Please keep in mind that you are creating an environment from scratch. Think of it as if a new reef is erecting in the ocean. Given this, the natural process can be messy sometimes but things WILL settle down eventually. The setup looks really nice btw. I love your tank! I just purchased two filter socks from Tropical Lagoon, (my LFS) and am seeing results already. What I thought may have been calcium precipitation is really just a sludge from the live sand. I couldn't rinse the sand being that it was live. I believe I used "Arag-Alive Fiji Pink". Thanks for the compliments... I cant wait to get the stand skinned and cable management taken care of once my DJ power-strip and Apex EB-8 arrives! Salt doesn't take days (or even hours) to clarify. It is the sand you are seeing. This will go away faster once you add live rock and a bio film forms on the very fine sand particles. You are most definitely correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S April 17, 2012 Share April 17, 2012 ...Nice Radion... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcoop78 April 17, 2012 Author Share April 17, 2012 ...Nice Radion... Why thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcoop78 April 18, 2012 Author Share April 18, 2012 Wow... so I get home from work just now to find water splashing from my sump! The reason? My filter sock that i purchased and installed TODAY was already clogged and slowing down flow enough to cause splashing. That was A LOT of crud!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltwaterworx April 18, 2012 Share April 18, 2012 Wow... so I get home from work just now to find water splashing from my sump! The reason? My filter sock that i purchased and installed TODAY was already clogged and slowing down flow enough to cause splashing. That was A LOT of crud!! Ahh. Behold the power of filter socks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S April 18, 2012 Share April 18, 2012 lets see a new pic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefoholic April 18, 2012 Share April 18, 2012 Reefoholic <3 Filter Socks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcoop78 April 18, 2012 Author Share April 18, 2012 (edited) lets see a new pic! MUCH clearer!! Edited April 18, 2012 by bcoop78 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef April 18, 2012 Share April 18, 2012 WOW thats BLUE, lol looks much better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killrblue April 18, 2012 Share April 18, 2012 It took 3 days to get mine clear two weeks ago on my new tank. Skimmer helps a lot and mesh socks don't. Now I have to clean my sump/equipment cause that sand/soot is on everything. I prerinsed the sand 3 times too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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