Extreme cloudiness, probably bacterial bloom

[MrSexyShrimp]

Tank was going great as of 10/29. On 10/30 I noticed the water was starting to get a little cloudy, and it was time for a water change anyway, so I did an approx 10gal water change. By Saturday 11/1 it was very milky and has remained so since. I thought it would clear up by now but it hasn't and I'm getting worried. 

 

Tank is a Solana 34 aio.

 

Tank cycled the entire month of September. Live stock went in Oct 1.

 

Using RODI water from the start. Not dosing anything.

 

Lightly stocked. 1 Tailspot blenny, 3 sexy shrimp, 1 hermit crab, many snails. All seem to be doing fine.

 

SPS: montis (seem to be OK) and 1 green slimer frag which seems to have turned brown. 1 tiny nub of the slimer is completely white, but that may have been from a yellow clown goby which was nipping and sitting on it 24/7 until I was able to rehome it.

 

LPS: all seem to be doing fine. 

 

Chaeto in back compartment is growing well. Skimmer removing green tea colored water.

 

Started with lovely bone white dry rock, but it's now getting covered in film algae, which is ugly, but according to what I've read is to be expected before the coralline algae stage.

 

No algae on bottom of tank, minimal on glass. No pest algaes present. A few hydroids spotted on glass but I read these are common.

 

 

Nitrates test came back low, maybe not 0, but still pretty low. Was skeptical so I ran it again and same result. I shook those test bottles like crazy for the time prescribed. I do have a Hannah phosphate checker, but nothing for Ca / Alk / Mg etc etc.

 

 

I'm assuming this is a bacterial bloom. I've read water changes don't help with those.

 

I'm afraid the green slimer (now brown slimer) might be a lost cause. 

 

Just wanted to put this out there and see if anyone has any ideas/suggestions.

 

 

 

 

[MrSexyShrimp]

Had another idea for test. More of a comparison.

 

Mug on the left is water from the tank. Mug on the right is tap water.

 

So what appears to be milky white under my lights is actually tinted a greenish brown. Which makes me think free-floating algae is a possibility. I don't know.

 

 

My lights are on too long, probably, which I've known for a while but have been procrastinating updating b/c the #%$$@ ecotech software is a pain in the butt to get working/synced with my radion grumble grumble

 

[YHSublime]

All levels would help: salinity, alk, calc, mag, phosphates, and I see you have nitrate above.

 

Water changes are probably your answer. Do a 50% if you can, looks like an algae bloom to me. Can you run carbon in your tank perhaps? Just loosely tossing ideas around, take all my advice with grains of salt.

[davelin315]

Toss a mechanical filter on there and see if it helps. Even running your water through a coffee filter if you have nothing else would help diagnose. Anything biological in the water could also be eliminated with a UV sterilizer.

[MrSexyShrimp]

I do have a Hannah phosphate checker, but nothing for Ca / Alk / Mg etc etc.

 

 

All levels would help: salinity, alk, calc, mag, phosphates, and I see you have nitrate above.

 

Water changes are probably your answer. Do a 50% if you can, looks like an algae bloom to me. Can you run carbon in your tank perhaps? Just loosely tossing ideas around, take all my advice with grains of salt.

 

So I can do the Hannah Phosphate test, but I'd need to order the others.

 

This problem actually got a lot worse after my last water change, I can certainly try it again, though.

 

I tried running carbon for the first time in this tank from about Tues-Thurs but it didn't seem to make a difference so I took it out. It was a generous sized mesh baggy of rox carbon from BRS.

 

edit: Salinity pretty stable @ 1.025 have an ato

 

edit 2: thanks btw!

Edited November 8, 2014 by MrSexyShrimp

[MrSexyShrimp]

Toss a mechanical filter on there and see if it helps. Even running your water through a coffee filter if you have nothing else would help diagnose. Anything biological in the water could also be eliminated with a UV sterilizer.

 

My intake has a coarse sponge and then a strip of filter floss from InTankMedia. I have to change the filter floss every three or four days or it gets gunked up and grey/brown and the water level in my tank rises in the display area, lowers in the rear chamber which triggers the ATO and it's a big mess.

 

The coarse sponge gets rinsed and swapped with a fresh one when I change the filter floss.

 

Thanks to you and Isaac both btw

 

edit: And yeah the UV sterilizer is what I'm afraid of. Another $150-$300 whee.

Edited November 8, 2014 by MrSexyShrimp

[YHSublime]

What does your TDS of your output ro/di look like? Again, just a shot in the dark over here.

[MrSexyShrimp]

What does your TDS of your output ro/di look like? Again, just a shot in the dark over here.

 

It says 0 on the display, which is what I expect because it's virtually brand new. It's a "chloramines plus" 5 stage from BRS (D.C. uses chloramines, better safe than sorry I thought). They apparently discontinued my version when they re-did their RODI product line in the last few weeks. Or maybe it's still there under a different name.

 

Incoming water usually says 3-5 TDS on the meter FWIW, which seems super low to me for urban water.

[AlanM]

I would have thought some carbon would clear up that water. If it is algae floating then maybe a few days of llights out would help. If it is just dissolved organics, then water changes should do it as should skimming. If fish are doing fine and you only have one slimer and a monti I would just wait it out a few weeks and see what happens. If it is bacteria it should run its course and get skimmed out, i would think.

[AlanM]

It says 0 on the display, which is what I expect because it's virtually brand new. It's a "chloramines plus" 5 stage from BRS (D.C. uses chloramines, better safe than sorry I thought). They apparently discontinued my version when they re-did their RODI product line in the last few weeks. Or maybe it's still there under a different name.

 

Incoming water usually says 3-5 TDS on the meter FWIW, which seems super low to me for urban water.

That 3-5 is after the RO stage, and is about what mine says as well. It isnt input water TDS. I have the same 5 stage chloramines plus.

[MrSexyShrimp]

That 3-5 is after the RO stage, and is about what mine says as well. It isnt input water TDS. I have the same 5 stage chloramines plus.

 

whoops newb alert over here. that makes sense considering the meter sits on top of the last stage. duh. thanks

[zygote2k]

sounds like your tank hadn't finished cycling. it takes 60-90 days to cycle a tank properly. speeding things up tends to have results like yours. 

time is your friend here- don't add anything to tank, just do w/c as normal and observe.

[Shoelace]

A month ago, this happened to my tank. That was before I started to take it back online recently, so I didn't really care too much. I just let it ride out. It went away in a couple days. Parameters were fine. I scratched my head and said, "Huh... Fascinating."

[Paulcosta]

I am having the same issue after introducing my tank to biopellets...still scratching my head

[MrSexyShrimp]

sounds like your tank hadn't finished cycling. it takes 60-90 days to cycle a tank properly. speeding things up tends to have results like yours. 

time is your friend here- don't add anything to tank, just do w/c as normal and observe.

 

I tested the params relentlessly during the cycling process. After it processed all the ammonia / nitrite, I added more, waited for it to process, and then I repeated that again just to be sure. It definitely cycled. Not trying to be overly argumentative but I do not understand how that is improper.

[Origami]

One of our members in Chantilly had a similar problem in his tank with single celled algae causing a lot of cloudiness in his tank. He used Algae Fix Marine and if cleared the problem in a few days.

[lutz123]

sounds like your tank hadn't finished cycling. it takes 60-90 days to cycle a tank properly. speeding things up tends to have results like yours. 

time is your friend here- don't add anything to tank, just do w/c as normal and observe.

It definitely could be an algae bloom, but I also agree with this approach. Your measured levels indicate "cycled" but you will find that you are far from it as far as life balancing itself. Try replacing the filter floss more often if it's gross (or remove mechanical filtration completely for now.)

[MrSexyShrimp]

One of our members in Chantilly had a similar problem in his tank with single celled algae causing a lot of cloudiness in his tank. He used Algae Fix Marine and if cleared the problem in a few days.

 

Thanks! I read that post and am considering it. It's on Amazon Prime.

 

I'm just concerned about harming chaeto and my red marcoalgaes and also treating the symptom vs underlying cause.

 

But I still might order it.

Edited November 9, 2014 by MrSexyShrimp

[MrSexyShrimp]

It definitely could be an algae bloom, but I also agree with this approach. Your measured levels indicate "cycled" but you will find that you are far from it as far as life balancing itself. Try replacing the filter floss more often if it's gross (or remove mechanical filtration completely for now.)

 

Sure. I'd agree wholeheartedly that new tanks are inherently unstable and taking it slow is a good approach. But I wouldn't say my tank isn't cycled. Sure sure every time you increase the bio-load a mini cycle occurs, but as I understand it, cycling is a measurable scientific phenomenon. I ran the test, I had evidence and numbers, it wasn't anecdotal. 

 

In terms of taking it slow, that's subjective, but I agree I rushed the acro SPS. It was the fall meeting, so the prices were really good and I got caught up in the excitement.

 

Good point about switching the mechanical filtration more often, that can only be a good thing. The filter floss isn't washable, so I was being cheap and trying to stretch out its lifespan. But that's dumb because a single sheet of filter floss is less expensive than my least expensive frag. Duh.

[AlanM]

Just use some pillow stuffing from joann fabric as floss?

[Coral Hind]

I would recommend an ozone generator. I had a cloudiness issue that wouldn't go away but one day of ozone use cleared it right up.

[MrSexyShrimp]

Just use some pillow stuffing from joann fabric as floss?

 

good idea thanks!

 

 

I would recommend an ozone generator. I had a cloudiness issue that wouldn't go away but one day of ozone use cleared it right up.

 

neat hadn't heard of this. will research.

[Origami]

The algaefix won't hurt your macro.

[davelin315]

edit: And yeah the UV sterilizer is what I'm afraid of. Another $150-$300 whee.

I have a couple in the garage, no idea on bulb life, that you could borrow of I can find them. One is a smaller unit that could help put a dent in it with little to no plumbing.

[lutz123]

"Filter floss" doesn't come in sheets. It comes in bags either from the lfs (or joanns). It is cheap and totally disposable.And I understand what you mean by measurably cycled. It definitely isn't normal to have cloudy water at any time. Is your cleanup crew adequate? You probably don't need much yet but a good variety keeps things in check. When my crew needed replenishing it became very obvious quickly.