cloudy water

[roblarss]

I have a 120gal display tank with about 60 gal of sump. My doser went a bit crazy and I now have very cloudy water. Looks like watery milk. Doser is offline for about 7 days now and I have done 3 x 40gal water changes and its not getting any better.

It looks like a fair bit of mag and alk was added.

My Alk numbers were at 220ppm (12dkh) and after the first water change it dropped to 210 (11.7dkh). Last water change it dropped to about 202ppm (11.4dkh).

I am out of mag and cal tests currently.

Tested PH last night and got 7.61

It doesnt look like the fish are having any issues except getting lost in the tank. I can only see them if they get within 4 inchs of the glass. The zoas i can see are open.

The reading I have been doing says to not bother testing anyways as they will be false high reading from precipitate. The skimmer just makes a huge head of foam after a few hours and pops the lid off. The glass gets a slimy white film.

Any thing more that can be done or just ride it out as I have read on many articles.

[TimT]

Hi,

Originally Posted by roblarss

The skimmer just makes a huge head of foam after a few hours and pops the lid off. The glass gets a slimy white film.

It sounds more like a bacterial bloom than a buffer problem since you said the skimmer is going crazy and there's white slime on the glass.

Try a UV sterilizer.

Cheers,
Tim

[roblarss]

Hmm not to sure. I know the doser did inject very large quantities of cal, alk, mag. I can see particulate flowing around ( very small). Im wondering if this imbalance caused a bacterial bloom. I figured the precipitate may be attached to film algae.
I dont have access to a uv sterilizer right away. Any way to diferentiate between a chemical imbalance or bloom.

[kien]

Originally Posted by roblarss

Hmm not to sure. I know the doser did inject very large quantities of cal, alk, mag. I can see particulate flowing around ( very small). Im wondering if this imbalance caused a bacterial bloom. I figured the precipitate may be attached to film algae.
I dont have access to a uv sterilizer right away. Any way to diferentiate between a chemical imbalance or bloom.

This description sounds like precipitate due to imbalance in calc and alk added. I would just do a some hefty water changes to try and stabilize the system.

[TimT]

If your seeing particulate floating around and see it settled out on the film on the glass then I would suspect buffer problems too. If your mag is high enough... 3x the Calcium or at least 1350 then you should not be getting any clouding. If your alk and ca are high and your mag low then you get can get clouding or calcium buildups forming on glass and magnets. Get a test kit and check your magnesium levels. The only confusing issue is the high alk but low pH. Perhaps your pH meter needs to be cleaned and calibrated.

Are you using Instant Ocean saltmix?

[mikellini]

Originally Posted by TimT

Hi,



It sounds more like a bacterial bloom than a buffer problem since you said the skimmer is going crazy and there's white slime on the glass.

Try a UV sterilizer.

Cheers,
Tim

Sounds like at least part of the issue is a bacterial bloom. Are you dosing carbon?

Best solution is larger water changes IMO

EDIT: and of course, if you are dosing carbon, half your dose for a while

[roblarss]

No carbon dosing.
I am using instant ocean and the ph meter i used is calibrated (used at work).
Ill grab some new test kits and alot more salt on thursday and continue doing water changes.

[TimT]

I have had Instant Ocean be very high(12.8dKH) in Alk and low(1000 mg/l) in mag. Check your Magnesium before you do a water change. Also make sure the parameters are correct in the new salt water before using it in your tank.

[mikellini]

Originally Posted by TimT

I have had Instant Ocean be very high(12.8dKH) in Alk and low(1000 mg/l) in mag. Check your Magnesium before you do a water change. Also make sure the parameters are correct in the new salt water before using it in your tank.

Apparently instant ocean has changed their mix a bit with respect to mag, they've had higher mag (around 1350) for a while now from what I've read

[Myka]

Originally Posted by roblarss

The skimmer is setup the same as its always run. I actually backed it off a bit to prevent the foam from getting to crazy. Sump gets a foam head around the skimmer 6-8" tall. Skimmate is a dull brown tea color. I scoop the foam out of the sump every evening.

That is certainly a bacterial issue. Just keep plugging along...you're going in the right direction.