more cloudy water........:@

ok so my tank has been up and running for about two months now... have had no major problems, cloudy water initially but that was to be expected. It cleared up and has been clear as a bell for atleast a month. All of a sudden my water is milky looking, I assume it is some sort of bacterial bloom because i have tried activated carbon, and a clarifier that causes suspended particles to "coagulate" and be filtered out. All levels seem normal ammonia 0, nitrites 0, ph 8.4, nitrates slightly high at about 14-15.... im not sure what is going on but it is driving me nuts. I should also say I am running a 55g with a 25g sump, corner drilled tank needle wheel skimmer i think a coralife brand. I have a pair of clowns, a powder brown, two small zebra darts, and a royal gramma. Im not sure if I should put a hang on back filter on the display? i dont want to because i want the look to be as clean as possible but will i must. Could it be that i dont have enough water flow through my sump to my display as i have to restrict the pump a bit to keep the third sump chamber semi-full and the display from overflowing.....could it be that my skimmer sucks? it originally was collecting alot of slime and junk when i got it dialed in, not filling up as quickly now i guess i thought it was because my water quality was better... any and all advice is greatly appreciated . Thank you in advance.

 

what, if anything, are you dosing in the tank?

Need full water parameters including alk, calcium, ph, temp, salinity, nitrates, nitites, ammonia, phosphates, etc.

What kind of tank? Reef, FO, FOWLR?

Substrate?

 

Have you added any new sand or Live Rock? A new cycle could have been started.
Also it could be over feeding resulting in nitrate spike and cloudy water.
Most likely a bacterial bloom like you suggested. Also, I wouldn't add those chemicals to coagulate the water. It may have adverse effects on coral and inverts.

 

im not dosing anything yet... only thing going in the tank is food

 

overfeeding is something i also thought i might be doing.... i wont use any more of the clarifier.

 

oh and no new live rock or sand, if a new cycle started i would first see an ammonia spike right?

 

Yep the ammonia would spike first.

 

thought so... and it hasnt its stayed at zero..... i should also say that i used tap water... we do have decent water in town and my lfs said it is ok... they say its what they use in their tanks and a couple of their display tanks look great.

 

well the tap water could be the reason why the nitrates are so high.
But still decrease the amount of food aand the frequency and see if that helps a bit.
Also, what are you using as filtration in your sump?
Run carbon in a reactor to remove the chemicals in the water.

 

Over feeding is a very common cause of cloudy water/bacterial blooms. Sometimes leaving veggy clips in for too long will cause it too. I'd try reducing the feedings, and see if it gets any better in a day or three.