Cloudy water from not rinsing sand well

I set up a Innovative Marine 38 Gallon 8 weeks ago. I did not rinse the really fine Oolite sand and it has been really cloudy from day one. I have done enough water changes to cycle the tank 3 times over, used seachem clarity 3 times and it is still cloudy.

Is there a hang on filter that will clean up this mess?

 

Innovative Marine 38 Gallon
IM Stand
Stock Pump
Hydor Nano Skimmer
In Tank Media Basket - Floss/Purigen/Chemipure Elite
Innovative Marine Media Reactor - Seachem Seagel
Tunze ATO
Innovative Marine 92 watt dual spectrum light
Neotherm 150 watt heater
JBJ Mini Arctic Chiller
Florida Dry Rock

Livestock
2 Clowns
1 Royal Gramma
2 Turbo Snails
1 Coral Banded Shrimp

Cycled for 8 weeks
Change 5 gallons of water every other week
Change floss filter every 3 days

 

If it's cloudy after 8 weeks then it doesn't sound like the sand "dust" is causing it. Usually that dust will settle or filter out after a few hours/days. Could be a bacteria bloom or something. What are the water parameters?

 

Salinity 1.025 - Seachem Salinity Salt Mix with RO Water
0 PPM Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate
I did dose Seachem Reef Builder because the PH dropped to 8.19 / now 8.3
Temp 81 F

No Algae visible

 

Very strange, how did you start your cycle?

 

Welcome to 3reef,

Have you tried redirecting the flow towards the surface? You can buy direction modifiers for the out puts.

Have you used any mechanical filtration such as sponge or floss under the over flows?

If the tank is not stocked I would consider replacing the substrate. I am not a fan of Oolite at all. It's too fine a grain, prone to staying cloudy at the slightest disturbance, and can prove to be an issue with the growth of cynobacteria growth.

Arragonite is a good substrate.

Congrats on the tank, I think they look really cool.

Edit: ok tank is stocked and you have used floss.

 

I used Seachem Stability for the first 10 days while "feeding" it fish food. I then added two clowns I already had. I never saw an spike but did have a quick diatom outbreak that quickly went away.

 

I have two Spinstreams that keep the surface well circulated.

I am just going to wait it out for another month and try to feed only every other day. If it is a bacteria bloom it will go away. The skimmer is working good.

Thanks for your quick reply.

 

Sounds like it cycled very quickly. Maybe it never fully cycled, did you try running any carbon? That might help clear up the water.

 

I'm running Seagel, which is 1/2 carbon in the reactor. I also have Chemipure Elite in the bottom chamber of the media basket which is also 1/2 carbon.

I will change out the Seagel in the reactor and see if that helps at all.