Cloudy Water - Really Bad Cloudy Water!!

SOLVED!!! Cloudy Water - Really Bad Cloudy Water!!

Hello everyone,

I have a 54g corner tank that is FOWLR with a 10" volitan lionfish, a 4" purple tang, a 2" hermit crab and a 6" marine betta. I am using a fluval 405 canister filter with 4 lbs of live rock in its trays and 12 lbs in the tank so far.

For the past month now I have been cursed with white cloudy water. I am on probably the 5th week of this now and it is so bad that I cant even see my heater and skimmer pump in the back corner and you can actually see the whiteness flowing around like smoke. I have tried water changes, and activated carbon and I just cant get it to go away. I am waiting on the arrival of my UV bulb so I can light up my sterilizer and see if that will clear it up. I have just mildly brought this issue up in other threads and people keep telling me that it sounds like an excessive amount of nutrients causing a bacterial bloom and to post my feeding schedule up so someone can help so..HELP!!!

Food:
Lionfish - Frozen Krill (I inject each one with zoe and selcon with a "crack needle" before feeding.
Purple Tang - Spirulina Flakes and Nori strips. (Sometimes soaked in zoe/selcon)
Marine Betta - Frozen brine shrimp cubes.
Hermit - One small krill when the lion eats.

Schedule:
Lionfish - Every three days.
Purple Tang - One pinch of spirulina every morning and night. One strip of nori per day.
Marine Betta - Every other day. (He eats a couple spirulina flakes sometimes too)
Hermit - One small krill every three days. He takes care of himself the rest of the time.

So what do you think?

 

how long has this tank been set up?

IMO you need about 40# more live rock in the tank. IMO i agree its a bacterial bloom

 

The tank has been set up in my house for about 4 months now. I bought it used with the fish and all of the equiptment as well. I shipped the same water and put it back in the tank also. So I dont know how you want to look at it, has it been set up for 4 months, or set up for a couple years?

I am working on getting more live rock but that $H!T is expensive. I can only afford to buy about 5 - 10 lbs per month.

So how can I get rid of this bacterial bloom?

 

If money is tight and you don't mind waiting for base rock to get covered in coralline algae, check out the base rock at:

Live rock is Reefer Rocks base rock premium aquarium rock

The bacterial bloom will go away on its own.

 

Do you mean that the bacterial bloom will go away on its own if I get more rock or that it just will over time?

 

I believe that it will go away on its own over time.

I don't think the bloom was caused by your feeding because it looks like a reasonable schedule to me. I think that the tank is still maturing but if you don't have enough surface area (rock) for the appropriate amounts of bacteria to grow on, you're going to continue to have some problems.

 

Well, I solved the problem.

I just got my new UV bulb that I ordered and plugged it into my sterilizer. 24 hours and the water was crystal clear.

 

In all fairness, I don't think that a cannister filter is going to do the job for you! Cannisters are more for fresh and African's IMO! Where is your protein skimmer? Or aren't you using one! A protein skimmer and frequent water changes are necessary for the amount of waste your 3 big fish are excreting as well by respiration and fecal matter! Cannister won't remove that nowhere as good as a skimmer IMO!!

 

Then the problem was obviously a bacterial bloom. I'm glad the UV took care of it, although that may be temporary! My recent experience is that with a few 25% water changes, lighter feeding, and the successful growth of some good macros, it will clear up on its own. It's all a matter of time and balance! Good news indeed!