Cloudy Water?

[gr8fldad11]

I have a 55 Gal tank that I just set up and put sand, water and salt into 10 days ago. At the moment, the only filter I am using is a double bio-wheel power filter. I have not set up my protein skimmer based on advise from local store. Levels seem fine (ph, specific gravity), but the water is cloudy. Not terribly cloudy, but it was clear for about 3-4 days, then just got cloudy. Is this part of the cycle?

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Guest]

During the cycle, you can expect a few changes in water chemistry. I guess I have a few questions for you.

What type of sand did you use?
How did you start the cycle? (Fish or Fishless)
What are the actual parameters. PH, SG, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Temp?

 

[gr8fldad11]

Wow, thanks fro the quick response!

I used plain sand I got from my lfs, have not added anything live yet. Was going to add combo of some live sand and live rock from the same lfs, but then the fogginess came. Not sure of actual prameters, I don't have them with me (at work). Temp was 74, sg was 1.024, that I remember. Others did not strike me as "urgent", but I can supply those to you later if you feel it would help.

 

[tecwzrd]

Do you have your lights on during the cycle? It could be an algae bloom.

 

[gr8fldad11]

Yes actually I have them on from about 7:00 am until 6-6:30 pm.

 

[tecwzrd]

Yes actually I have them on from about 7:00 am until 6-6:30 pm.

Having your lights on without anything in the tank is just going to create algae even with the filter running. All tanks go through an initial algae breakout that usually clears up within a couple of months. I would leave the lights off and when you are ready do a fishless cycle to get the tank ready for fish. If you really need to view your empty tank try to limit it to <3 hours a day to keep the algae down.

If you are fairly new to keeping SW fish I’d highly recommend reading all the saltwater articles on this site, the articles on liveaquaria.com, the articles on wetwebmedia.com & picking up a good book so you have a better understanding of the basics.

 

[gr8fldad11]

Thanks Tchwzrd, I will try that. I have actually been reading alot. I read the "Idiot's" book and have been reading alot on the aquaria site. I don't recall seeing anything about limiting the light, but maybe I missed it. Will definitely see what this site has to offer.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[tecwzrd]

Once your tank is cycled and stocked you will want to have your lights on 8-12 hours a day but it’s just unnecessary at this point. With a clean up crew ie: worm, hermits, ect they would help keep the algae at bay most of the time.