Help with new tank setup and cloudy water

[Barney]

First I want to list what I have then I'll explain my situation.

180 gallon reef ready setup with a 200 gallon capacity wet dry.
300 watts heater set for 78 degree.
Little Giant model 3 mdq external pump returning water from the wet dry to the tank.
3 inches of pea sized river gravel as substrate.
1 large driftwood, 1 med. driftwood
several fake plants
several cave rocks


I currently do not have any fishes stocked yet. This tank has been set up for three days and the cloudy water hasn't disappeared. It has come down some , about 20 percent but not clear enough to visibly see all the way through the 6 foot side. I thought the cloudy water would take a day or two but as I am typing this, it is going into day 4 of the tank setup.
I did a large water change about 2/3 of the tank volume and am not noticing any changes. I use city tap water, which has been ok'ed by my lfs to start with.

Is this a normal phase? When will the cloudy water disappear? How soon can I start stocking on a safe level? I want to have central american cichlids so what should be my best starter fish to start my biological chemistry that I need? OR What is the other methods being used today?

 

[Barney]

the first picture dsc00008 is the side (end) view looking across into the 6 foot body of water

the second picture dsc00006 is the full frontal view. Strange as it may look good in the picture but actually you cant see clear enough to the other side of the room.

 

[Allivymar]

Yep. Thats pretty darn cloudy.

Did you rinse the gravel before adding? And rinse the new filter cartridge? If so, I'm at a loss to know why it would be that cloudy. Maybe its your tap water?

 

[Barney]

the gravels were rinsed... i dont have any filter cartridge. i do have a foam sleeve as a pre filter onside the overflow and dls inside the wet dry before water hits the bio balls....

 

[Allivymar]

*slaps self*

Duh LOL You DID say it was a external wet/dry pump..sorry LOL

Were all the supplies for the filter new? I'm wondering if adding carbon (if you haven't already) might help?

 

[Barney]

I was thinking of adding carbon which i havent done yet. Should i try adding carbon and see?

 

[Barney]

oh!!! yeah everything pretty new.

substrates/gravel/driftwood/plants/prefilters/dls... only thing old/existing is the tank, wetdry, little giant return pump and the hose to move water. They were washed. rinsed and cleaned. pump had been taken apart, cleaned and put back together...

 

[Allivymar]

I would; it certainly wouldn't hurt, and may be whats needed to clear up the water.

I agree, I'd wait till the water cleared before adding fish, just to be safe. I am wondering whats causing it; I've never had cloudy water when setting up a tank, although I have had it when treating with meds. But that was a bacterial bloom caused by die off of the nitrifying bacteria. I have to admit, thats what it looks like, but what the heck could they be feeding off of? Maybe the driftwood or something on the driftwood? Did you soak it/boil it/bleach it before adding it? I'm wondering if thats the source...

 

[Barney]

the driftwood came from a lfs. i assume it was safe to put in after it been soaked in my trash can i use(d) for water changes. but now i have the python for water changes so the trash can as been used for any aquarium related projects. Anyway the water came out claen and clear after 3 days. i thought i might see some tannic water discoloring but nothing.

I too have been thinking about this cloudy situation since i have been out of the aquarium hobby for 4 years and am getting back into it since i have settled. I know alot about several things except this cloudy water just threw me off and one thing i kow is i do not have carbon in my sump yet. this got me remembering.

 

[Allivymar]

Heh, kinda figured you had a clue; most newbies don't start with quite as elaborate a setup, much less a truly nice sized tank.

I'm pretty stumped as to why the water would be cloudy. Sounds to me like you've done everything right. The only other thing that comes to mind (because I can't quite tell from the pics) is the water slightly green tinged? Is it possible thats an breakout of green algae? If so, a diatomic (sp?) filter may be the way to go.

 

[dralarms]

My sw tank was like that for almost a week. When I first looked at the picture I thought it was of my tank on day 3, . Is this salt water?

 

[Barney]

Actually not a newbie here

I used to have a total of 5 tanks in my home. But a divorce was in the way and I claimed the 180 and the rest was history. Been away from the hobby for 4 years and since settled down, I had to set it back up. Actually wanted to do saltwater, but because of recent move and settling, decide to go the cheaper route for now and get myself tuned up also. I still have all the salt setup stuffs but.... freshwater will do for now. I feel rusty...

By the way, Thank You for your help. I added carbon this evening and as of now the tank is starting to clear some. That was prolly what I missed in the whole setup.

 

[Barney]

***justmy2cent***

I would never use driftwood in a saltwater setup. I believe it would look un natural don't you think. lol oh gee!!! no this is a freshwater tank.

 

[Allivymar]

Yay! I'm glad to hear the back of the tank is starting to make an appearance *grin*

To be honest, you'll find folks here rarely use carbon. A number of us only use carbon for specific cases; to remove tints and to remove medication. Carbon becomes useless rather quickly and isn't necessary for good day to day water husbandry.

But its awesome in cases like yours *grin*

 

[Barney]

Thats prolly why I wasn't thinking of using carbon.....

 

[Fruitbat]

I have to say that I always use carbon in my tanks because it is almost unexcelled at taking up various types of organic and inorganic wastes. The only time that I remove it is if I have to use a med that will be adsorbed by the carbon. The cloudiness in that tank may have been a bacterial bloom and would have disappeared by itself as the nutrient levels in the tank dropped off.

Many people think that just because you rinse your gravel that it is 'clean'. This is hardly the case. All that rising does is to wash away the major dirt and dust that accumulates with the gravel. Unless you have actually sterilized your gravel it will have a 'biofilm' of bacteria on it, waiting dormant for conditions to be just right...like when you add water!

 

[Barney]

So it is possible I have the bacterial bloom that was in the gravel?

I know i rinsed....but not boil it. I just never heard of doing that as I am reading up on some articles here about boiling gravel. Man I can't imagine boiling gravels anyway unless this is a new technique.

So what do I do if I do have bacterial bloom?

 

[Allivymar]

Heh, is why I said some, not all

The research I've done on AC leads me to believe its unneccessary except in specific cases as mentioned above. If there are high levels of DOCs in the water, AC can be full up in hours, in cleaner water it can take weeks. Its tough to know exactly when its "full" tho, and since I don't feel its necessary, spending money on it often enough to be sure its always working isn't worth it IMHO. I'd rather spend it on more fish tanks

Btw, some of the research I did can be found here:
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/filtration/chemfil.shtml
http://www.tomgriffin.com/aquamag/filterbasics2.html

Oh, and I've never boiled gravel. Never had a bacterial bloom either (cept once, but that was due to meds killing off my good bacterial colony).

 

[Fruitbat]

I don't boil my gravel either! What a pain in the tush THAT would be!! I've had rare occasions where a newly set up tank looked a lot like yours. The cloudiness usually goes away after a few days (when the bacteria have used up the available nutrients and their population drops considerably). There are various water-clarifying chemicals on the market but I hesitate to recommend them because they often don't work and because the rest of the folks on this forum would consider me to be a heathen!!!

Heavy and constant aeration will often hasten the clearing of grey water.

 

[Barney]

Well like I said in my earlier post, the water seems to be clearing some. I'll check again in the morning. I too would like to stay away from chemicals unless in an emergency. I'll keep this forum posted on the progress of my tank cloudy water situation.