Water milky white

[satt4647]

My water turned milky white about a week ago. Can't seem to get it cleared up. I've been told that I have a Phosporase problem, others have told me that I have a bacteria bloom. But everyone tells me not to worry. That's hard to do when you want to see a beautifully clean tank and you barely can see your fish. Can anyone help me?

 

[buddha_red]

lets get some details please about your tank. How long have you been running this tank? have you tested your water? if so post the results please. How long do you leave your lights running? How often do you feed your tank?

 

[satt4647]

Have had tank about 3 months. All water perameters are fine. Lights go on about 6:30 am and off at 8:30 am. Then on again at 4:30 pm and off at 10:30 pm. I feem my tank once a day.

 

[919]

Have had tank about 3 months. All water perameters are fine. Lights go on about 6:30 am and off at 8:30 am. Then on again at 4:30 pm and off at 10:30 pm. I feem my tank once a day.

Does that stress the fish out, having two days for every day?

 

[austinsdad]

Any corals? Wondering if anybody is releasing something.

I'm guessing you're speaking of phosphates. Get a test kit ASAP while you're at it.

Using tap water to fill your tank? Could be loaded with phosphates. So could your food. What're you using to feed?

On the light thing, I'd strongly recommend doing lights on and off only once in a day. Your inhabitants will do better if you simulate a natural daylight and night cycle. I'd recommend on at 2:30pm and off at 10:30.

 

[melosu58]

I agree that your lights need to come off and on once a day. Do you use tap water? Also can you give us some hard numbers on your water test results?

 

[roka64]

I agree.
How old is your tank?
You have some damsels in there that can turn nasty to any future additions.

 

[satt4647]

I only use RO water from the LFS. I forgot about the Xenia. That's the only coral I have. I also have a blue legged hermit crab, a banded coral shrimp, a scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp, 2 nassarius snails, 2 astras and 1 mexican turbo. I recently lost one other turbo. I stayed in tank for about a week before we noticed it. It's beginning to show signs that's something is wrong. I can change my lighting to once a day. We just wanted to enjoy them before leaving for work in the morning. What kind of test kit do you use for phosphates? My test results are: pH - 8.0, ammonia - 0 to .25, nitrite - 0, nitrate - 0. For feeding I use frozen brine shrimp, marine snow, PhytoFeast, and saltwater flakes, all of which were recommended by my LFS.

 

[buddha_red]

whens the last time you did a pwc? was anything done to the tank before this happened?

 

[satt4647]

Did a PWC last Sunday. I also cleaned the substrate, vacuuming up some brown algae. That did stir up the sand. That's about when my problem began. Could that be what caused it?

 

[Ziggy953]

If it is still cloudy I would say it is not because of the sand being in the water column from doing a lite vac.

The phytofeast and marine snow aren't really needed unless you have clams and a lot of other filter feeders.

How does the xenia look? It is very possible that the xenia is causing your issue. Tanks have crashed because xenia went nuts and released it's toxins into the water causing a cloudy appearance. I would suggest several PWCs over a few days and see if that helps.

What kind of filtration do you have on the tank?

 

[satt4647]

I have a Marineland Emporor 280 filter. I think I will stop the phytofeast and marine snow immediately. Thank you for suggesting that. Do you have any other ideas? How can I tell if the xenia has been acting up? It just looks shriveled up right now. What could have caused that?

 

[Ziggy953]

I have a Marineland Emporor 280 filter. I think I will stop the phytofeast and marine snow immediately. Thank you for suggesting that. Do you have any other ideas? How can I tell if the xenia has been acting up? It just looks shriveled up right now. What could have caused that?

How often do you clean your filter out? The carbon (if you use it) will need to be replaced once a week. Any sponges or filter floss should be rinsed with SW once a week as well.

Xenia either likes your system or it doesn't. Being shriveled up could mean not enough light, poor water conditions, temp swing, pH swing, SG swing, a hermit may have munched on it some.

 

[satt4647]

I clean my filter out every time I do a PWC. I don't use carbon, only the filter pads that are recommended. I rinse them off every time I do a PWC. Apparently, not enough light is not the problem. The water conditions are within parameters. There has been no temp swing, no pH swing. Don't know what SG is. I do have an emerald crab that dwells just an inch or two from the xenia. Do you think the crab could have done something to the xenia?

 

[Ziggy953]

SG is Specific gravity. This is something you should know especially with a SW tank.

It is very possible the emerald crab is messing with the xenia.

 

[satt4647]

Xenia went belly up. Took it out yesterday. Hopefully, water will clear up now.

 

[satt4647]

Took Xenia out, but water is still cloudy. My LFS told me that it was probably a bacteria bloom and that it will eventually go away by itself. But, he said, that may take 1 to 1 1/2 months. It's so discouraging!!!! Could the LFS be right?

 

[melosu58]

He could be right but do some twice weekly PWC`s to help to get rid of it. Another suggestion but yrs ago when I had this happen my LFS let me borrow a UV light and within a week it was gone. That was about 10 yrs ago.