Cloudy tank question

[Dan XVI]

Hello,

I honestly did not know where to post this, but here it goes. I have a 55 gallon SW tank with approximately 100 pounds of live rock. I have a phosban150 with ~150mL of Vertex biopellets hooked up to a 600 gph pump (have been running for about 2 weeks), a reef octopus bh100 skimmer, and 2 koralia 2 PH's.

I used to have a canister filter hooked up to this system but was told between the pellets and the rock, the tank does not need to have that hooked up anymore (and in the interest of having less hoses and wires running from my tank, recently disconnected it).

The day after the tank got a little hazy and has stayed that way (day 3 now). Inhabitants have not been affected, and my levels have stayed the same throughout. After calling the LFS they now are saying that the tank probably isnt getting enough water flow, and to hook the canister back up empty. What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance.

 

[mellowyellow]

I had cloudy water problems also. The first thing I bought was a water movement gadget. It attachs with suction cups inside the tank and it helped. Since then, I bought a UV sterilizer and in 24 hours my water was crystal clear. It's great for saltwater because it kills parasites and algae. I have another one in my freshwater tank to help keep the water clear. They're a bit pricey but IMO they work great. Hope this helps I know how frustrating cloudy water can be.

 

[Jimbo7]

More flow and add some sort of filter sheet to your canister to grab particulates. If you could somehow get a filter sock in there, that would work well. Also running some carbon will help polish the water up and kick your skimmer into overdrive.
I'm not sure where you got your info, but UV sterilizers do not kill algae. And in fact, they only kill exactly what goes through them and only if its for the correct period of time. This means you have to have a huge UV and a low flow through it to kill off anything. It only will kill free floating parasites and maybe algae spores, but anything it kills in the water is fractional to what is already all over your rock and other surfaces. They can be useful for some things, but do not expect them to be an end all be all.

Minimal turnover rate for a tank IMO should be 15x for proper filtration. So (DT Volume)x15=(Return Pump from Sump)+(Canister Output)+(Other powerheads/flow)
Don't be afraid of too much flow when used correctly. I have seen tanks with 90x turnover rate.