My fish tank is partially cloudy while the filter is on!?

[luckyc1423]

I got a 90 gallon aquarium brand new never used. Filled her up with salt water, I mixed the salt myself (was hard to get it to dissolve, and I could not fully get the salt to dissolve) and poured it into my tank....The water was very cloudy the first 24 hours and it seems my filter has cleaned most of it out. Now, when I turn my filter OFF the water is very clear (you can see salt dispinsing in the water but the water is still clear). While my filter is on, the area that brings the cycled water back into the tank becomes very cloudy (is this because of air bubbles or would it be because of salt not being dissolved?) Is there anything I can do to cure this problem because it really makes my tank foggy.

Its a magnum 350 filter....it does a great job just when it shoots the water back into the tank it creates a big cloud...much clearer when filter is off but i still leave it on all the time

 

[Copepod]

Did you add new sand? Did you rinse it if you did? If you added new sand, it's possible it is fine sand particles you are seeing...I would remove any filter media and just use floss or something to catch the sand and rinse it often (in used salt water). The sand will continue to "float" around the water until bacteria interacts with it to keep it on the sand bed. If it isn't sand, and I don't think it is salt as salt would disolve...I don't have a clue...

There will be other, more informed members on this site later that can help you more...

Good luck and welcome to AA.

 

[roka64]

Welcome to the site!
That sounds normal for newly added sand. I would suggest you pre mix your water with a ph and heater to get the temp and salinity the same as your tank's...makes for less stress on your critters.
Are you planning on a fishless cycle?

 

[Mike Hammer]

That is hard to say, is the filter cartridge in the filter ok?

You didn't say anything about sand as the others had mentioned, so I'll not comment to that.

Did you check the specific gravity you might have added too much salt but the solubility of salt is rather high. You'd have had to add way too much salt for it not to have dissolved in a day while cricultaing water in the tank. You could have a fitting on the pump that is sucking air into the filter and dispersing bubbles in the tank.

 

[luckyc1423]

I bought 60 pounds of live sand and put it in there (said you didnt have to rinse it). Then 30 pounds of regular sand....i forgot to rense the regular sand so that could be it...will it eventually stop? only place you can see a big problem is around the area were the filter spits the water back into the tank....then the cloudiness seems to hang around the top of the tank

 

[luckyc1423]

I have had it running for 3 days..and bought three fish yesterday...just cheap ones so I know if my tank is ready for more expensive fish

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Please read up about fishless cycling in our articles section - actually read about cycling in general because that's what's going to happen since you put fish in already. You need to cycle the tank to build up a bacteria population and there are other ways to do that than usinig fish.

 

[roka64]

Or you can click the link in my sig block.

 

[melosu58]

I agree dont cycle your tank with fish. Not very humane.

 

[luckyc1423]

 

[luckyc1423]

I have attached pictures that may better explain....as you can see the top left were the water is coming back into the tank....this gives you an idea....it is much worse in person but you get the idea

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Looks like air bubbles to me. Are all the gaskets installed correctly and seated on the Magnum? You could just be sucking air through the cannister somehow.

 

[Mike Hammer]

Toughest thing to learn when doing a saltwater tank is patience, you have to take your time.

 

[nanoluvr]

it's the sand probably. you need to get a 30 gal trash can and a powerhead and mix the salt, then let it circulate. It sounds like you're rushing. Just step back ...take a deep breath, lol...everything will be ok. 3 days...with cloudy water? way too soon for fish! have you even check any water parameters yet? gat a master test kit if you haven't. that way you can see how far along the cycle is. Just because the fish are cheap doesn't mean it's ok to put them in a situation where they're likely to die, or get sick. I agree...read the articles...they're very helpful!!

 

[nanoluvr]

I would hurry and add quite a bit more rock too...based on what you want to keep. LR helps with natural filtration

 

[luckyc1423]

I returned the magnum and got a cascade 1000....I like this alot better and seem to be having alot better luck with it...anyone used this canister before?