Water Clarity.

[Anonymous]

Hi all,
I have a 180 gal tank that is currently running carbon. The water is crystal clear except for VERY small suspended particles. These particles reside in the water column and I am unable to get truly crystal clear water. I do about a 15% water change every 2 weeks and the problem still remains. I have Aragamax as a substrate, but I am certain that the sand is not the culprit.

I have tried different types of Mechanical filtration, but none seem to help.

Can anyone help me out? Maybe you have had a similar experience. I am thinking of trying ozone to put an end to this problem but do not want to "kill a fly with a bazooka".

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as always.

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I am NOT an expert and I will NEVER claim to be one. If my thoughts are incorrect please show me the error of my ways but please do so respectfully, the same way you would wish to be treated.

R.E.Moses

[This message has been edited by Richard E Moses (edited 28 January 2000).]

 

[Anonymous]

I had tiny little white specks in my water column too, so I shut off all the water motion to get a better look. It turned out that the specks were in fact living pods! Since the water motion stopped, I could see them darting about in the water!

My advice to you is to inspect these specks. Also I noticed some tiny little molt shells from some 'pod molting.

 

[Anonymous]

Sure they are not fine bubbles?

 

[Anonymous]

Some are fine bubbles, but the majorty seems to be floating "stuff". I have turned off the pumps and most of it seems to settle. There are a few pin sized organisms having a merry time but not enough to notice.

I have seen some beautiful reefs both in peoples homes and at LFS that do not have this problem.

I am at a loss as what to do. I have used a diatom to do a spot cleaning (maybe about once every two month) but the problem persists. Althought I do have a magnum 350 running with filter in place (this is temporary)this does not help.

I feel it detracts from the beauty of my reef. If anyone has any other suggestions, please do not hesitate to respond or send E-mail.

Thanks!

------------------
I am NOT an expert and I will NEVER claim to be one. If my thoughts are incorrect please show me the error of my ways but please do so respectfully, the same way you would wish to be treated.

R.E.Moses

 

[Anonymous]

We had this same problem a long time ago. We tried everything all the way down to a 1 micron filter bag. I said if this does not get it nothing will. Well it did not. Here is what cured it for us as bizarre as it may sound, we removed all mechanical filteration and the water cleared.

It is still clear to this day. It took a lot of talking to convince my wife that mechanical filters are a bad thing but this convinced her once and for all. They are great to clear a new tank with substrate particles but that is about it IMHO.

If you have a sump and you think that it is air bubbles from the tank drain being sucked back up by the return pump it can be cured in a very easy way. Depending on the size and depth of your sump will determine the vessel size. You can use a plastic bucket, box or a piece of PVC pipe with a cap on the end. The height of the vessel should be at least as tall or a little taller than the water is deep in your sump. Set this vessel in your sump and put the tank drain line in it and the output of your skimmer if you have one in it. The air/water mixture will go into the vessel and the air will be forced to rise to the surface to get out of the vessel. It will float on the surface of the sump and dissapate very quickly. Our sump is 150 gallons and we use an Instant Ocean salt can with the handle taken off to catch 2000 GPH coming out of a 1 1/4" hose that has a lot of air in it. I hope that one of these two things help you because I know how frustrating this problem can be. We spent time and money trying to solve it ourselves.