water "clarity"

[reefmack]

i've had my 75 gallon reef for almost 18 months now - and everything is doing GREAT. one problem i've always had though - is my water never seems to be all that clear (like i see some of you guys have in your pictures posted here from time to time)... what could be the result? it's not murky at all - but kind of cloudy - never really clear - can't tell if it's detritus (or some other matter) or just tiny (very tiny) air bubbles?

 

[Reefguide]

Well whats your set-up like as far as filtration, ect... Do ya have a skimmer?? Skimmers sometimes release tiny air bubbles into your tank, there are a few things you can do if in fact that is the case. I've seen Skimmers inside buckets in the sump, but I personally have my skimmer dumping onto a bed of really fine filter sponges and that does a pretty decent job of breaking up the bubbles....

 

[reefmack]

hmm good idea. i have a dreaded turbofloater T100 (?) skimmer in a 30 gallon rubbermaid tub i'm using as my under the tank sump... it's likely this may be the culprit... i'm going to try the sponge idea you use - what type of "sponge" material are you using?

 

[danmhippo]

I've tried this several times, and I don't know if it's my eye fooling me, but I thought it gets cleared everytime I did that.

What I did was to stir up all detritus in the sump, behind the rocks, on corals, and blast them with powerheads all over the tank. After all settles, water gets crystal clear. My assumption is whatever the small dust particles floating in the water, all will get bonded with larger and heavier detritus stirred up, and settle onto sand/or be picked up by filter.

My original intention is to stir up all detritus and feed the filter feeders. As a side observation that water gets cleared as well, I now do it more often.

BTW, "Geo Liquid" that used to hype 2-3 years ago was based on the same principle. The larger and heavier particles in the bottle bonds with fine floating ones in the water, and settle out of mid water column

 

[reefmack]

this may open a new thread but when you mention "rocks" and such in your sump - what is in your sump? in mine is just my heater, return pump, skimmer, pH probe and thermometer... do you keep live "stuff" down there (i.e. LR)?

 

[danmhippo]

Oh, sorry, I meant stir up detritus in your sump, and also blast out detritus behind LRs in the main tank. It is also a good practice to relieve your corals of detritus accumulated around them once in a while.

 

[reefmack]

it's interesting you say that - i've spent my 18 months reef keeping trying NOT to stir up detritus!!!! my skimmer sucks - are there way better ones out there than the turbofloater?

 

[SteveP]

danmhippo,

Interesting how kicking up detritus actually clears up the water. I wonder if it's because you are getting more bacteria into the water column that colonizes the clouding particles, weighing them down. Kind of the same thing that happens with new SD DSBs?

At any rate, I blast my LR on a regular basis to get off all of the detritus on them and the corals. It provides some extra food for the filter feeders too.

Steve
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[SPC]

Posted by reefmack:
this may open a new thread but when you mention "rocks" and such in your sump - what is in your sump? in mine is just my heater, return pump, skimmer, pH probe and thermometer... do you keep live "stuff" down there (i.e. LR)?

-Yes, many of us have a combination sump/refugium.
Steve

 

[Reefguide]

I stir up the sump, and behind i rocks, and basically all the dead spots in the tank the night before I do my water change and siphon out a very small top layer of my live sand. has always worked for me but that does require new sand every couple of months or so. The sponges I use to answer your question is basically a replacement sponge for a wet dry. Try to find one that the holes are as small as possible so it diffuses the bubbles better.

 

[danmhippo]

I wonder if it's because you are getting more bacteria into the water column that colonizes the clouding particles, weighing them down. Kind of the same thing that happens with new SD DSBs?

Maybe, but I am not certain. However, the statement is logical and may actually contribute to portions of the myth.

Reefmack, however, if the cloudiness you see in your water are actually tiny bubbles, then stirring up detritus may not help you that much in clearing the water, but it would definetly assist in feeding the filter feeders.

 

[reefmack]

this is almost a revolutionary discovery for me - i can't believe i've been doing this 18 months and never thought of this... thanks guys! and to think all this time i've been trying hard NOT to kick up detritus when it might actually be something i should have been doing... commence brain wrinklige.

 

[SPC]

Posted by Reefguide:
I stir up the sump, and behind i rocks, and basically all the dead spots in the tank the night before I do my water change and siphon out a very small top layer of my live sand.

-I would wager that you are sucking alot of the critters out when you remove this sand, with a healthy sand bed this should not be necessary.
Steve

 

[reefmack]

PS - before i start regularly stirring up detritus and such - do i have to worry about the ensuing murkiness harming my fish (or anyone else?)

 

[danmhippo]

You shouldn't worry about it. In fact I find some fish activily picking pods and other small critters off the murky cloud I stir up.

 

[Reefguide]

I'm sure I do suck out a few critters, but I have no reason to believe that I'm harming anything in the process.... I have really clear water, maybe it's because of this or maybe not.... I started doing this when I got an outbreak of red slime.... When I medicated the tank and killed it off this was one way of getting my sand back to normal, I have continued it ever since...