water looks more like milk

[Dusty]

every day my water looks more like milk and i dont know why.i did a water change and it cleared up some, 5 days later its doing it again.. does anyone know why it is doing this?

kh 234
cal 450
ph 8.6
alk 2.8
ammo 0
nitra 0
nitri .1
phos 0

 

[albano]

do you have macro algae in fuge/sump

 

[KathyC]

How old is the tank? Size? Is it getting progressively milkier or did it stay stable for those 4 (?) days and now is suddenly getting whiter?

Do you dose at all...anything?

 

[Tonyscoots84]

its prob. a bacteria bloom. trites still around.

 

[Dusty]

set tank up on 2/15/10.
stay stable for three days now.
getting whiter for a little more then a week.
have macro algae in fuge(cheato)
29 gallon tank/ 10 gallon wet/dry/ 7 gallon fuge
60 lbs of live sand some it all three tanks
2 packs of pods
the only thing added is (Prime)
and i sarted the the tank(Micro Bacter7)

 

[fcamargo6thave]

we need to see a pic but i am betting it is a bacterial bloom. Is it really cloudy

 

[KathyC]

Any Live rock?

When did you add the pods?
Assuming you never fed them, they are probably dead and causing a bloom.

When was your ammonia reading the highest?

Are you running any lights at this point?

 

[Dusty]

ammonia has been at 0 since the start.
i am running any lights at this point but i just started keeping them of to slow this what every it is down.
really cloudy hard to see the other end at 30" of water.

 

[fernandokng]

Could be calcium precipitation. put pics up...

 

[KathyC]

The live sand - did you buy it by the bag?

..and you have no live rock(is that correct?), but added 2 pkgs of pods (what kind - the bottled ones?)

The Micro Bacter 7 is supposed to break down wastes - but you don't have any to break down...and you are saying your ammonia level hasn't come up since you started the tank on 2/15?

Just want to be sure about this

..yes, do leave the lights off

 

[Dusty]

 

[Dusty]

yes it came in a bag
Five pounds of live rock.
not bottled ones cam in plastic pack with what lookl like green water.
ammonia level hasn't come up since I started the tank on 2/15

 

[Dusty]

 

[KathyC]

hmmmm..diatom bloom, so you are cycling.
Are those Mangroves in there? They need to have a light on them or they will die.

No fish in there - right?

I'd just continue waiting out the cycle, maybe do a 20% water change.

White water is usually 1 of 2 things..as mentioned a bacterial bloom, or algae (dead).
Do you have a skimmer on the tank? Any skimmate, if so what color?
Or a filter of some sort?

 

[Dusty]

bump

 

[Dusty]

no skimmer.
green madran goby

 

[duke62]

take out your chaeto run carbon and tell me what your tank looks like in 24 hours.have a feeling its more then chaeto in there

 

[Dusty]

i also have red garceia or something like that in the as well.

 

[KathyC]

no skimmer.
green madran goby

PLEASE,please get the Mandarin back to wherever you bought him or if you have a reefer friend who has a tank that is upwards of 75g and at least a year old. He will die soon in your tank

No, skimmer...so are you at least running a filter on it - of some sort?
What is circulating the water? Any powerheads?

Can you post a full tank shot please?

I must assume you have dosed something else into the tank as your Ca is at 450 and your PH is 8.6 ..

My suggestion:

Don't dose anything, and no magic exilars either
Re-home the Mandarin asap
Do a 20% water change
Put the mangroves in a vase near a light until you actually may need them- not now as you have no nutrients for them
Read up & invest in a skimmer - a Hang On back is fine for your size tank
If you have bio-balls in the wet/dry, take them out (why a wet/dry and a fuge on a 29g tank?)
Buy a copy of The Contiensious Aquarist and read it.
Put a healthy sized pinch of flake food in the tank and take an ammonia reading the next day and let us know what it is.
Please, no citters or corals in there at this point - you need to get the tank stable first

 

[Dusty]

maxijet 400 powerheads with the head that turns
no dossing anything Ca is at 450 the other day it was 500 then it went down.
PH was 9 for three weeks it just went down too 8.6
i have no where to take the Mandarin got it off line
he is fat and eats fine,hand feed, no over feeding the tank.
i put filter in my wet/dry when the no2 no3 where almost at 0 and they all started to go up way up i took it all back out and no2 no3 when back down, i put panny hose on the drain from the tank and i clean it every day.