Cloudy water

[Lilacism]

I usually do 10% water changes every other day and yesterday the water seemed a little cloudy so I did a larger water change at about 40%. I thought everything would be fine until I saw my tank this morning. It's much worse and I don't know what it is. I've never seen this before. Livestock all seem fine. Everyone is eating and my shrimp molted last night. He molts every 2-3 weeks so I was expecting it to happen soon. Anyone know whats going on? This is my second tank but I still consider myself a beginner because I know I still have a lot to learn. TIA

[RotaryReef]

Any details you can provide of whats in the tank?

 

When my toadstool shed it cause the water to be cloudy for a few days. Not sure if you have one maybe in there.

[Lilacism]

No corals yet. I have 2 zombie snails, trochus snail, another grazing snail that I can't remember the name of lol, strawberry dottyback, blood shrimp, and dragonfaced pipefish. You can see the pipefish in the pic. I did some research and came across something called a bacteria bloom but there wasn't any clear way to fix it 

[RotaryReef]

Looks like you have a fine sand bed in there now that I look closer. It is possible the sand bed was disturbed and that is causing the cloudy water (No sure how well you rinsed the sand prior to laying it in the tank)

 

When you did the 40% water change did you just kind of dump it in? It could of kicked around more sand thus the increased cloudiness.

 

I would try not to touch the tank for a few days and see if it clears up.

[Lilacism]

I rinsed it really well before putting it in, but I'm pretty sure it's not sand. I only move the sand around once a week and I didn't mess with it last night

[RotaryReef]

Ok so next step then.

 

It sounds like an Algae bloom. What are your water parameters? I know you recently did a large water change but still curious to see. Also, what is your light schedule?

[NanoRox]

I see some green in the pic but it really looks mostly white.  could be a bacterial bloom.  what color haze would you say this is in person? 

[Lilacism]

Salinity- .025

Ph- 8.4

Ammonia- 0

Nitrite- 0

Nitrate- is high at 20ppm but it's always high. It's been a constant fight which is why I haven't added corals.

Phosphate- 0

 

[Lilacism]

I'd say green but it's kind of hard to tell. At the top it looks more white

[Lilacism]

I can turn off the blue light and take another pic if it would help 

[Clown79]

If it's green is algae bloom

If it's white a bacterial bloom

 

What are you using for filtration media?

[Subsea]

Two quick solutions:  GAC and/or UV.   They both address bacterial or algae bloom.   UV will kill both in the bulk water.  Granulated Activated Carbon will remove the Dissoled Organic Carbon (DOC) which feeds bacteria.

[Subsea]

Provide robust circulation.   Bacteria consume oxygen 24/7.

[Subsea]

2 hours ago, Lilacism said:

I usually do 10% water changes every other day and yesterday the water seemed a little cloudy so I did a larger water change at about 40%. I thought everything would be fine until I saw my tank this morning. It's much worse and I don't know what it is. I've never seen this before. Livestock all seem fine. Everyone is eating and my shrimp molted last night. He molts every 2-3 weeks so I was expecting it to happen soon. Anyone know whats going on? This is my second tank but I still consider myself a beginner because I know I still have a lot to learn. TIA

Without information from you concerning your tank, it becomes a guessing game for people to contribute.  You should have a Tank journal with pertinent information.

 

With 45 years of reefing, I will make an obvious deduction.  Too much nutrients in with insufficient biological filtration and not enough nutrient export.

 

If nobody is showing discomfort, don’t fret too much.  Tell us about your system and what you do to maintain your tank.

 

If you have not been using GAC, I recommend you start asap.  Macro is a perfect combination with GAC.  Macro removes inorganic nutrients and minerals, while GAC removes dissolved organic carbon.  

 

Try it.  You might like it. 

[Oldsalt01]

Looks bacterial. Add an airstone and pump lottsa air in for a few days. U should see a big difference in 24 hours. You may add microbubbles but that's  not a big deal and more O2 is never a bad thing. Check you haven't lost a snail somewhere.