Random cloudy water and corals closing up

[outdoorworld_70]

Hi,

So basically every once in a while ( few weeks or so) I notice that my aquarium randomly gets cloudy/foggy and all my corals close up. After a few hours or the next day everything is back to normal with clear water and corals opened up nicely. I am thinking it's one of the corals or tube anemone releasing something. Any help is great 

Thanks

 

Current parameters

amm-o

nitrite-0

nitrate-0

phos-0.2

cal-445

dkh-8

mag-1300

ph-8.2

sal-1.025

 

stocking list is

2 clowns

various lps like frogspawn,duncan,acan's,candycanes,zoa's

couple sps monti and acro

small tube anemone

cuc

[Thrassian Atoll]

Bacteria bloom maybe?

[Opotter]

28 minutes ago, Thrassian Atoll said:

Bacteria bloom maybe?

Agreed

[outdoorworld_70]

what causes this tho? I just find it strange it only happens every few weeks and then clears up pretty fast on its own

 

[Smurf]

Shorten your photo period. 

 

Half it. Start there. 

[outdoorworld_70]

Okay I’ll give it a shot thanks 

[Opotter]

also any relationship to your feeding schedule?  Overfeeding things like phyto or reef Roids in a younger tank can easily cause too.

[Ratvan]

14 hours ago, outdoorworld_70 said:

what causes this tho? I just find it strange it only happens every few weeks and then clears up pretty fast on its own

 

My Pico used to get one when sunlight hit the reef for a couple of hours

[Seadragon]

20 hours ago, outdoorworld_70 said:

So basically every once in a while ( few weeks or so) I notice that my aquarium randomly gets cloudy/foggy and all my corals close up. After a few hours or the next day everything is back to normal with clear water and corals opened up nicely. I am thinking it's one of the corals or tube anemone releasing something. Any help is great 

Thanks

 

Fortunately, you're only seeing temporary cloudy water rather than a steady cloudy water that gets continually worse.  I'm familiar with 3 different scenarios.  If it's temporary, it could be a spawning event that is sometimes triggered by a full moon or other factors, such as a water change.  I've seen Banded Trochus Snails release gametes in the water that clouds the water somewhat, and I've watched videos of anemones clouding the water with their spawning event.

 

In my Office NR, months prior I had slightly cloudy water that gradually worsened to a heavy green water AKA an algae bloom.  I believe this was caused by a combination of dosing phytoplankton, too long of a photoperiod, and too much blue light spectrum.  I ultimately corrected this issue by installing a UV Sterilizer that is now on a timer for 12 hours a day during when the LED lights are on.  Last night, I was looking through the aquarium at my wife and I couldn't even tell there was glass and water between us just to give you an idea of how clear it has gotten.  When I stare at my corals at this very moment, I cannot even see the glass or water.  It's an amazing feeling and joy to just stare at the vivid colors of your fish and corals in your tank without seeing algae on the glass or cloudy water.

 

In the School NR, I noticed recently the water is somewhat cloudy.  I watched my wife overfeed her fish and invertebrates (cleaner shrimp, ~14 hermit crabs, 5+ snails) and I believe this overfeeding contributed towards the cloudy water -- probably a bacterial bloom.  For now, I asked her to feed only enough for what the fish can eat and add a few sinking pellets for the shrimp and hermit crabs.  Her classroom is also bright during the day which probably doesn't help the situation at all.  I'm just hoping I do not have to buy a UV Sterilizer for her tank as well.  These costs add up. 😉 Not to mention, you'll eventually have to replace the pricey UV light in like 9 months on a 12-hour schedule.

[outdoorworld_70]

Thanks everyone for the replies! 

So basically my feeding schedule is a few pellets each too both of the clowns daily, twice a week i am feeding my duncan and trumpet lps pellets just one per head, 2-3 times a week i feed the anemone a small piece of raw shrimp and drop one or two small two algae waffers for the hermits, blood shrimp and emerald crab. Is this too much feeding?

My tank is not near direct sunlight and i am running the full david saxby schedule on the ai prime. 

I did do a water change the night before the bloom occurred i just cant remember the last time i had a bloom if i did a water change the day before also. 

 

[Ratvan]

6 hours ago, outdoorworld_70 said:

Thanks everyone for the replies! 

So basically my feeding schedule is a few pellets each too both of the clowns daily, twice a week i am feeding my duncan and trumpet lps pellets just one per head, 2-3 times a week i feed the anemone a small piece of raw shrimp and drop one or two small two algae waffers for the hermits, blood shrimp and emerald crab. Is this too much feeding?

My tank is not near direct sunlight and i am running the full david saxby schedule on the ai prime. 

I did do a water change the night before the bloom occurred i just cant remember the last time i had a bloom if i did a water change the day before also. 

 

Might be worth setting up a water change diary going forwards? Note when you water change and note when the blooms occur 

[outdoorworld_70]

So i did a water change yesterday and noticed today once again there is an algae bloom. The corals are closed up and the water is pretty foggy. What causes this? My RO/DI is reading 0 tds and i made sure the salinity was the same as my tank before adding it.

[Clown79]

18 hours ago, outdoorworld_70 said:

So i did a water change yesterday and noticed today once again there is an algae bloom. The corals are closed up and the water is pretty foggy. What causes this? My RO/DI is reading 0 tds and i made sure the salinity was the same as my tank before adding it.

Is it a white cloudiness or green

[Ratvan]

18 hours ago, outdoorworld_70 said:

So i did a water change yesterday and noticed today once again there is an algae bloom. The corals are closed up and the water is pretty foggy. What causes this? My RO/DI is reading 0 tds and i made sure the salinity was the same as my tank before adding it.

What salt are you using and how do you make your water and perform a water change? 

[outdoorworld_70]

It’s a cloudy white colour. For the water change I have a brute pail full of RO/DI with a running power head and heater, about 30-45min before I perform the wc I add Red Sea coral pro salt to a 5 gallon pail with a power head so it mixes up good. I then take out 5 gallons of water from the tank and then add the fresh mixed water. Every other week I rinse the chemi pure blue and marine pure bio in the old water, change filter floss weekly. 
 

[outdoorworld_70]

Also this morning the tank was crystal clear and corals opened up. Seems like it only last for about 24 hours and then all is good.

[Ratvan]

3 minutes ago, outdoorworld_70 said:

It’s a cloudy white colour. For the water change I have a brute pail full of RO/DI with a running power head and heater, about 30-45min before I perform the wc I add Red Sea coral pro salt to a 5 gallon pail with a power head so it mixes up good. I then take out 5 gallons of water from the tank and then add the fresh mixed water. Every other week I rinse the chemi pure blue and marine pure bio in the old water, change filter floss weekly. 
 

Well that's me out of idea's. 

[Clown79]

The only 3 things I can think of

 

Precipitation

Dust from sand being disturbed

Bacterial bloom

 

Coral pro salt mixing instructions are:

 

Add salt to water and mix vigorously without aerating it. For 0.5 - 2hrs, then add aeration and raise temp.

 

This is to prevent precipitation and ensure salt is fully dissolved

[Smurf]

+1 on bacteria bloom 

[outdoorworld_70]

Okay i will try to mix the salt like that next water change. If it is a bacteria bloom how can i stop/prevent this?

[outdoorworld_70]

Once again another bloom 🙁 I did a water change last night all was good and then this morning everything closed and water is foggy.

[Ratvan]

Where do you add the water when changing it? 

[Seadragon]

Siphon out a bucket of water and pour it in the same spot you usually pour it in when refilling the tank after a water change.  If the water becomes temporarily cloudy within 24 hours, then you know it has to do with stirring up the substrate.

 

If nothing happens, then test the water parameters of the saltwater that you're adding to the tank, before you add it for your next water change.  If there's any trace of ammonia or nitrites in that water, then there's your problem.  Also, when you make your saltwater, are you mixing salt with tap water or RODI water or distilled water?

[mcarroll]

14 hours ago, outdoorworld_70 said:

How old is the tank?