Cloudy water, precipitation event?

[Fourstar182]

So I’m hoping someone can help here, started tank, 16gal nano reef, everything was going well, then cloudy, milky water, I thought bacterial bloom, until I tested the calcium and alk and thought they were too high, and I’m thinking precipitation event from the calcium? What the best option to clear this if it is? I have noticed little white stuff on sand bed and such that I didn’t see before and it isn’t green water, so bacteria bloom or calcium? Thank you all for any help!

Parameters:
Temp 78 f
Sg 1.024
PH 8.1
Amm 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate .25
Calcium 520 (a bit high)
Alk.  12dkh (too high for me)
Phos. .25

 

[sirrtuan@yahoo.com]

Do you have any live stocks in the tank? If not I would just leave it alone. Otherwise, I would do partial water changes across multiple days.

[Fourstar182]

Yes, a pair of clowns that helped start a fish in cycle with bio-spira, and a small cuc, the cycle completed shortly after the clowns were added and  all was good even after the cuc was added, good for about 4 more weeks, then slowly started going cloudy and now those were the numbers and it’s all cloudy. I really believe it’s precipitate from the high alk and cal numbers but will test again here shortly, I believe if it is should t the cal numbers be lower and alk still high as the cal is precipitated into the water column?

[Fourstar182]

Ok tested again this morning:

temp 78f

sg 1.025

ph 8.0

amm 0

nitri 0

nitra 0 (down from .25)

calc 500-520

alk 9 dkh (down from 12)

phos .25 

 

cloudy still, I’m thinking 40% water change and let it ride and see how it goes, I’m leaning towards calc precipitation event more then bacterial bloom and really don’t think it’s an algae bloom, any ideas? 

 

[DevilDuck]

What inverts and snails do you have? It could be a spawning event. When my snails spawned my water turned milky white for a few days.

[Clown79]

What salt are you using 

 

How do you mix it and how long is it mixed

 

How long is it stored for before use

[Fourstar182]

1 hour ago, DevilDuck said:

What inverts and snails do you have? It could be a spawning event. When my snails spawned my water turned milky white for a few days.

2 trochus, a conch, and a hitchhiker micro brittle somehow, I mean possible, but I’m not so sure.

 

38 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

What salt are you using 

 

How do you mix it and how long is it mixed

 

How long is it stored for before use

Red Sea, mix for about 30 mins to hour, heated to 78f and used right away when ready

[Clown79]

12 minutes ago, Fourstar182 said:

2 trochus, a conch, and a hitchhiker micro brittle somehow, I mean possible, but I’m not so sure.

 

Red Sea, mix for about 30 mins to hour, heated to 78f and used right away when ready

Red sea blue bucket or coral pro. Both have completely different mixing methods

[sirrtuan@yahoo.com]

Probably Coral pro since alk is around 12. 

I would do a water change and ride it out.

[Fourstar182]

2 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Red sea blue bucket or coral pro. Both have completely different mixing methods

Blue bucket

[DaJMasta]

Let it settle, probably bacterial.  If your calcium or alkalinity was precipitating out it wouldn't look cloudy, it would look like a snow globe.... that and the numbers would be falling as the dissolved material became particulate and fell to the bottom.

 

If you recently put sand in it could be some of the dust from that, usually takes a couple days to settle, otherwise I'd expect a bacterial bloom, and so long as you have sufficient oxygenation (bubbles from a skimmer or powerhead on the surface or similar), it really doesn't have an ill effect aside from looking bad.

Blue bucket probably doesn't need to mix as long as the black bucket which needs a bit, but if it was clear and fully mixed when you added it, that shouldn't be the issue.  That said, those numbers are way over blue bucket parameters, the calcium is high even for coral pro (black bucket).  I suspect either the methodology for testing the calcium is a little off/inconsistent, but it could also just be the base accuracy of the kit that may be leaning on the high side.  At the very least, 500ppm calcium is high but certainly not dangerously so.

[mcarroll]

how are things now?