Cloudy water. HELP!

[ReefFrenzy1974]

I test my water in my 40 gallon breeder weekly with the API home kit as well as a digital test (included photo of today’s test results) at my lfs. My parameters are good I THINK and yet my water is still cloudy. 
 

as for equipment I’m running a Tidal 55 AND an AC 70 filter along with 2 power heads. 
 

Clean up crew is:

2 red legged hermit crabs

1 Halloween hermit

1 emerald crab

1 peppermint shrimp

3 Mexican turbo snails 

6 nassarius snails

 

live stock is:

2 black and white ocillaris clowns

1 red sunset sailfin mollie

[Tamberav]

probably a bacterial bloom.

 

How old is the tank? 

[ReefFrenzy1974]

8 hours ago, Tamberav said:

probably a bacterial bloom.

 

How old is the tank? 

6 months old. Added livestock after a 8 week cycle. 

[Tamberav]

3 hours ago, ReefFrenzy1974 said:

6 months old. Added livestock after a 8 week cycle. 

Be sure to have good water flow or add an air stone. The bloom can suffocate fish. Bacterial blooms are a response to excess nutrients somewhere and more common in newer tanks. 
 

A small UV generally will clear it up quickly but won’t fix the cause. 
 

Could be excess food or debris somewhere or even a dead snail. Younger tanks are just more prone to not being able to handle such things and the bacteria blooms feasting on the excess food. 
 

Another cause can be things like carbon dosing (nopox for example). 

I have seen it be caused by tap water as well. 

 

[ReefFrenzy1974]

33 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

Be sure to have good water flow or add an air stone. The bloom can suffocate fish. Bacterial blooms are a response to excess nutrients somewhere and more common in newer tanks. 
 

A small UV generally will clear it up quickly but won’t fix the cause. 
 

Could be excess food or debris somewhere or even a dead snail. Younger tanks are just more prone to not being able to handle such things and the bacteria blooms feasting on the excess food. 
 

Another cause can be things like carbon dosing (nopox for example). 

I have seen it be caused by tap water as well. 

 

I have 2 filters as well as 2 powerheads so flow isn’t an issue. Also I only dose with vibrant once a week and prime at water change. I only use water from my lfs which is what I started with. That way I’m sure of my salinity. 

[Tamberav]

32 minutes ago, ReefFrenzy1974 said:

I have 2 filters as well as 2 powerheads so flow isn’t an issue. Also I only dose with vibrant once a week and prime at water change. I only use water from my lfs which is what I started with. That way I’m sure of my salinity. 

just curious why you use vibrant? 
 

It has been discovered recently that it is an algaecide. It seems to be the same as API algaefix but marked up in price. 
 

You may want to test the LFS water for nutrients. Sometimes they are not great about filter changes. 

[empresto]

Also, flow could still be an issue with two 'filters' and two power heads. My 40b has a 1700gph return pump from its sump and 3x 800gph koralias and I think it could still use more flow in some cases. Not knowing what filters and power heads you have on your tank, it's hard to say. Plus, even with sufficient flow for a reef tank, you may still want to add an air stone for extra gas exchange during a bacterial bloom to protect against low oxygen killing everything/crashing your tank

[ReefFrenzy1974]

1 minute ago, empresto said:

Also, flow could still be an issue with two 'filters' and two power heads. My 40b has a 1700gph return pump from its sump and 3 koralias and I think it could still use more flow in some cases. Not knowing what filters and power heads you have on your tank, it's hard to say. Plus, even with sufficient flow for a ref tank, you may still want to add an air stone for extra gas exchange during a bacterial bloom to protect against low oxygen killing everything/crashing your tank

Thank you for that tip. I wasn’t thinking about gas exchange. 

[ReefFrenzy1974]

1 hour ago, Tamberav said:

just curious why you use vibrant? 
 

It has been discovered recently that it is an algaecide. It seems to be the same as API algaefix but marked up in price. 
 

You may want to test the LFS water for nutrients. Sometimes they are not great about filter changes. 

The test results in the picture are from the lfs and it’s the same place I get my water. Also whenever I get more water I have him test a sample of that as well.