750 gallons of cloudy water - why??

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Can you put some filter socks in the sump to help as the mechanical. Wish you were closer. I can polish that water for you in a snap.
 
bonesb66 said:
I've added mature filter media into the sump, conditioned all the new water and tested before adding fish several times, ammonia nil, retested several times, ammonia nil.



The HMA puts fresh water in the tank yes, it comes from the mains, goes through the HMA unit and then the fresh water goes into the tank, the tank would overflow at this rate quickly so there is a hole in the sump for excess water to overflow.

All the water from the HMA is fresh from the mains just filtered before it reaches the tank - almost like the units they put on fridges where you just get a trickle come out - that trickle goes into the tank, i thought all that new water constantly would dilute the sand particles and clean it up, it has done a great deal but progress has now slown down dramatically.

I will definitely look into some proper filter polishing pads as you could be right about this foam having too large a holes - any recommendations?
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Pretty cool, then you shouldn't have to do water changes much as the water in your tank is constantly being replaced. These should be fine http://www.thatpetplace.com/fluval-polishing-pad-fx5-fine-white-3pk. Just add a whole bunch of these to the FX5 and I think you'll be good and some of this http://www.thatpetplace.com/pond-care-accu-clear-1-gal.

I've got one other suggestion that I think will help your tanks overall health and appearance in the long run a UV sterilizer. They greatly reduce the amount of algae and other harmful organisms like ich. In a tank the size of yours I'm imagining your going to want to do everything you can to keep the water quality as good as you can and the sterilizer will help to that end.
 
I did the same thing with my 600, even with fx5, eheim 2260x2, sump with hammerhead cycling 5600gph, it's been a good month now my water is just starting to clear up. I'm running 3 socks, 2 are 200 micros and 1 is 100 micro which helps a lot. Eventually your water will settle and clear up once your filter establish itself. Wait it out or you can polish your tank, worst case start over.




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The tank went cloudy and started to settle after a few days with the RO unit on full blast (it changed the tank once every 23 hours
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Just because you put the same gallonage of water through the tank does not mean you have replaced all of the water.

You may be overestimating the effectiveness of a trickle system. Because only diluted water is leaving the tank, the new water is easily dispersed and becomes a mere fraction of the existing water. My LFS used to try doing water changes like this, with a siphon draining while the hose was filling. They had no idea they were chasing their tails until I convinced them to test the water before and after. By diluting the water you're removing, you are removing less waste per volume of water as it leaves. When you do a normal water change with drain and fill, you are removing the waste very efficiently because it is not diluted. So you can see, by your dust, how efficient your drip system really is. Have you checked the nitrates to see how they compare to normally maintained tanks?
 
If you have access to one, my recommendation is the Vortex or Marineland Magnum filter with the micron sleeve. For even finer filtering you can use diatomaceous earth with either brand. If the cloudiness is from the sand, that will take it out.
 
kendragon said:
Can you put some filter socks in the sump to help as the mechanical. Wish you were closer. I can polish that water for you in a snap.
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Filter socks are what i want for my mechanical but unfortunately the company building the tank forgot to put two glass runners in for me to sit a perspex plate on to rest a filter sock in so i have to silicone the glass rims in place - whilst the sumps up and running

koltsix said:
Pretty cool, then you shouldn't have to do water changes much as the water in your tank is constantly being replaced. These should be fine http://www.thatpetplace.com/fluval-polishing-pad-fx5-fine-white-3pk. Just add a whole bunch of these to the FX5 and I think you'll be good and some of this http://www.thatpetplace.com/pond-care-accu-clear-1-gal.

I've got one other suggestion that I think will help your tanks overall health and appearance in the long run a UV sterilizer. They greatly reduce the amount of algae and other harmful organisms like ich. In a tank the size of yours I'm imagining your going to want to do everything you can to keep the water quality as good as you can and the sterilizer will help to that end.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the recommendation - i will try some of the filter polishing pads and i had thought about a UV, its in the conservatory so algea is an issue - this UV idea could help with that aswel as clearing the water, i read somewhere your fish become dependent on a UV and have weaker immune systems, is this true?

Sonny503 said:
I did the same thing with my 600, even with fx5, eheim 2260x2, sump with hammerhead cycling 5600gph, it's been a good month now my water is just starting to clear up. I'm running 3 socks, 2 are 200 micros and 1 is 100 micro which helps a lot. Eventually your water will settle and clear up once your filter establish itself. Wait it out or you can polish your tank, worst case start over.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Click to expand...

Starting over again is not an option, a friends tank front pane accidentally fell off at the one end whilst full so his fully stocked 320G had to be re-homed, my 7x2x2 wouldn't copy with the amount of fish, not to mention its two occupants, my girlfriends 2 mollies :naughty:

knifegill said:
Just because you put the same gallonage of water through the tank does not mean you have replaced all of the water.

You may be overestimating the effectiveness of a trickle system. Because only diluted water is leaving the tank, the new water is easily dispersed and becomes a mere fraction of the existing water. My LFS used to try doing water changes like this, with a siphon draining while the hose was filling. They had no idea they were chasing their tails until I convinced them to test the water before and after. By diluting the water you're removing, you are removing less waste per volume of water as it leaves. When you do a normal water change with drain and fill, you are removing the waste very efficiently because it is not diluted. So you can see, by your dust, how efficient your drip system really is. Have you checked the nitrates to see how they compare to normally maintained tanks?
Click to expand...


I'm aware that although 100% tank water goes in it is diluted and new water overflows along with old water - there is a calculator for this on here and i believe mine comes out at around a 65% water change a day, it's still pretty decent what ever it is and eliminates the need for water change - i know this because people who know more about fish, filtration, and the hobby - not the mention the larger tank than me they have has done it themselves and it works fine for them.

I appreciate that doing one big fat water change may cut the nitrates more drastically because the fresh water won't be diluted and then polluted like on a drip system, the point is this is a tank far to large for me to siphon out of and refill with a bucket, the seachem prime would cost me an arm and a leg, it would cost me hours on a Sunday and frankly ruin my enjoyment by becoming a burden, due to this method not being as effective i simply turn up the drip so i do more volume in water change and this compensates for the less efficient method that it is compared to the large water change on a Sunday.

Grundsau said:
If you have access to one, my recommendation is the Vortex or Marineland Magnum filter with the micron sleeve. For even finer filtering you can use diatomaceous earth with either brand. If the cloudiness is from the sand, that will take it out.
Click to expand...


i don't know if i have access to those filters which you kindly recommended, perhaps you could tell me more about them as they could be what i require? I am in the UK so perhaps names could be different or we might have an alternative product??
 
I'm aware that although 100% tank water goes in it is diluted and new water overflows along with old water - there is a calculator for this on here and i believe mine comes out at around a 65% water change a day, it's still pretty decent what ever it is and eliminates the need for water change - i know this because people who know more about fish, filtration, and the hobby - not the mention the larger tank than me they have has done it themselves and it works fine for them.

I appreciate that doing one big fat water change may cut the nitrates more drastically because the fresh water won't be diluted and then polluted like on a drip system, the point is this is a tank far to large for me to siphon out of and refill with a bucket, the seachem prime would cost me an arm and a leg, it would cost me hours on a Sunday and frankly ruin my enjoyment by becoming a burden, due to this method not being as effective i simply turn up the drip so i do more volume in water change and this compensates for the less efficient method that it is compared to the large water change on a Sunday.
Click to expand...

Yes, good! Just didn't know how much you knew. And if the flow rate is super high, it more than compensates. And it's so stable, which is good for some species of fish.
 
Just had a thought about this.

Things aren't getting any better, the tank is in the conservatory so a hell of a lot of light.

Could this be causing the cloudiness?
 
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