Cloudy Water On New Setup

[Seg]

Hi there again. Just set up a small tank today, put marine sand in, added water (from my lfs), put in some LR in, pumps on, heater on. About an hour after setup I noticed the water was cloudy. Could this be bacteria bloom or something else.

Thanks
Simon

 

[IIITYIII]

Hi there again. Just set up a small tank today, put marine sand in, added water (from my lfs), put in some LR in, pumps on, heater on. About an hour after setup I noticed the water was cloudy. Could this be bacteria bloom or something else.

Thanks
Simon

give it a day or 2 to clear up...its most likely the stand and everything stirred up. i bet you within a day or 2 your water will be nice and clear.

 

[Seg]

Thanks, I will do that. I think I just worry too much. When is a good time to send the CUC in?

 

[Crazy fishes]

You need to cycle and monitor water parameters before even thinking about the CUC. May I suggest you read LOTS and LOTS of literature while the tank is cycling it pays dividends!!

Regards

 

[Seg]

Ok will do. How often do you recommend checking the water parameters? Also, when do you think I should make the first water change and how much?
Thanx
Si

 

[IIITYIII]

Ok will do. How often do you recommend checking the water parameters? Also, when do you think I should make the first water change and how much?
Thanx
Si

you wanna hear my opinion of cycling a tank....when you first put your sand and rock in and water its going to be cloudy its going to look like crap it always does...like is said it will clear..before you think of putting anything in your tank let it run and cycle for about a week within that time your water should raise and drop again. thats how i have done both my tanks and havent had a single problem. and once you start putting things in your tank (dont overload it at once) you most likely will have a brown algae spike. so dont freak out when it happens. once that happens get snails maybe some black turbos and a big or maybe a few mexican turbo snails, they seem to do a good job. so like i said earlier let your tank cycle for a week before you attempt to put anything in it. as for the water change i cycled my tank for a week put my stuff in and let it run another week then i did one. i stopped doing bi weekly though i do 5 gallons every week.

 

[Seg]

Thanks for the good advice. As you said yesterday about the tank, clearing, it has started to and looks alot better today. Do you think I should add a small amount of food to the tank to aid the cycling process as you do with Tropical? I won't be adding any livestock to the tank just yet. Are snails the best thing to add after cycling? Could I put cleaner shrimp in there or should I stick with the snails?

Thanks for the great advice.

Si.

 

[SkiFletch]

Just sit tight and let the LR do it's job

 

[IIITYIII]

Thanks for the good advice. As you said yesterday about the tank, clearing, it has started to and looks alot better today. Do you think I should add a small amount of food to the tank to aid the cycling process as you do with Tropical? I won't be adding any livestock to the tank just yet. Are snails the best thing to add after cycling? Could I put cleaner shrimp in there or should I stick with the snails?

Thanks for the great advice.

Si.

like i said earlier let it clear up and do its thing before you add anything. the hardest part about cycling is patience. if you have rock in there let it cycle for a week and maybe add a pair of clowns or something since they are hardy. if i were you i wouldnt add snails untill you have your first brown algae spike because they wont have much to graze on.

 

[Seg]

Great stuff thanks. So you reckon to add a pair of clowns after a week then? I have seen some beautifull domino ones. Could I mix the two or would you suggest 2 of the same?

Si

 

[IIITYIII]

uhm im not too sure ive had bad luck mixing clowns so I personally do not recommend others might say different. but as a overall answer yes clowns are very hardy fish and if you like them i would suggest for them to be the first because they are hardy. cleaner shrimps im not to sure how hardy they are but they do make great additions to a reef tank! i say if the clowns do good then id say its safe to start adding just dont overload it too fast.

 

[Seg]

Thanx TY. I think I will go for 2 tomato clowns, they look really nice. Gonna wait till end of month to give tank a good chance to cycle and settle down. Looking good at the moment though, crystal clear water, making my tropical tank look bad even though the water quality in there is bang on. Need to add some more live rock, going to do that this week, then that should be about it till the end of month.

 

[IIITYIII]

Thanx TY. I think I will go for 2 tomato clowns, they look really nice. Gonna wait till end of month to give tank a good chance to cycle and settle down. Looking good at the moment though, crystal clear water, making my tropical tank look bad even though the water quality in there is bang on. Need to add some more live rock, going to do that this week, then that should be about it till the end of month

thats good. hope it goes well.

 

[Seg]

Thanx M8, will keep posting as I go on.