Help Req Please

[konica]

Hi Gang
First time poster so please be gentle!!!
I have been keeping freshwater tropicals for a few years now
I recently was given a 55g tank along with hood lighting unit HOB Filter, powerhead etc
Now my wee girl adores the Nemo film ( how many times have you heard that!!)
Anyway went down to East Lothian Aquatics on Sunday and got rid of of some Malawis which were becoming too big for the tank
Had chat to Phil who is really nice bloke by the way I asked about a fish only system with no live rock just coral sand and Tuffa rock
He seemed to think there was no real problem
Anyway I bought salt,a refractor,a new marine lamp a big bag of coral sand and a test kit

I cleaned the tank and the filter put the rocks in ,washed the sand then made up the water as per the instruction on the salt
then off to bed at midnight!!!
Got up this morning and the water is very cloudy I checked the test readings and the salinity and all seem to be ok
Have I not mixed up the water properly? or do you think it could be something else sorry for the long winded post
Any advice would be great

Konica

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

Hi Gang
First time poster so please be gentle!!!
I have been keeping freshwater tropicals for a few years now
I recently was given a 55g tank along with hood lighting unit HOB Filter, powerhead etc
Now my wee girl adores the Nemo film ( how many times have you heard that!!)
Anyway went down to East Lothian Aquatics on Sunday and got rid of of some Malawis which were becoming too big for the tank
Had chat to Phil who is really nice bloke by the way I asked about a fish only system with no live rock just coral sand and Tuffa rock
He seemed to think there was no real problem
Anyway I bought salt,a refractor,a new marine lamp a big bag of coral sand and a test kit

I cleaned the tank and the filter put the rocks in ,washed the sand then made up the water as per the instruction on the salt
then off to bed at midnight!!!
Got up this morning and the water is very cloudy I checked the test readings and the salinity and all seem to be ok
Have I not mixed up the water properly? or do you think it could be something else soory for the long winded post
Any advice would be great

Konica

Konica,

Keeping a fish only tank without LR can be done, BUT it is a lot easier to maintain with it. It means a bigger outlay to begin with but it is worth it, because I can guarantee that after a couple of months you will want to start keeping corals too. I gave up 25 tanks full of malawis for 1 marine tank and never regretted it but I prefer corals to fish. The movement that corals add to a tank is amazing, and it is more natural for the fish.
Personally I wouldn't use Tufa rock, it crumbles too easily and can leach nasties it has absorbed back into the water. It maybe the rock that is causing the cloudy water? The other thing I would ask is what sort of water did you use to set the tank up? If you used tapwater, you could be in for a lot of problems later on. Although the water is good up in Scotland, most people use RO water for mixing up salt water (myself included and my tapwater has a tds reading of 17!) so hopefully the lfs man will have advised you of this before letting you go. The other reason could be that you didn't clean the sand before settting it up.
Let us know how it is going now.

 

[konica]

Hi There
Thanks for the quick reply
I washed the sand and the rocks were from my old malawi tank so I thought they would be ok
Phil at the LFS said I could use tap water as here in Scotland the water is a lot better I also used a conditioner

I am at work at the mo so I cannot check the tank
As for live rock I may go down that road eventually but at the mo I just wanted a fish only system
Thanks Again
Konica

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

Hi There
Thanks for the quick reply
I washed the sand and the rocks were from my old malawi tank so I thought they would be ok
Phil at the LFS said I could use tap water as here in Scotland the water is a lot better I also used a conditioner

I am at work at the mo so I cannot check the tank
As for live rock I may go down that road eventually but at the mo I just wanted a fish only system
Thanks Again
Konica

For a fish only tank, you could probably use tap water with no ill effects but if you decide after a while you want to keep corals too, you would be faced with the task of replacing the whole tank full of water. See what it looks like when you get home and if it's still cloudy we can suggest some things that may help.
You should have seen what colour my tank water went when I re-arranged it

 

[konica]

Hi Again
Thanks for the advice
I will have a wee look when I get home
Do you think it could be the salt?
Maybe I did not mix it properly
Anyway thanks again I suppose I should do a wee bit work now!!!!

 

[SkiFletch]

Cloudiness in new tanks is one of two things. Either your sand was not washed well enough and it's suspended dust particles in the tank, or you're having a precipitation reaction removing calcium and carbonate into microscopic insoluble salts. What's your pH? And are you running the filter?

FYI, even if you buy just a little chunk of LR, it will help cycle your tank MUCH faster. Its like using a small cloned filter

 

[konica]

Hi
Yes I am running the filter and the Ph is 8.0-8.2
Hope thats ok
I might nip down to the LFS after work and get a few kilos of live rock
Can I mix the two types together?
Thanks again
Konica

 

[n3ont3tra]

IDK about the cloudiness, but you can mix different types of rock. Like fiji, tonga, etc.

 

[konica]

Got home from work and the tank is still cloudy
I have set up another filter and have changed the carbons in both
I will run them tonight and have a look in the morning
Oh the readings are all ok
Heres hoping for a better result in the morning
I am going to buy a few lumps of live rock tomorrow anyway and see if it makes a difference
Thanks for all the replies and help
Konica

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

Konica,
When you put the LR into the tank, rotate it underwater a few times to release any air bubbles that are trapped inside them.
You can mix LR and tufa, but the tufa won't help the filtration properties of the LR in anyway which is why I was suggesting you use all LR to set up in the first place as it gives you much more flexibility in the long run. Filter floss in the external filters will help if it is sand that hasn't been cleaned properly.

 

[konica]

Konica,
When you put the LR into the tank, rotate it underwater a few times to release any air bubbles that are trapped inside them.
You can mix LR and tufa, but the tufa won't help the filtration properties of the LR in anyway which is why I was suggesting you use all LR to set up in the first place as it gives you much more flexibility in the long run. Filter floss in the external filters will help if it is sand that hasn't been cleaned properly.

Morning
Thanks for the advice
Got up this morning and no change
I am going to change the water and buy some filter wool
I plan to get some live rock as well
Oh I did not put the tufa rock in as per your suggestion
One more question it may sound daft!!
Can I run a air stone or air curtain in a marine tank?
All the best
Konica

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

Morning
Thanks for the advice
Got up this morning and no change
I am going to change the water and buy some filter wool
I plan to get some live rock as well
Oh I did not put the tufa rock in as per your suggestion
One more question it may sound daft!!
Can I run a air stone or air curtain in a marine tank?
All the best
Konica

Morning to you too Shame you are having to change the water already, but if you feel you have to then doing it now will be easier than when you had fish in the tank.
There are a few reefers around you if you go onto one of the specialist sites that I'm sure could help you out with RO water or maybe try the guy from ELA but he will probably charge you for it. I will pm you a couple of them Good choice in leaving the tufa rock out, what sort of rocks do you have in there?
You can run an airstone/curtain but most people have a powerhead pointing at the surface to aid gas exchange. Too many bubbles can be bad for marine fish IIRC.

 

[konica]

I think the rocks are ocean rock or lava rock
I bought them such a long time ago
Cheers for the advice about the air stone ,will buy a decent powerhead when I get the chance
Konica

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

ocean rock displaces a lot of water for it's size, full of holes and is white in colour. lava rock is usually brown and has sharp bits on it.
look at the seio range of powerheads, pretty cheap but reasonable quality for what you pay.

 

[konica]

ocean rock displaces a lot of water for it's size, full of holes and is white in colour. lava rock is usually brown and has sharp bits on it.
look at the seio range of powerheads, pretty cheap but reasonable quality for what you pay.

It is deffo Ocean rock as its very heavy and sort of off white in colour
I will drain the tank boil the rocks, clean the sand again
Off to buy a powerhead and filter wool and if the wallet will stretch to it some live rock
Cheers
Konica