What could cause a hazy tank?

[kappaknight]

I'm just wondering if there are any ideas than the usual ones...

A couple of days ago, my tank started getting really hazy... I've tried a couple of things to make it better but it hasn't reversed the issue.

The last time this happened, I think we cooked something that had a lot of smoke but after adding carbon it cleared it up. It didn't work this time.

I don't have a place for a micron sock.. so can't do that...

However, other than adding a tang and cleaning out my fuge, I'm really not sure what's causing this haze... could it be lotion? Sand stirrer? Anything else out of the ordinary?

I had my water tested today at Nemo Fish and they said my water is perfect... which is a lil strange since I've never tested my water nor do I measure the salt I pour into the mixing bucket...

Anyway, I'd love some input... any kind of input!

 

[james s_]

Do you have anenome's or drip kalk?Im trying to think what else could cause Haziness,unless you have little ones that may have dropped something in your tank.Do you dose anything?

 

[kappaknight]

I dose kalk very sparingly. It's not an ATO but rather a gravity fed drip that drips once every couple of seconds. I've been using that system w/o too much problems before...

Hrmm, I did add some vinegar to the mix to help overload the kalk mixture... I guess it's possible that I may have put in too much of that? Not sure what a bacteria bloom looks like...

no little ones... unless my dogs have developed mischievous human brains.

 

[kappaknight]

So I read some more... and it seems like this could be a bacterial bloom since the hazy is grayish and not yellow or green.

Now my question is... could extra vinegar in the kalk mix could have caused this? The other possibly sugar if there are any were the cocoa butter lotion I had on my arm... Other than those two I don't think anything else was added.

 

[ouling]

The only way to tell is acutally testing your calcium, Mg, and carbonates. If your calcium is at 340-380 then you know whats going on. If thats the case then i'm 99.44% sure it's caused by adding too much calcium hydroxide too quickly, which is causing your carbonates and calcium along with magnesium to fall out of solution. Nothing you can do but wait, check your water tomorrow morning or afternoon, it will clear up, but you're probably going to be in for a surprise when it comes to carbonates and calcium readings.

I don't know how adding vinegar could actually help lower the kalking wasser in your tank already. What 5% distilled vinegar does is just lower the pH, the moment kalking wasser hits the water, the Ca(OH)2 becomes Ca+ and OH- ionically, and the OH- ion gets lost in the water and makes it a basic solution. Adding vinegar simply makes the pH go down and does not cause any bacteria to die unless you lowerd the pH to <7.6, which should be 1/4-1/2 half a gallon. Once you have too much calcium in your water, depending on your magnesium concentration of the tank, your calcium and magnesium starts falling out quickly, and it does not just falls out to the point of magnesium limitation, beause the thing drags out magnesium and carbonate out also (chemical unbalanced), after it clears up, your tanks pH, Mag, Ca, CO3 will all be lower than before you OD'd the kalking wasser.

Sugar actually lowers nitrate and aid bacteria. You have to dose 4+oz of a complex sucrose+fructose source to have any effect.

I'm not going to be pecular and hold that stupid negative feedback against you and tell you how to fix it.

Test your water and go to this site to calculate your stuff, a water change isn't going to help unless you do it 80-100%

http://reef.diesyst.com/">http://reef.diesyst.com/</a> Add only balanced calcium, such as reef advantage powder or reef complete, Seachems reef calcium is just going to make things worse for you.

You will need to dose like this:
Get dKH to at least 6 dkh first,
then Mg to 1300 (use espom salt is fine, but you may need to add 1lb of it), Last thing is to add calcium to 380ppm.
After a few days then start balancing your calcium and baking soda to maybe 420/12dkh, use washing soda if you have low pH.
You can also use Kalking Wasser if your calcium is at 380ppm, just need to use 5 gallons of it tho.

 

[sprayin70]

I once used vinager when I had a border line kalk crash a while back. the next few days my tank was cloudy from the bacteria. I just did water changes and skimmed very wet and it went away on it's own. Here is a pic of my bloom.
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[ouling]

How does distilled vinegar cause a bacteria bloom?
We're not talking about apple vinegar right?

 

[james s_]

ouling;50354 wrote: How does distilled vinegar cause a bacteria bloom?
We're not talking about apple vinegar right?

There may have been something in the vinegar that he was not aware of.Who knows.Thats why I try not to dose anything,and just rely on water changes and skimming.It seems to have worked well for me in the last couple years.When I start dosing things is when I normally have trouble.

 

[washowi]

Spawning of corals?

 

[kappaknight]

washowi;50366 wrote: Spawning of corals?

Can't tell yet but I don't think I'm that lucky...

 

[kappaknight]

Sprayin70;50353 wrote: I once used vinager when I had a border line kalk crash a while back. the next few days my tank was cloudy from the bacteria. I just did water changes and skimmed very wet and it went away on it's own. Here is a pic of my bloom.

Yeah... I think I may be in a similar situation. I'm overloading kalk into the 5 gallon mixture by adding some distilled vinegar. I guess my question is, are there any sugars in the vinegar that could cause a bloom similar to dosing vodka or sugar?

So far nothing seems negatively affected.

 

[ouling]

look. I've added one bottle of calcium gluconate (complex sucrose/glucose) into the tank before. There are no sugar in vinegar, trust me, no sugar in vinegar. It is not a bacteria bloom, PERIOD. it is calcium supersaturation, and the tiny white stuff is calcium and carbonates and magnesium no longer being ionic in your water. It is not bacteria bloom! I've tested water in Key West where the bacteria count was extremely extremelyl high but the water was crystal clear.

 

[ouling]

kappaknight;50373 wrote: I'm overloading kalk into the 5 gallon mixture by adding some distilled vinegar. I guess my question is, are there any sugars in the vinegar that could cause a bloom similar to dosing vodka or sugar?

So far nothing seems negatively affected.

How is that going to help? There is absolutely no sugar in vinegar. It is distilled... I've added 12oz of Gluconic acids into my tank before (complex sucrose/glucose) and i never seen the white stuff. It is calcium precipitation, along with some magnesium. Why are you not listening to my advice? Wait a day or two it will clear, I doubt bacteria will clear up on its own... ridiculous idea, how is bacteria going to cloud the water to that degree? I've tested water in key west many many times for my lab class and the water there in summer time where the sea grass rots have an enormous amount of bacteria but it was pretty clear.

Since you don't test your water, the problem may have been going on for a long time, and today you probably just hit the max on your calcium and stuff starts to come out. GO TEST YOUR WATER AND COME BACK WITH SOME REAL DATA. IT ISN'T BACTERIA...

 

[cameron]

I would go with spawning activity (snails are known to cloudy the hell out of a tank) or calcium precipitation.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

How about ammonia?

 

[nishant3789]

do you have any sand sifting gobies in your tank by any chance?

 

[cameron]

Great point on the goby... mine dusts up my tank quite frequently.

 

[nishant3789]

yeah our diamond goby makes such a mess in our stores 72.

 

[FutureInterest]

I think it was a bacterial bloom from the acetic acid in the vinegar. Any hydrocarbon source can cause a bloom...

 

[nishant3789]

how much lotion did you have on your arm? lotion = oil = organic compounds that could feed some bacteria