Water problem!

[jojo22]

My water always has little peices of stuff floating around. I have heard really bad things about runing mechanical filters(i.e. a sponge in my aquaclear) but I don't know what else to do to get my water clear. Any help is appriciated

[graphixx]

what kind of stuff do yo have floating around in there??? does it look like bubbles or food or sand???? a little more input to properly answer your question.

[jojo22]

I'm not sure. It's so small that I only see it when the lights are on. I wish I could describe it better. It just looks like little specks of dust like you might see when sun shines thru a window.

[Dirt4dinner]

JoJo, I AM IN THE SAME SITUATION DUDE! I can't tell if it's micro-bubbles or if it's just sand...it's tiny, and they won't hold still so I can get a better look. :)

When the lights are off, the tank looks crystal clear, but when the lights come on, looks terrible.

[graphixx]

get a glass out and collect some water, if you have bubbles they will rise to the top of the glass and dissapate. if its a particulate matter it should settle on the bottom. an easy way to tell.

[jojo22]

I'll do that later this evening. I think it's matter because I watch some of it settel on the rock.

[jojo22]

JoJo, I AM IN THE SAME SITUATION DUDE! I can't tell if it's micro-bubbles or if it's just sand...it's tiny, and they won't hold still so I can get a better look. :)

When the lights are off, the tank looks crystal clear, but when the lights come on, looks terrible.

EXACTLY

[graphixx]

how old is the tank. when its a fairly new tank the substrate has no biologicals attached to it. over time nitrobacter and nitrosomas and even diatoms will attach to the substrate and give it a little weight so its not as hard to flow around. you may just have a slight sand storm in the tank

[jojo22]

tank is about 6 months old??

[unleashed]

there is nothing wrong with using filter media in your aquaclear filter as for hang on tank filters they have very efficiant media.my eel tank is filtered with one and the water is very clear.. best 3 cartrages they have used together sponge of course,carbon , and ceramic bios. ps aquaclear also make a surface skimmer attachment that are inexpencive easy to use and work very well(much better than below surface intake tube) and they attach right to your filter intake.

[jojo22]

would a surface skimmer help if my water surface is clear?

[unleashed]

yes it would still be usefull but not nessesary if your not getting that white film on the survace(sometimes that happens).i ran my 125 agressive tank on 2 aquaclear 110's for 3 1/2 yrs had great clear water no skimmer and one large powerhead .never had water quality issues when i maintained reg maintainance.i switched to a wet dry system and made more work myself(top offs daily ack)

[lReef lKeeper]

i agree with unleased on nothing being wrong with HOB filters and media. that is all i had when i was on a limited budget (out of work), and i never had a problem with anything getting out of whack. and i had less topping off to do. don't get me wrong, IMHO i think a sump is the way to go, but if you dont have one there is nothing wrong with HOB filters or thier media.

[unleashed]

although my new tank will have a large sump on it i will still be running machanical filter(canister) to keep water clear from waste particles

[jojo22]

thanks once again to all for the good advice

[spookey]

i have some white film on the survace of my tank what do i do?



chris

[unleashed]

i have some white film on the survace of my tank what do i do?



chris 2 remodies for that if you have a hang on filter get the aquaclear sureface skimmer i suggested to jojo. if thats the case you need to get better water movent on the surface to break that up until one can be purchased.one reason why so many hobbiest use overflows is because it eliminates this white film which accually causes lack of oxygen in aqauriums.surface skimming is a def must or some type in a reef tank. this is the product
http://www.aquabuys.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=aquaclear_ss&Category_Code=b3&Product_Count=5

much less expesive than the cost of just an overflow box i have one of these on 2 of my tanks and they ready do work

[sticky]

I am not sure if this is the same thing that you are having, but it sounds very close.

With my lights on when standing in front of the tank the water has a whiteish tint to it, if you go to the end of the tank it is hard to see from one end to the other because of the white build up. Almost a milky water look.

Mine was caused from a timer failure for my daylights when I was gone for a day leaving the lights on for almost 36 hours straight. Top that with an AC failure causing a tank temp spike into the mid to high 90s and my tank is under a lot of work right now.

But back to the white/milky water, there is alot of issues I am dealing with in my tank right now.

The white/milky buildup in my tank is cause from a bacterial bloom that happened in my tank. I did a 15G water change (I have a 55G tank). I then purchased some ALGONE and hooked up my UV Steralizer to my tank.

Monday evening: 15G Water Change
Tuesday evening: 5G Water Change, Added 1 Packet of ALGONE
Today: 5G Water Change, Hooked up UV Steralizer

I can see from one end of my tank to the other now. I would say out of all the bacterial bloom about 80% of it is gone now.

ALGONE, UV Steralizer, and water changes is what helped my issue in about 3 days. I figure by Friday my bacterial bloom should be undercontrol and I just have to get my levels back in check from the .. well that is a long story..

Anyways if you do have a bacterial bloom maybe this information might help you clean up your water as well.

[unleashed]

if your having cloudy water issues i suggest running carbons on your tank it helps alot to clear the water

[jojo22]

It's not cloudy it just has little specks of junk in it.

[unleashed]

It's not cloudy it just has little specks of junk in it. sticky also posted here with cloudy milky water so replied to him also sorry for the confusion