cloudy water (help)

[the raz]

ive had my tank running for almost 4 weeks and ive had LR in it for three. my cycle just ended i now have 0 ammonia ,0 nitrite, 0 nitrate ,0 phosphate ,alk 8.0, calc. 450 , meg/l 3.5 and my ph is 8.2 but i noticed toward the end of my nitrite cycle that my water got cloudy and it has gotten a little better but not much . can some one please tell me why i have white cloudy water? what i should do if any thing at all ? and is this normal for a newly set up sw tank with LR in it ?

[the raz]

i forgot to add that i have an H.O.B filter and im running floss pads that carbon and my secondary cartridges have carbon in them and i run a super skimmer 125 and i have a 4.5 in. dsb with 60 lbs baserock and 45 lbs LR

[tdwyatt]

Pull out the floss and run just carbon for a while in your cannister, after this clears up, stop using the cannister at all, so long as you have good LR.

Test your water. We need to know salinity, pH, alkalinity and calcium levels by testing using good quality test kits (like Salifert kits). Make a list of ANY additives you're using in the system now, including any food additives. If you're feeding the tank now, stop.

Are you the only person that puts dditives (and food) in the system? Give us an idea of how much of everything you're putting onto the tank, including your top offs, brand of salt, and what type of top off water you're using every day. Give us a list of what you do to make your water changes, and also list anything you're putting into your top off water (remember, it is FW for topoffs, better to use only RO/DI freshwater, no additives)


HTH

[Loverotties]

Tom covered it all!

[the raz]

my salinity is in between 1.023 to 1.024 , ammonia 0 , nitrite 0 , nitrate 0 , ph 8.2 day and about 8.1to 8.0 night , meq/l 3.5 , calc. 420 . i top off every other to every third day with DI water and i drip a minimal dose of kalkwasser every day have not done a water change since cycle ended because i have yet to see my nitrates climb . and im using a H.O.B not a canister. i hope ive included every thing you need know .thanx

[xtopher]

how fast are you adding the kalk? this may be what is creating the cloudiness. If your calcium is at 400 stop dosing the kalk until you have corals that are uptaking the calcium. keep running just carbon as well

[the raz]

i made a gallon mix of kalk and poor it in to 10 oz cups and poke a small hole in it so it only drips about 1 drop per second and i do that per day and maintain a calc. of about 420 .

[titanfan]

How long are you allowing the kalk to settle after mixing it? Are you using the whole mix or skimming off the top of it? I'm not trying to flame just help.. but I am curious why you are using kalk on a tank so new. Water changes would be a much better safer way of adding calcium as your tank has no need for the high concentration of calcium provided by kalk. What kind of corals are you planning on keeping?

"have not done a water change since cycle ended because i have yet to see my nitrates climb "

Why wait and then have to treat a problem? Why not do water changes so a problem never presents itself?

To answer your question though no a cloudy tank is not normal. Only things that should cause it maybe right after a cycle is lottsa mircobubbles or a sandstorm caused by flow. Both of these may give it a cloudy look.

-Chris