Dirty tank

[nd200]

I have had a Red Sea max c250 aquarium for about a year and a half at this point and so far am not entirely pleased with the system. I'm not sure if it is me or the tank it's self but for some reason I have had clear water for maybe one week total out of the one year plus, that I have had the tank. There is what appears to be small dust particles floating all around the tank and it also has a haze. I can not for the life of me figure out what it is. I have tried almost everything. I have very course sand. A uv sterilizer. The stock filtration and occasionally run a diatom filter. I used to have a canister filter but I found that it did more harm than good. I have lots of corals that are for the most part thriving. A good amount of fish but not too many. Yet for some reason I can not get the water clear and I have decently high nitrates and just recently a very large algae bloom. There is nothing that I can think of that would be causing high nitrates. I change 20 gallons out per week. And only feed one cube of brine shrimp a day and every 3 days I feed my anemone 3 krill that all get eaten. There is also a film on the top of the water. The exact specs of the tank are listed below.


-Red Sea max c250 with everything installed correctly (I have checked several times even he someone else from my local fish store come look to insure that it is all installed properly)
-2 clownfish. 2 cardinal fish and one baby cardinal. And a wrass.
-1.025 salinity 0 ammonia 0 nitrate 30ppm nitrates 8.3 ph 11 dkh
Light run for 10 hours a day.
I have an mp40 and an mp10 for circulation.
And a true temp heater.
Plenty of snails and hermit crabs. 2 emerald crabs and a star fish. Along with 2 cleaner shrimp

Another issue I am having is very hot water. When the heater is plugged in it is never running. The water stays at 80.3 degrees and I have checked this with 3 thermometers so not sure what is heating my tank if there is no heater. I am starting to get very frustrated with the cloudy water/high heat and high nitrates. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am only 15 years old and am extremely thankful for my parents willingness to help me in the succes of this tank but it is starting to become very discouraging as I am kind of at a loss for what to do and it would kill me to have to give up on the tank.

 

[mr_tap_water]

Hi there
With the film on the surface try pointing at least one of your flow pumps to the surface which will help get rid of it.

With your water clarity there could be a number of reasons why, first thing I would try is to use some active carbon, And even a Phos remover Will help to.

You say you have a large algae bloom, so I would imagine your Phos levels must be high, again try using a phos remover.

In my opinion you only need to feed your anemone once a week at The most and some would say does not need to be fed at all as good lighting is all they need ,which may help with your No3 to a degree.

As for your temperature I wouldn't worry too much if it's staying stable at 8.3, but if you wish to bring it down try adding a small fan pointed at the surface, or if you have condensation covers try leaving them off .


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[nd200]

Hi there
With the film on the surface try pointing at least one of your flow pumps to the surface which will help get rid of it.

With your water clarity there could be a number of reasons why, first thing I would try is to use some active carbon, And even a Phos remover Will help to.

You say you have a large algae bloom, so I would imagine your Phos levels must be high, again try using a phos remover.

In my opinion you only need to feed your anemone once a week at The most and some would say does not need to be fed at all as good lighting is all they need ,which may help with your No3 to a degree.

As for your temperature I wouldn't worry too much if it's staying stable at 8.3, but if you wish to bring it down try adding a small fan pointed at the surface, or if you have condensation covers try leaving them off .


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Sorry. I completely forgot to mention that I have a reactor hooked up that has both carbon and Gfo in it. I change it when I notice my phosfates start to rise. I also have one of the pumps pointed up so it stirs the top up. It just seems to push the film around

 

[mr_tap_water]

If you have One flow pump at each end and pointing towards each other to the top of the surface that should help get rid of it, if not I would recommend a you invest in a surface skimmer which will definitely do the job.
With the water clarity how often are you changing your active carbon and what are the readings of the Phos, and when was your UV tube last replaced,
All this said about water clarity could just be down to a chemistry thing where things are going on in your system that just need to settle in there own time and can happen to all of us no matter how old our system is.


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[nd200]

If you have One flow pump at each end and pointing towards each other to the top of the surface that should help get rid of it, if not I would recommend a you invest in a surface skimmer which will definitely do the job.
With the water clarity how often are you changing your active carbon and what are the readings of the Phos, and when was your UV tube last replaced,
All this said about water clarity could just be down to a chemistry thing where things are going on in your system that just need to settle in there own time and can happen to all of us no matter how old our system is.


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I have the two return pumps facing up words the surface and twords the center of the tank. And one mp40 at one end of the tank and an mp10 at the other end facing it. All my water readings seem perfect. And the phosfates are somewhere between 0 and .2 or .02 I forget witch one. Just not quite zero but very close. It's just very weird because the tank has been like this forever and every reading I can take is perfect

 

[Florida Sunshine]

My first thought is that perhaps the cloudiness is actually microbubbles. Try turning off all of the pumps for about 30 minutes and see if it clears at all. If it does, it could be either microbubbles or your pumps stirring up sand or other debris.
You should also re-consider your feeding. IMO you are feeding too much for those fish but also feeding brine exclusively is a bad idea. It has very little nutrition and is often described as "popcorn for fish".
Try mysis or better yet a food that contains a variety of seafood and try feeding 1/2 a block a day instead of a whole.

 

[radicalrob1981]

I run a 55 g 36x18x20. I always have clear water. I run no sump. No reactors. I use ro water and instant ocean salt. It keeps my kh at 10 consistently. I run my two 420 Koralia powerheads and , aquaclear 50 with chemi pure elite and filter floss. I always change out my filter floss as soon as it starts to turn brown. Big bags of it are cheap at your lfs. It helps keep your water crystal clear. My skimmer doesn't produce much or any micro bubbles. And my nitrates never go higher than 5 ppm. Use a powerhead to blast the surface. That will end your surface scum. Filter floss is amazing. It picks up everything. Chemi pure elite is maybe no miracle product but it definitely made my water extra clear and it was already pretty clean looking. I recommend algone pads if you have high nitrates. For instance, my 30 gallon freshwater tank always had high nitrates. Because my tap water has slight ammonia. They were at 80 ppm. I did a 10 gallon water change and put one of those pads in. The next day they were 10. They've done wonders for my freshwater and I always run one in my aquaclear in my saltwater tank.

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[radicalrob1981]

My tank stock is 1 yellow watchman goby. 1 fire shrimp. 2 false clowns. 1 neon dottyback and 1 bi color Blenny. I have 1 rbta. 1 toadstool. 1 Zoa. 1 paly. 1 hammer

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[nanoreefing4fun]

@radicalrob1981

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