Complexity

What could be causing my tank to go from clear to cloudy when I dose trace ferts and iron? It's not being caused by my UVS this time.

I've had a little bit of cloudiness in my 75g ever since I moved the tank. I thought it was a bacterial bloom since water changes had to affect, but the tank is cycled now.

This morning, I was happy to see that the water was clear. However, after dosing trace ferts and iron, the cloudiness has returned.

This is the very same cloudiness I had when the UVS was causing the trace ferts to precipitate. But this time, the UVS is turned off so it can't be that.

Could carbon being messing with the tank? I added carbon to my filtration when the snail died and stunk things up, but I didn't remove it. It's only been a few weeks. I added purigen last week, but that doesn't seem to be doing much (I don't have colored water; it's a hazy cloudy water).

I'll go ahead and remove the carbon from the Eheim, but I somehow don't think the carbon is the culprit.

I do run my UVS at night for 2 hours, but by the time I dosed the trace, the UVS had been off for 9 hours since it's last run. I also double checked, and the UVS is indeed off. I cannot see how the UVS could be doing this when the water is clear and then becomes cloudy when I dose the trace ferts while the UVS is still off during that tie.

Anyone have any idea what else could be causing this?

Cavan Allen

Is your water hard?

http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs/FlourishIron.html

HeyPK

It is most likely some of the iron precipitating out. Try putting in the ferts without the iron or the iron without the ferts. If it is some of the iron precipitating out, it is only an appearance issue. There is nothing harmful in the precipitate. You can get a precipitate with iron gluconate if the pH is high or if there is a lot of phosphate dissolved in the water.

davemonkey

I used to get cloudiness when dosing iron, but it was because I dosed my macros at the same time and the iron precipitated out due to the phosphorus (or potassium...can't remember which one reacts with it... ) . Anyhow, I have not had any notable issues with it lately when I dose micros and iron.

I use tap water, too. Maybe the water is not as hard on the "East-Side" .

BTW, are you coming to the NASH meeting Saturday? It's close to your side of town.

Complexity

It's probably the iron then. Yes, my water is hard. I dose my iron on my trace dosing days, but having the iron be the culprit fits with my water clearing up and then being cloudy again after dosing my trace and iron.

I just got my order of dry chelated iron so maybe I'll have better luck with it. I may also be having issues with my UVS and the iron. I'll try making some changes to see what works and what doesn't. Just knowing which element to target helps a lot.

Thanks for the help from everyone.

Dave, I didn't know about the NASH meeting this Saturday. I don't see any reason why I can't come. I suppose there's an announcement of the time and place in the NASH forum? I'll take a look. I would love to come! It would be so much fun to meet you all.