wetbehindears

Ok so sometimes when I top off my tank the watter gets a tad cloudy, I always make sure the temp of the top off water is within .5 of the tanks water.
(no hood or cover and T5 lighting I have a decent ammount of evap going on)

Also today I just added some more plants and did a water change around 5-6 gallons temp was matched perfectly.

Iam using tap water that I treat and leave in water tubs for about a week with air holes

My tanks PH is usually around 7.4-7.6
My tap is damn close to that

I just checked my tanks PH after the water change and it was at 7.6ish



Any ideas??

wetbehindears

anyone?

mudboots

Good question, for which I'll give a mediocre answer. My best guess is that you are getting a miniature bacterial bloom in the new water, like when setting up a new tank. Maybe there's something in there they like. Other than that I'm just not sure. I've never experienced this.

wi_blue

How big are the water changes? Does you tap water have a lot of sediment in it? Could you be stirring up debris in the tank (plant mark, fish waste...)?

Philosophos

What's your substrate? Do you gravel vac? What Kind of filter? How long does it last?

-Philosophos

wetbehindears

Im not sure on whats exactly in my water, but by a fellow saltwater reefer and a few local shops say that our water is actually rather clean, I have used treated tap on my salt reef tank for a year now with not one problem.

I run 2 aqua clears for now one AC30 AC50. I also have a undergravel filter on the tank still, going to be removing it in the future.

Im going to be putting on a canister soon.

I have a 1-2 inch layer of fine sand mixed with medium/small stones, a total of 4 inches of substrate.
When i do my water changes its roughly 25 percent, roughly around 6-7 gallons and I always vac the gravel.

But it does this even when I add top off water to keep my filter returns under water

Tex Gal

Seems like leaving your water setting for a week in a container with holes may just be causing bacteria to grow in that water. I know when I do that with plain water, slime gets on the sides of the container. Have you tried cutting down on the time you have it sitting in the containers? Or adding it from the tap using some type of water conditioner like Prime?

wetbehindears

Thats for sure a good shot at it, but it does it even if I use tap water with quickly added treatment.

Philosophos

Even with topoff water?

Lets eliminate some variables then. Take some water run through a filter in a clear container; even use a britta water filter, or some RO water. From there, dump some tap water in and see what happens.

The water here looks cloudy and actually foams when you pour it depend on which water system you use. It may just be a matter of what's already in the tap water.

Either way, a canister with a layer of fine filtration should help.

-Philosophos