New Salt aquarium

Question
QUESTION: I just started my tank about 2 1/2 weeks ago, the last 2 days the water has become really cloudy and has a film at the top of the tank .I put a air hose at the top to move the water and it seems to be clearing the film up, but i cant figure out how to clear the water, I have a cascade 1500 for a 60 gal tank 36x23x18. I had the water tested last night at the pet store, they said  it looks really good ph 8.4 ,alk norm, nitrate 0-0.05, temp 77.6, checked it again today still good, the hydrometer is at 1.023. I only have 2 yellow tail damsels now, I  had 3,but one died the other day.  I did buy 2 snails and 4 crabs and a scooter blenny i found him hanging by the top of the tank by the water output and snail instead of the bottom is he ok?  Any advice or help would be great. Thanks. Shall I put live rock in or is it too early?

ANSWER: Hey Deb,

Im a bit confused and maybe you can give me some more info..

your last question asks if you can put live rock in the tank, and usually that is the second thing to put, just before water...

typically you put sand in the tank, place your rocks and then add saltwater...

then you let the tank 'cycle'... then after the cycle is complete, you add some fish or critters...

so... please tell me a bit more about your system...

Also, tell me a bit about your 'maintenance' routine... Do you do water changes and if so, how much and how often... also do you add fresh water to replace the water that evaporates?  (TOP OFF WATER)

How often do you clean the filter pads, and how often do yo plan to replace those pads,  (I reccomend buying new pads every month!!!

How big is your tank??  What type of sand do you have in there?  Live Sand???  

Typically, a lot of folks buy the 'hang on tank' filters like you have, and lots of fish/pet stores sell them, but typically those filters are not great for reef/saltwater aquariums... they are ok, but thats it.. just ok...

one of the things you are experiencing is... surface skimming... that is the film on the top of the water.. .basically you need to break up that film... you can do this with air, although it is better to do it with water.. the 'water falling' or breaking hte surface will remove the scum tha tcollects, but more important will induce Oxygen into the water....

Maybe check the water level to make sure the water that comes from the filter can fall just a little bit into the top of the tank.. (maybe a half inch???)



Please let me know the answers to the questions/concerns i presented above and we can continue the discussion then


If you would like to join my new forum at www.thelittleocean.com  Im sure you will find many other members that are in teh same stage of setting up thier aquariums as you are...

But, either way, i look forward to hearing from you again...

bill

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I have a penn plex cascade 1500 canister,  my tank is 60 gal  36x23x18.

I had the water tested last night at the pet store, they said  it looks really good ph 8.4 ,alk norm, nitrate 0-0.05, temp 77.6, checked it again today still good,
Started with fine ocean sand and a bottle of bacteria. Pet store said it would do the same thing as the live sand??

I have added RO water 2x since starting the tank, for evaporation. Haven't done any maintenance since the tank is only 2 1/2 week old. Just testing the water daily.

I had the cascade bar out of the water to create the movement on the top for the scum, but it created so many little bubbles I had to put it back in the water. do you think the filter is to much for my tank, Instructions say it will work on tanks up to 125 gal.

Water is still cloudy, scum is gone, the air bubblier took care of that its just noisy. Would a protein skimmer clear up the cloudy water

I guess, Ill go buy filter replacements and carbon today and change them, if you think it needs to be replace already and it will help get the water cleared up.

Answer
hello,

the 'spray bar' should be just above the water line... if the water pressure is too high, you can angle the bar so the water shoots out at an angle towards the front of the tank so the 'bubbles ' arent pushed too deep into the water column.  If you have those ceramic beads or plastic balls in your filter, you should take them out.. they will only hold the detritus, poop, submerged in the water, and they will be continually rinsing good water through that detritus, constantyl..

a protein skimmer is not necessary, but it will help in keeping the water quality better, but now, your water quality is perfect so not really going to address teh cloudy issue...

there is no such things as TOO BIG a filter... it will catch whatever junk/particles that are in your water.. if you dont have much particles, (leftover food and poo) then it will last longer in between fitler changes

you shouldnt need to replce the cartridges just yet.. maybe once a month to 6 weeks, as it is a larger filter... but you can rinse and clean those pads weekly, which is why lots of folks dont like those filters...


Please keep in mind that the IMPORTANT filter , the one that keeps things alive and growing is NOT your cannister filter.. that filter will only filter out particles.. PERIOD...

The real filter, the one that does keep your fish and corals alive is teh biological organisms that are in the sand and rock... without that live filter, you will have issues with ammonia and other toxics...

I guess i would suggest trying a water clarifyer... they make products that are supposed to help clear the wter... Im not sure how they work but have heard mixed reviews on them...

as for using sand or rocks or critters from local beaches, I would not suggest that.. some beaches are not clean, and putting stuff into a small aquarium where they dont have the benefit of constant flushing of bazillions of gallons of water is different then putting them into a small aquarium...

small levels will become un suitable levels in a small aquarium, but i will assume for now that your beach is somewhat isolated and in clean condition...

Also, the issue of collecting maybe illegal in some areas, so I can not suggest or promote the use of collected sand/rocks/animals...

Do yo uhave any POWER HEADS?  for circulation?  You should have a couple to make sure the water is constantly moving in your display tank..

between the live organisms and good water flow in the tank, your water should get better quickly...

Please try to find some water clearing drops and make sure your power heads are working well...

Let me know how that works and we can continue from there...

good luck


bill