cloudy water in the morning

Question
QUESTION: I have a 29 gallon reef tank. In the morning the water appears very cloudy, but clears during the day. What could be the cause?

ANSWER: Hello Donna,

I would like to get more information from you regarding your question.

Can you please let me know the water parameters, including temperature between night and day, (including the ambient temp, that is the temperature of the room the tank is in).

I would also like to know how old the tank is, and how long you had it before it started becoming cloudy in the AM.

At this time, i am not sure what it could be, but will some research and have it by the time you reply, (I hope).


thanks



Mr. Bill



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

QUESTION: The tank has been set up for a tear and a half. I had a clownfish, 2 damsels, an anemone, and shrimp, snails, crabs and a brittle, I had a huge hairy algae outbreak and my local fish store recommended Marine phosphate after doind a water test for me. They told me it was fish safe. Unfortunately I lost the clown, the anemone, and the damsels. The shrimo, snails, crabs and brittle are still all alive. The hairy algae is gone but the tank continues to get a reddish brown coating on the sand, walls and live rock. Water looks cloudy in the morning but clears during th day. I have a filter and power head. Frustrated!

Answer
WOW,

Things are not going well for you, and i am so sorry.

BUT, i am not sure i can help.  I really need to get some history in the manner of water parameters.  And it sounds like you may not have test kits, as you had your local water club do the testing for you.

I would start with checking your heater, and checking the water temperature.

Where do you live?  And what temperature is it now, in your house/room where the aquarium is located.

You need to go out and invest in a couple test kits.  Get a Nitrate test kit and pH test kit, and kH test kit.

(i would suggest a calcium test kit, but that test is a little more complicated then the kH and the kH might tell me more, or maybe tell me to not bother)

If you can get the calcium test kit, great.


I don't want you to get the water tested, unless you can get hte water tested every other day for the next week or two..  We need to get a running history of what is going on.  So we will want to keep track of the test results over the period of time.  (and maybe twice a day since the problem changes inthe day)

I am sorry i can not recognize the problem based on the small amount of information, and know it must be frustrating for you, but this hobby is a commitment, and if done right, it is very rewarding.  But, there are times when things happen and the best thing we can do is try to understand what happened and make the changes to try again and hopefully prevent hte same things from happening again.


So, i await your information.



Mr. Bill