whats up guys ive been lurking around here for awhile, i just started up my 40 Gallon Fluval osaka reef tank two days ago, i set up the Fluval 205 canister filter that came with it, have my powerhead running with 2 heaters, i have about 40lbs of base rock, and 10lbs of live rock and slowly am adding more LR i have table shrimp in a net bag sitting in the water as well..

now its been filled since about 10pm 2 nights ago, the filter will have been running for 24 hours at about midnight ET tonight... but since it STUNK alot due to cycling, i changed about 35% of the water this morning...

problem is the water is still pretty milky and has been since i first put water in the tank 2 days ago, i used instant ocean salt, at the correct gravity. but the water doesnt seem to be clearing up, i cant tell a difference.. i just want the water to be clear so i can at least have something better to look at, any reasons after 2 days and almost a full day of filter running water should still be so milky?

im going to buy a piece of plexiglass to sit on top of the tank temporarily so itll help decrese the smell in the house until the cycle is complete

any help is appreciated

First, i don't know anything about saltwater tanks, but do you have sand as gravel? Maybe that cause the cloudy water? If so, it will slowly sink to the bottom in few days

Well first of all, if you have a stink, it sounds like the rocks are not "Cured". Secondly, what did you use for water. you should use Reverse osmosis or Distilled (Distilled is basically the same as reverse osmosis. That is all i use and have never had an issues with it. The Fluval filter: are you running new carbon bags in it ?? what is the temp of the tank, and did you run any chemical tests for Nitrates, Nitrites, Amonia, and PH ?? and what is your salintity. Those are just a few things to look at. You can also purchase a chem clear for salt water tanks, but i wouldn't do that quite yet.

well i used dechloronated tap water... the filter does have 2 carbon bags in it currently and has now been running for more than 48 hours, the temp was high at about 89 but i turned down the heater and is currently climbing down... my chemical tests as of 10 minutes ago are as follows

Nitrites .1
PH 7.8
Ammonia >7.5 (my test only went to 7.5)
nitrates were 0

i turned off the powerhead to let it settle a few hours ago, so right now its just a heater, and the filter... 10lbs of live rock, and 40 of base rock... the salinty is 1.022.. im thinkin tomorrow ill go pick up another 20 or 30 lbs of live rock..

the cloudiness hasnt decreased any and possibly gotten a little worse.. i dont know if i should do a change with distilled water.. or if itll still settle in a few more days? i just want it to clear up so i can position my rocks how i want and atleast have something better to look at while the next few weeks of cycling continues..

First of All, Do a water change with distilled. DE-chlorinated tap water still leaves all the other stuff (metals, flouride, etc in the water).

Your Amonia is way off of where it should be. Amonia should be as close to 0 (zero) as possible, just like the Nitrates and nitrites. Ammonia is one of those indicaters that something is dead in your tank. The higher the worse it is. BUT, you are only a couple of days into the setup so it should be correctable. I would turn your power head back on to help with the filtration. Also if you haven;t already, look into a protein skimmer. this helps in clearing water impurities out of the tank as well.

YOur PH ideally should be a .83 for a salt water tank (marine buffer should correct that) and your temp should be around 76 to 78 degrees.


Good luck and keep in touch .

Sandsifter.

I would add some macro algaes like chaetomorphia to consume the ammonia.

With a new tank with live rock you sometimes get these (high ammonia, small, cloudiness) problems. Things need to cure and settle down. The macro algae will help that process out.


my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

thanks for the responses guys, i will do a complete change with distilled water probably tomorrow since im leaving town any minute... clean out anything i may see, ill probably add some more live rock since ill be pretty much restarting the cycle with the water change anyway, and see if that makes a difference..

i expected the milky water starting up a tank no doubt, i just figured it would have cleared up in a day or two, but it seems to be getting more cloudy. so ill do all that stuff and see where i get! thanks again

always feel free to reach out !!!!!

Your tank is still cycling, the bad smell is more than likely coming from the rocks, the are prob un-cured most shops throw them in a tank for a few weeks before selling them to get them cured.

The cloudiness may be the sand getting blown about, you may need to position your Wavemakes/Powerheads better or use 1's that aren't as powerful.

As for Ph the general target is between 8 and 8.4 but at 7.8 I wouldn't bother messing about with it, you can point a Wavemake/Powerhead at the top if you have little surface movement this can pump up the Ph a little.

Since you tank is still cycling I would focus more on testing for the Amonia, Nitrite and Nitrate the usual stuff with cycling a tank, when they drop and you are only left with Nitrate and you tank is cycled if you still have problems I would look more into them, but if you have sand in your I'm betting the cloudiness is coming from it being moved to much with your wavemaker, it may be caused by the live rock not being cured but to be honest there is nothing you can do except leave it to do what it is going to do.

Don't use Tap Water, go to your LFS they will sell RO water if you are really lucky they may do RO/DI water, if this isn't an option get bottled distiled water, but I would avoid Tap Water like the Plague, keep up water changes some folks don't do them when a tank is cycling but I found it makes no real diff except the water is kept a bit clearer.

no need to switch your water, as long as you used the amqell or other such water treatment chemicals you are fine. The tank just needs to cycle for a bit.

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I agree about what they said that you don't need to change your water as long as you have water treatments..


Glass Urns

i agree with posts but would hold of adding any more live rock until tank has gone through cycle and any dead matter gone unless your live rock is 100 percent cured.if not your just going to add more dead matter and make cycle last longer. try a little filter floss to take out fine particles change it when you do your water changes.this is only what i have done in the past.everything i take slow.good luck