White water?

I have a problem with my tank.
It seems the water seems to be white. I'm pretty sure it's calcium carbonate in the water but how do I get rid of it?! It makes my tank look cloudy.

Tank is a 65 Hex tank. Theres a 15 gallon sump with bioballs but no fuge.
It has a 3"livesand bed. About 100lbs+ and about 100lbs of rock which only maybe 20lbs of it was live.
0 amonia,0 nitrites and nitrates. 8.3 ph and alkalinity Kh is about 400+ ( I don't know the exact number because I use test strips for that and it doesn't go above 400) temp 76-78,
4 10,000k T5's and 4 460 blue T5's (14w each) Current lights.

Basically I had a 10 gal mini tank set up for 3 yrs with 45lbs of live sand and 20lbs of live rock.
It have ton of spegetti worms and bristol worms which I later found out were fireworms!! ( Ya they hurt pretty bad!) one 3 stripe damsel, cleaner shrimp and a fairly large blue leg hermit crab. and millions of those tiny feather dusters lol.
About a month ago I moved everything to the 65hex.
I bought an extra 60lbs of live sand and about 80lbs of base rock figuring my live rock would seed it pretty fast.

I bought some petco salt because it was on sale. When I filled the tank with water /mixed in the salt completely the water was still very white so I let it sit for a few days with the powerhead and sump running.

It did clear up some so I added the new sand and rocks and a day later transfer the entire 10gal over to the 65. I waited 2 wks and it never really "cycled" even with the crab damsel and shrimp. I added 2 false clowns and a 6line wrasse as well as about 30 mini blue leg crabs, 2 anemone crabs, 2 green crabs a turbo snail and a few other snails. This time it did kinda mini cycle with the nitrates never going above 40 and the nitrites about 1.0 max. I got a lovely diatom film to cover my sand and tank for about 2 weeks but it's all gone for the most part now.

It's been about a month and the tank still has the annoying white haze... I even put in a halimedia plant in hopes that it would absorb some of the calcium.

I've done a 20 gal water change (with a different brand salt this time) but I still can't make the water crystal clear!

I have a few gorgonians, a few sponges and 4 fish (2 banner butterflys, a mandarin and another wrasse) being delivered this week. So do you think the gorgonians will absorb more of the calcium? Should I invest in some other corals?
Is it not the calcium that is causing this? Because from what I read I'm 99% sure it's calcium. ( I know it is not a bacteria bloom)

Any ideas? Please help!!

 

Good day,

I'm not familiar with the PetCo Salt mix, and as you report the water being white but clearing when you mixed it, I would believe your connection is correct....

Has the water cleared any more over the past 2 days?

 

Sounds to me like the new setup is still cycling. Because it was a transfer and major upgrade, I would expect a faster and less extreme cycle, but one none-the-less.

I would expect a series of mini-cycles. I really think you should cancel the fish order until everything stabilizes. Patience here friend. Could take another several weeks.

"petco salt" is probably instant ocean and this is fine.

With livestock in the tank, make sure you mix the salt/water in a separate container and let that sit for at least 24 hours to fully dissolve before putting it in the tank.

Mandarins are very delicate creatures and I have very low expectations it will do well in your tank at this time. They can't handle swings and traceable nitrites.

If you are registering any ammonia or nitrites, you are having a cycle (maybe just a mini).

 

Also, test strips are useless and are as accurate as guessing. They're wasting your time and giving you unreliable information. I would get a kit.

 

Sounds like you added a lot of fish in a very short time (seems you added 3 fish within one month. That's where the new mini-cycle came from). We advise one fish every 2-3 weeks.

Adding another 4 fish at once this week is going to cause you another cycle and could very well cause enough stress that you'll lose one or more of them. I've already commented on the mandarin.

No more corals until you get this stabilized. You'll just be throwing money down the drain.

I think there's a good chance what you are seeing, though, is microbubbles. I haven't had a ton of expereince in dealing w/microbubbles, but research that and see what you can find. Might need to add a sponge somewhere to catch the bubbles (not a live sponge, but a sponge as in a tool).

 

you are having a bacterial bloom right now. What type of sand did you use?

If you are ordering fish...have them stop the order. The fish will not survive right now and it will make it worse! I would add bio-spira to the tank.

Do not add any fish, corals or stuff right now! And even when the tank is cycled, that would be too much to add at one time. Plus mandarins will not survive in that tank..you have no fuge and it will eat its way through your pods (what little you have right now) really fast. Can you add a fuge to the sump so you can one day add mandarian?

Also banner fish are not always reef safe, plus dont fair well in established tanks. They are difficult to keep.http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_1...tegory=4&category_search=61&root_parent_id=4*

What type of wrasse are you getting?

Try the bio-spiria, let the tank cycle and take it slow! Trust me I know it is hard...but you will be happier if you do!

Plus get rid of the test strips..they dont work at all.