A particular particulate thread

[Treefer32]

My 340 gallon mixed reef display has been a work in progress over the last 4 years. I'm wrapping up management of things like nitrates and phosphates, and stabilizing them where within a range. Alk is stable as well as Salinity. I do a 40% water change once every 6 months.

Things are overall going well. However, one thing that has ebbed and flowed is my water clarity. As I resolve the critical things with the large fish I have like nitrates, I would like to see less particulates circulating in my water column.

I run a Red Sea Reefmat 1200 with 95% of the over flow going through the reef mat. It uses between 100 and 120" of paper per day.

My clarity was the best right after a water change this past weekend where I scraped all the glass and then drained 33% of the water from the display and sump. (around 100 gallons). It wasn't long and particulates were swirling again..

I've tried dosing calcium carbonate and that seems to help some for a few hours.

I think some of it may come from the matrix rock denitrator (in a Nu-Clear Cannister filter - I removed the filter cartridge). I also run Aqua Char - enough rated to treat 400 gallons of water for 6 months.

Maybe some of the particulates come from the algae turf scrubber as well? Not sure. I run a skimmer on top of all that.

I've debated running a few powerheads in the display with sponge filters. I can only imagine how often I'd have to change those...

Is there any other technology or method to water clarification. It's not cloudy or hazy, it's just got a lot of tiny particles swirling. My reefmat is removing a lot. I can't imagine the display without it. But, It's only getting what makes it through the overflow. It's the last piece of the puzzle to reaching the ultimate achievement - Corals alive and thriving, large fish all thriving, and seeing it with the clarity of not even sure there's water in the tank. Maybe that's not achievable...

 

[John Bolden]

I also have stuff in my water so following!

 

[Treefer32]

I wanted to post a video. My tank has been this way for the last 4 years. It decreased some with the reefmat, but, there's still a LOT Of particulates in the water column. I don't know what it's from.

I dose: Baked Baking soda (120 ml per day / 5ml per hour), Calcium Chloride (120 ml per day / 5ml per hour) and magnesium chloride with Magnesium sulfate (48 ml per day 2 ml per hour). Red sea Trace Elements - A, B, C, and D once per week around 30 ml of each. And Chaeto grow - once per week 30 ml for my algae turf scrubber.

My corals seem to love the particulates, but, I'm tired of a hazy tank. . . With my battle with nitrates and phosphates nearly under control, this is the final battle. Nitrates as of yesterday were down to 20.5 ppm. Phosphates down to .05 ppm. Alk around 8.7.

Here's a video of the particulates making my water hazy. As the LEDs get brighter throughout the day, the haziness gets worse, as the particles reflect the light. It's like sunlight shining through a window and highlighting all the dust in the air. Any suggestions?