LiquidSpace
Active Member
If you want to succeed in this hobby you need patience. We all know it, but that doesn’t stop me from thinking everything is going to go sideways before it begins. I know cloudiness to begin is normal and have experienced it, just never this long.
Long story short, I’m set up for patience. In order to not tick off my wife this build is very slow, meaning I’ll be getting a key piece of equipment about once a month before finally ending with the lights sometime next spring. I mention this because right now I do not have power heads which I’ll come back to. Doesn’t mean I can’t get started on a long cycle though!
So here’s the deal. This is a 200 gallon aquarium. It has 2 to 3 inches of aragonite special grand sand which WAS rinsed, just maybe not as well as it should have been…apparently. Tank is locked in for a long cylce right now, just currently running with a vectra L2 moving water. Next month some rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater comes to seed the system.
You’ll probably see this photo and be like, “you’re an idiot, that looks clear!” I promise you, in person it’s hazy! There’s a ton of film on the top of the water.
I have been running the pump for 7 days now running my default filter socks, which are mesh. There has been little to no change in clarity since Tuesday. To try and remedy this I bought a 200 micron felt sock as I’m noticing a thick coating of dust throughout my sump, suggesting the mesh sock is doing…nothing. So hopefully that works.
Here’s my question. Like I said, I’m all on board the patience train but is this normal on a large tank? Everything I see says water should clear up in a few days, and that’s my experience as well but I have never had a tank so big so maybe this is normal? Keep in mind I don’t have a Powerhead directed at the surface.
Would it help if I had a Powerhead to help push some of that crap through the overflow? I was thinking about getting a jeabo gyre. The return right now just looks like it’s causing water to circle on the surface, as observed by the film. I plan on doing a big water change once the cycle ends which will probably remedy the issue but still, I’ve gotta ask because I want to make sure I’m set up for success.
Should I turn off the pump for a bit and let it try to settle?
Long story short, I’m set up for patience. In order to not tick off my wife this build is very slow, meaning I’ll be getting a key piece of equipment about once a month before finally ending with the lights sometime next spring. I mention this because right now I do not have power heads which I’ll come back to. Doesn’t mean I can’t get started on a long cycle though!
So here’s the deal. This is a 200 gallon aquarium. It has 2 to 3 inches of aragonite special grand sand which WAS rinsed, just maybe not as well as it should have been…apparently. Tank is locked in for a long cylce right now, just currently running with a vectra L2 moving water. Next month some rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater comes to seed the system.
You’ll probably see this photo and be like, “you’re an idiot, that looks clear!” I promise you, in person it’s hazy! There’s a ton of film on the top of the water.
I have been running the pump for 7 days now running my default filter socks, which are mesh. There has been little to no change in clarity since Tuesday. To try and remedy this I bought a 200 micron felt sock as I’m noticing a thick coating of dust throughout my sump, suggesting the mesh sock is doing…nothing. So hopefully that works.
Here’s my question. Like I said, I’m all on board the patience train but is this normal on a large tank? Everything I see says water should clear up in a few days, and that’s my experience as well but I have never had a tank so big so maybe this is normal? Keep in mind I don’t have a Powerhead directed at the surface.
Would it help if I had a Powerhead to help push some of that crap through the overflow? I was thinking about getting a jeabo gyre. The return right now just looks like it’s causing water to circle on the surface, as observed by the film. I plan on doing a big water change once the cycle ends which will probably remedy the issue but still, I’ve gotta ask because I want to make sure I’m set up for success.
Should I turn off the pump for a bit and let it try to settle?
