Fluval Evo 13.5 Water Cloudy Brown

[fishtopheryoutube]

Hi, I’ve posted about my tank before on other groups but it’s kinda going backwards so I’m asking for help once again. I set up my Fluval evo in march. I have 2 damsels, 5 pieces of life rock, and a mangrove. I have the stock light. It’s been looking brown for about 2 months. I thought it was just going through a stage but then I realized something was wrong. I try to do water changes weekly. I have the stock light and I did add chemi pure elite to the filter. It helped but now it’s looking brown again. Can I rinse the filter with tap water? And I also wanted to get a filter for the empty chamber but don’t know what to get. Any recommendations. Don’t know if this could contribute but I also feed frozen brine shrimp every other day. It definetly looks more brown on camera but it is still brown and cloudy.

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

That is a weird looking brown tint to the water column, but I'm sure R2R will get you straightened out

If it were me, and I'm not claiming to be an expert, but I'd do a large, nearly 100% water change to try to get whatever bloom you have going on in the water out of the tank.

The ChemiPure may have been used up quickly, depending on what's going on with your tank. Is this the filter that you want to rinse? Why do you want to rise it? Is it covered in detritus?

The frozen brine shrimp could be adding to the problem. Maybe try to rinse (I like RODI, but tap water is fine) the brine shrimp first before feeding the tank.

It may help if you could post your water parameters.

Good luck!

 

[fishtopheryoutube]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

That is a weird looking brown tint to the water column, but I'm sure R2R will get you straightened out

If it were me, and I'm not claiming to be an expert, but I'd do a large, nearly 100% water change to try to get whatever bloom you have going on in the water out of the tank.

The ChemiPure may have been used up quickly, depending on what's going on with your tank. Is this the filter that you want to rinse? Why do you want to rise it? Is it covered in detritus?

The frozen brine shrimp could be adding to the problem. Maybe try to rinse (I like RODI, but tap water is fine) the brine shrimp first before feeding the tank.

It may help if you could post your water parameters.

Good luck!

Hi thanks for replying, I can check my parameters tomorrow. Yes that’s the filter i wanted to rinse. I could rinse both if that’d help but I was just thinking it’d probably be good to clean the filter because I haven’t since I added the chemi pure which was like 1.5 months ago

 

[Fish Fan]

Hi thanks for replying, I can check my parameters tomorrow. Yes that’s the filter i wanted to rinse. I could rinse both if that’d help but I was just thinking it’d probably be good to clean the filter because I haven’t since I added the chemi pure which was like 1.5 months ago

No problem, happy to try and help!

You could maybe rinse your ChemPure if it's gunked up, but very likely it's depleted, and you'd be better off replacing it (if you really need it (I like it on small tanks, some here don't)).

But PLEASE DO NOT rinse any kind of bio filter material with fresh tap water, such as an bio balls or ceramic media that I think comes with your tank. Although after all these months your rock in the tank should be well populated with nitrifying bacteria, it would still be counterproductive to rinse your bio media in fresh water, and may be leading to some instability in your tank, just my thoughts.

For ANY media that you place in the back of your Fluval (except for totally disposable floss or pads), if it gets gunked up with detritus, then when you do a water change and you siphon out some of your tank water into a bucket, take out your filter media and give it a vigorous 'swish' back and forth in the bucket of tank water. This will minimize the bacteria that may be damaged by fresh, presumably chlorinated water from your tap.

I hope that helps, I'm sure others will jump in soon!

Please post back with those parameters, and best of luck with your tank!

 

[fishtopheryoutube]

I’ll check parameters right when I get home, maybe this weekend I can do a big water change. I’m stopping by Petco on the way to get chemi pure. So could I use something like this and just stuff it in the extra compartment?

 

[fishtopheryoutube]

No problem, happy to try and help!

You could maybe rinse your ChemPure if it's gunked up, but very likely it's depleted, and you'd be better off replacing it (if you really need it (I like it on small tanks, some here don't)).

But PLEASE DO NOT rinse any kind of bio filter material with fresh tap water, such as an bio balls or ceramic media that I think comes with your tank. Although after all these months your rock in the tank should be well populated with nitrifying bacteria, it would still be counterproductive to rinse your bio media in fresh water, and may be leading to some instability in your tank, just my thoughts.

For ANY media that you place in the back of your Fluval (except for totally disposable floss or pads), if it gets gunked up with detritus, then when you do a water change and you siphon out some of your tank water into a bucket, take out your filter media and give it a vigorous 'swish' back and forth in the bucket of tank water. This will minimize the bacteria that may be damaged by fresh, presumably chlorinated water from your tap.

I hope that helps, I'm sure others will jump in soon!

Please post back with those parameters, and best of luck with your tank!

Would you say get chemi pure elite or blue?

 

[Fish Fan]

I’ll check parameters right when I get home, maybe this weekend I can do a big water change. I’m stopping by Petco on the way to get chemi pure. So could I use something like this and just stuff it in the extra compartment?

So that is just filter floss, it's a mechanical media that will help trap particulate mater in your water. Absolutely nothing wrong with it, except it's expensive for what it is. A cheaper alternative is to get PolyFil from Walmart or a craft store, it is absolutely the same stuff (it's the stuffing they put inside pillows and things).

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Poly-Fil...t_PBNS-wogMX_NG7grV-6H9TM5pEocvxoCmu8QAvD_BwE

But other than the price, that PetCo floss is just fine. I use PolyFill myself, and I think most reefers would actually have that filter floss in the very first section of your filter system. Meaning, the water should flow through that filter floss, then through your ChemiPure or whatever else you have in your filter.

Pull that floss every 3 days (ideally) to once a week (more realistic) and you'll be pulling a lot of stuff out of your tank that would otherwise just be rotting and breaking down, feeding algae. Make sure you pull and replace the floss media routinely, or your not really removing the detritus from your system, it will simply rot in the floss and still pollute your tank.

Would you say get chemi pure elite or blue?

I'm hesitant to make a recommendation here. I do use and like the regular ChemiPure (which is basically just good quality carbon), and I think ChemiPure Blue has some extras that may do you well on a small tank. If I remember correctly, that ChemiPure Elite has some resins that also remove phosphate, and I'd just be a little concerned that it would pull too much phosphate out of the water.

Maybe some others who use the ChemiPure Elite would have a better idea?

If it were me and I was at PetCo, I'd get the regular ChemiPure or the ChemiPure Blue. I'd start there, and see how things go. With saltwater tanks, I think most of us don't rely on cartridges, pads or products from the pet store shelf. We mostly rely on circulation and your rock and sand to process nitrogenous waste, and then try for options like a protein skimmer, a refugium, or even carbon dosing to further reduce nitrates and phosphates if needed. More of a natural approach, if you will.

EDIT: On smaller tanks, large water changes are a great way to keep your nitrate/phosphate in check, while also bringing all your other parameters back towards the "ideal" range, and is a very simple way for you to manage your tank ;-)

I'm sure other reefers will be along soon to offer their suggestions!

As always, best of luck!

 

[fishtopheryoutube]

I got chemi pure blue. I’m gonna add it in and then check my paramaters. Thanks for the help again

 

[Fish Fan]

I got chemi pure blue. I’m gonna add it in and then check my paramaters. Thanks for the help again

I think that's a good choice!

 

[fishtopheryoutube]

Yeah I hope so too, I’ve been reading and seeing people getting intank baskets for filtration. Maybe I’ll look into that eventually. I never thought of this either but I could also try squeezing the entire filter sponge and see if that could help the tank. I haven’t cleaned the sponge since I got the tank.

 

[Fish Fan]

Yeah I hope so too, I’ve been reading and seeing people getting intank baskets for filtration. Maybe I’ll look into that eventually. I never thought of this either but I could also try squeezing the entire filter sponge and see if that could help the tank. I haven’t cleaned the sponge since I got the tank.

InTank makes really great media baskets for your tank and others. I have a couple for my Innovative Marine AIO tanks.

Your sponge is a lot like the filter floss I talked about earlier, it traps detritus, but if it's not cleaned (in this case) or replaced (in the case of your floss), that detritus is just rotting in your system, and the sponge is basically not doing any good.

When you do a water change, take you sponge out and shake and squeeze the crap out of it in the bucket of water you siphon out of your tank. That will help get the gunk off of it and out of your tank.

 

[fishtopheryoutube]

I actually have some extra water from my last water change so I’ll squeeze it out in there now. There is a ton of stuff in the tank because I just put the floss in like 20 minutes ago and it’s already brown.

 

[Fish Fan]

I actually have some extra water from my last water change so I’ll squeeze it out in there now. There is a ton of stuff in the tank because I just put the floss in like 20 minutes ago and it’s already brown.

Yeah, you'd be surprised what that floss will trap. Just replace it regularly so the detritus is actually being pulled out of your system.

 

[Spare time]

Looks like a phytoplankon bloom. A cheap tiny uv sterilizer system from amazon will clear it up in no time and can be taken out when done.

 

[Fish Fan]

Looks like a phytoplankon bloom. A cheap tiny uv sterilizer system from amazon will clear it up in no time and can be taken out when done.

Could I please ask, I thought UV sterilizers had to be well oversized and with just the perfect flow rate to be effective. Is there a cheap UV unit from Amazon (or elsewhere) that you feel is both effective and worth the cost?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Spare time]

Could I please ask, I thought UV sterilizers had to be well oversized and with just the perfect flow rate to be effective. Is there a cheap UV unit from Amazon (or elsewhere) that you feel is both effective and worth the cost?

Thanks for your help!

For phytoplankton or bacterial blooms, it doesn't take much of a sterilizer to kill it. I like the green killing machines but amazon has others that are cheap.

 

[Fish Fan]

For phytoplankton or bacterial blooms, it doesn't take much of a sterilizer to kill it. I like the green killing machines but amazon has others that are cheap.

Thank you for your reply! I actually thought the Green Killing Machine wasn't worth it, but good to hear that you like it!

 

[fishtopheryoutube]

For phytoplankton or bacterial blooms, it doesn't take much of a sterilizer to kill it. I like the green killing machines but amazon has others that are cheap.

Yeah I heard about those they have them at petco near me. Do I need to buy anything extra or does that come with everything?

 

[fishtopheryoutube]

Yeah, you'd be surprised what that floss will trap. Just replace it regularly so the detritus is actually being pulled out of your system.

Yeah, I’ll see how much it caught now. I could get the uv sterilizer but I’ll do maybe a 50% water change first and see if that could help before jumping to the uv

 

[Spare time]

Thank you for your reply! I actually thought the Green Killing Machine wasn't worth it, but good to hear that you like it!

Yeah I heard about those they have them at petco near me. Do I need to buy anything extra or does that come with everything?

They come with everything. It will be a bit unsightly for a few days with it in but you can use it only as needed