householdofpayne Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 I've been trying to work on my water clarity. In the morning time I catch a little bit of sunlight through the tank, and I see a ton of little stuff floating around. It is not noticeable much at all just under my hydra. At first I thought it was my wave maker stirring up sand, but have done some rearranging and don't believe that to be the cause. Yesterday I replaced all my filter floss in my system, but this morning the specks persist. I'm almost wondering if I needs to replace my sock, and my carbon more frequently? Is there something else i'm missing? Thanks in advance!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The ReefBox Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 I would start with weekly turkey basting your Rock work this will usually displace the loose sand and detritus and get it in you overflow or filter floss and changing your carbon every 30 days is also a good thing!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 Some of the specs floating around in my water are actually tiny pods. I've taken random water samples to examine under my microscope, and I'm always amazed at the abundance of tiny lifeforms present. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
householdofpayne Posted March 4, 2019 Author Share Posted March 4, 2019 7 minutes ago, SuncrestReef said: Some of the specs floating around in my water are actually tiny pods. I've taken random water samples to examine under my microscope, and I'm always amazed at the abundance of tiny lifeforms present. Wow! Thanks for sharing, that makes me a little more ok with the fact it’s possibly just another form of life not just rubbish 😂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxmonkeyboy Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 The above recommendations are good but we need a little more info to really help you out. Display volume, mechanical filtration methods, sump turn over, those sorts of things. In general you need two things to really keep the floaties at bay. 1. A lot of flow IN the dt, this keeps things suspended. 2. A high sump turnover, this allows particulates to be processed via mechanical filtration (in your case floss). Carbon is not a good mech filtration element.. in fact it can clog pretty quickly (the small carbon). Carbon absorbs pollutants..believe me, there ARE pollutants in the air, on your hands, organic detritus, and is one of the principal ways you keep your water clear. I change out my carbon once a month, I am using the rox carbon. cheers 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
householdofpayne Posted March 4, 2019 Author Share Posted March 4, 2019 (edited) @pdxmonkeyboy Having a little bit of a hard time calculating head loss so I'll provide as much information as I can. I have a red sea max 170 with a sump. I have a total water volume of 60 gallons with my sump. On the right side of my AIO I have the pump that came with the max which is advertised at 559gph with a vertical head of 1' with an outlet that is 1/2". There is one 90 that feeds through the back wall. This passes through red sea reef-spec carbon, then passes through filter floss before going over a wall and through a sponge block. My return pump from my sump has an advertised flow of 650gpm with a vertical head of 6' with an outlet of 1/2". There is one 90 that feeds through the back wall. This drains into a filter sock, which has a skimmer in that chamber of sump. The skimmer flows into filter floss and a sponge to keep noise down. It then passes through a refugium. Then through filter floss then a sponge block. I also have a Nero 5 wave maker that is on the side wall, near the back. That is set at 50% pulse 11am-5pm which should be about 1500gpm. 5pm - 9pm its set at 40% random currently showing 1600 gph. 9pm-12am pulse 40%. then 12am-9am 25% pulse. Could it possible be because I have my flow set lower over night on my wave maker? Thank you very much for your advice, and working through this with me!!!!!! Edited March 5, 2019 by householdofpayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetaggeffect Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 I have had my sump baffles not work properly in the past (probably due to too high sump turnover) causing bubbles and other items that would have settled naturally in my sump get recirculated back into the display. Also, how old is your tank? IME more established tanks seem to work out things like that on their own as things tend to settle out over time. I have also had success with carbon dosing (although it is just for general water clarity and has no effect on particulates). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
householdofpayne Posted March 6, 2019 Author Share Posted March 6, 2019 3 hours ago, thetaggeffect said: I have had my sump baffles not work properly in the past (probably due to too high sump turnover) causing bubbles and other items that would have settled naturally in my sump get recirculated back into the display. Also, how old is your tank? IME more established tanks seem to work out things like that on their own as things tend to settle out over time. I have also had success with carbon dosing (although it is just for general water clarity and has no effect on particulates). Tank has been running since December, but everthing in it is over a year old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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