Water quality questions

[TinaPerry]

I have a question about my water.....My tank is new 75gallon...and still in curing stages.....LR and LS only in 2 wks now....but when I turn on the lights I see what looks like dust in the water swirling around....almost like a fine sand that hasn't settled.....The water is clear just concerned that the dust in the water won't settle....I used RO water and am going to do a water change this weekend when I get my new RO/DI unit hooked up......Just curious if anyone has any answers?

Is it going to look like this all the time?

Will it settle?

Curious if anyone has any insight reasons, if it is sand why does it continue to swirl?

Do I need to clean out my refugium?

Will a water change fix it?

 

[Krish]

This happens to alot of people (usually after a water change when everything is disturbed in the tank) and what they will typically do is run a fine micron cartrige, filter sock etc to trap the free floating particles which are sometimes too small for your regular filter pads to catch or sometimes your skimmer misses. I use to use either a 350 magnum canister filter with the micron cartridge in it or the H.O.T magnum canister with the same cartridge for a few hours and it use to pick it all up. Some people however, just toss a filter sock on their drain line to their sump for a bit and usually helps.


Here is a picture of the cartridge I use to use. A new one sitting next to a used one.

 

[tike]

Like Krish stated, after a water change i run a 100 micron filter sock for a couple a days to clear the water.

 

[TinaPerry]

Filter sock? Where might I get them?

 

[tike]

Here's a source! http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~filter_media_sock.html

 

[DonW]

100 micron is to large to polish the water. It removes detritus and things like that but if its the very fine dust particle size that your trying to polish out then drop down to 5 micron.
After the socks have been washed a few times the micron rating goes up so start as low as possible.

Don

 

[TinaPerry]

Curious where I can find a 5 micron....I have only been able to find 100 on line looking....can you send me link?

 

[DonW]

I use filterbag.com

Don

 

[91YOTA]

one other thing to consider since this is a new tank... new sand will take time to become colonized with bacteria... this bacteria actually helps hold the sand particles together... also, it can take some time for the water movement in the tank to move the sand around to where it will settle... anytime i change my flow pattern i get a mini sand storm... hth

 

[tike]

Here's a link on ebay for some 50 micron bags. Shipping is kinda pricey but it will give you an idea of what you are looking for.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-of-Three-3-50-Micron-Polypropylene-Filter-Bags_W0QQitemZ320205003998QQihZ011QQcategoryZ20758QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQtrksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Scooterman]

I need to order some of these 5 micron socks, think you have to get at least 25 or so. You need at least 5 microns to polish your water finer like 1 micron, I found some through the same e-bay dealer, although they have a steel ring.

 

[DonW]

I need to order some of these 5 micron socks, think you have to get at least 25 or so.

Ya its about $65 but it should be simple to get a group together. Maybe check with you lfs and see if they want to place a order.

Don

 

[sermech]

If you can find it you can also buy the sock material and make your own.

 

[mmkeeper]

Exotic Aquarium has them on Franklin blvd between 47 and Florin