New light cloudy water

[Bertsch]

Today I purchased a new light fixture to help with an anemome. The light is simple not something that is intended to support more than two anenomes. The name of the light is a JEBO R24 dual bulbs, blue and white.

When i turned the light on the tank was no longer clear but there was a haze that was not seen with my original light. Is there something I can do to help clear the haze?

I know I have a sig with water numbers but I have not updated it prior to posting, so here are my most recent numbers
pH - 8.2
Nitrite - .25
Nitrate - .00
Amonia - .20

Is the change is lighting color naturally going to bring out impurities in the water or could this be some unsettled substrate.

[Gringoloco]

I have the same problem in my 29 gal, the water is kinda murky. But my levels are all 0. Sometimes a higher amonia level can cause cloudy water. I think mine is due to the super buffer I add, or the fine substrate at the bottom being tossed up by the puffer fish, and brittle star that I have. What is your calcium level at? I did a 20 % water change on mine today and still it looks about the same.

[Bertsch]

Since I do not have any coral, I have never tested for calcium. Is that something that I should begin to test for since there is one anemone now in the tank?

[Gringoloco]

You dont really have to test for calcium for fish only tanks. But if there is alot of calcium in the water it can cause the cloudiness that you speak of.

[Condiman]

What kind of an anenome did you purchase? Is the new light you purchased PowerCompact or NO? What is the wattage on your new light? How long has your tank been setup? The reason why I am asking all of these questions is because most anenomes will not survive in a new tank and also they need a good quality light to survive.

You wil not be needing to keep tabs at the moment on your Ca levels as you really have nothing that will require Ca levels higher than you will get from a 10% water change monthly.

If your filtration is adequate...but yet the water is still cloudy and the Anenome still alive...there is a product that I believe goes by the name of Pro-Clear. However the use of Pro Clear will drop the oxygen levels a bit in your tank and at this point I am not sure that would be such a good move. As new as your tank is I wouldnt recommend this either as you will have to take your skimmer off line if you got one until the 24 hour treatment is over and a 25% water change has been made. Again with a fairly new tank that obviously hasnt finished cycling I would not recommend that move again.

At the moment from what little I know about your tank I would concentrate on improving the water quality. I would try to add a product called Cycle in an effort to provide a boost to the beneficial bacteria in the system. The nitrites and Ammonia needs to come down. Although its kinda on the low side looking at the water parameters I am seeing an increase in the near future of Nirtates to follow. Your Ph needs to increase a notch to 8.3 - 8.4. I would suggest Seachem Reef Buffer although there are simular products available.

Lighting, not sure what exact lighting you got but since I dont have your tank demensions available its hard to determine if you have adequate lighting. As such I will guestimate that your gonna need about 350 watts of light depending on tank depth and just how high above the tanks the lights are mounted. But without exact bulb wattage, tank demensions and canopy hight being known its hard to make a suggestion here.

Like Condiman said, most Anenomes will not be able to survive in a new tank (ie...one thats been running for less than 9-12 months) or one that doesnt have extremely good water quality and stability. Even then thier survival rates of living more than a year in a system are pretty dismal at best. Should it die on you...its gonna pretty much "nuke" you tank with serious pollutants. It will require an almost complete water change and have to be cycled again. A process that really sucks becuase we all want to hurry up and start adding stuff get some color and get some movement in the tank as opposed to just letting it set there empty and waiting. Its one of the hardest parts to this hobby in my opinion. Again we need to know what type anenome you have as some are easier than others to maintain in a aquarium

JTTH......

[Bertsch]

The lighting is two 55watt bulbs.
The tank is a 54 corner tank.
The type added is an sabrae anenome
I tested all my levels again this morning
pH - 8.2/8.3
Ammonia - .25
Nitrite - .25
Nitrate - 40

It appears that the nitrates are high and hopefully that levels off

I believe the lights are a Power Compact (PC) lighting
I just read another topic in this forum that gave me some additional insite for this lighting
www.coralforum.com/ftopic1731.html

[Condiman]

Your levels should be at 0. In order to keep a sabrae anenome. With the levels that you are at it will put to much stress on the sabrae anenome. But in that post it states that these corals will do well with this lighting (mushroom polyps, yellow polyps, bubble coral, leather corals... )

[atrocity]

I remember reading in an early post that Carbon could help clear water too.

[moranpr1973]

IMO you should try to identify what is causing your amonnia to be up in the first place. Did it spike after the anemone was introduced? How long has the anemone been in your tank? Anemone that are new to a tank are under a lot of stress and secrete more toxins in the water than a well stablished one.

[Bertsch]

I think i figured out why the water became cloudy. Once I moved the powerhead higher into the tank, the water began to clear up. I believe the powerhead was placed too low in the tank and stirring up small particles in the substrate and on the rocks.

Once I let the tank settle down from the move of the powerhead and some of the live rock the clarrity improved. The levels have improved somewhat from the original posting, see sig.

Thanks for all the feedback.
I have also posted pics of the tank in the Members Tank Pic forum.
Its slightly different since this morning I have moved one of the live rocks. I did not like how it was perched to form the archway. So I removed some of the hair alge and them moved the rock in fear of it falling over.

[SaltyDawg]

I would suggest you do a 20% water change. Your Amonia and Nitrite are going up and it looks like you are heading for a mini-cycle. It will help bring the Nitrates back down also.
Wayne