What's the key to crystal clear water?

[meech]

Hello all !


I've been looking through some of the past Tank Threads and also looking at a few other sites. I can't help but notice how clear the water is in some of these tanks. It literally looks like the fish are floating in mid air in a few of them. My question is,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,WHAT'S THE TRICK?


Is it running carbon?

 

[nycfatcow]

low bioload helps

 

[Deanos]

Mechanical filtration & carbon.

 

[scumonkey]

Good husbandry!

 

[Alfredo De La Fe]

Low organic waste (Good export of waste via skimming, carbon, phosban reactor, good liverock/live sand)
Decent water flow
Regular water changes
Good surface skimming for the overflow
Filter sock to catch excess waste (Swap out and clean every 2-3 days)

The carbon and water changes keep the water from turning green or brown because of the disolved organic compounds, the water flow keeps organics and ditritus from settling so that they can get caught in the filter sock and skimmer. Pretty much everything above works to keep your Nitrates/nitrites, phosphates and other organics low to non-existant.

-Alfred

 

[jresha]

If I could piggy back on this question...what should I do if my water is clear (it is not tinited brown or green), but it has little white specs floating through it? it looks like little pieces of dust floating around and I would like it to go away. Does anyone know what this is or how I can get rid of it or is this a normal sight in most tanks?

 

[Reefer420]

I have lots of micro bubbles in my tank from my Remora for some reason- it makes the tank look cloudy and it is annoying

 

[fritz]

Yes Microbubbles are a big cause of not having "crystal clear" water. If you use a remora you could try the surface skimmer that they sell for it. It does a good job of feeding the remora only your surface scum and filtering out the microbubbles. It also gives you a place to put carbon.

 

[Awibrandy]

I have microbubbles, and yet my water is clear. The darn bubbles stay at the top half of my tank. Microbubbles making your tank cloudy, or colored is news to me. In my case they become a problem for pics only.
I run two phosbans reactors - 1 holds chemipure, the other Phosar. Weekly water changes, and I feed my fish well (at least once a day). Change filter sock at least every other day.

 

[meech]

thanks for the tips.

not as simple as running a micron bag full of carbon, huh:scratchch.

Then again, when has anything in this hobby been simple!

 

[Awibrandy]

Then again, when has anything in this hobby been simple!

When you incert the DVD in the DVD player, and call it your reef.LOL:Hydrogen: