Cloudy Water in Marine Aquarium

Cloudy Water in Marine Aquarium

The world inside a marine aquarium is like the natural one, marked with the life cycles of growth and decay. Unlike oceans however, it is a limited space that renders its maintenance, key to its survival. With the passage of time, the tanks have a tendency to become murky. Regular cleaning, refilling, and filtering are essential methods to keep your marine tank fresh and healthy.

What causes cloudy water?
The murkiness in marine tank water is not attributable to a single factor and the actual appearance can tell a lot about the causes. Some of the common problems here are:

Decomposing organic substances: When a plant or an animal dies inside a tank, it remains in the water and decomposes until taken out. Any excess fish food left in the tank meets the same fate. These Dissolved Organic Compounds (DOCs) impart a yellowish appearance to the tank water. The increase in concentration of nutrients as protein has a similar impact. These substances are also responsible for the accelerated growth of algae.

Algae: Excess presence of certain filamentous algae makes the water look green and filthy. This is especially true in case of the floating type of algae.

Diatoms: They are usually responsible for the brown or beige color of marine aquariums. Diatoms are unicellular algae that often exist in groups, taking the form of very thin structures resembling ribbons, filaments, zigzags, etc. They rest on the sidewalls, rocks, or substrate inside the saltwater tanks.

Particle suspension: Foreign matter, such as sand particles coming from newly introduced rocks or decorations may temporarily make the water milky. Another cause can be an increasing population of crustaceans, amphipod, and copepod.

What are the solutions?
Different causes necessitate different remedies. Apart from some regular maintenance tools, some specific marine aquarium alternatives can help resolve certain types of problems. Following are some of the common solutions:

Protein skimmers: These very helpful tools should be employed on a regular basis. By removing the protein, they not only help in reducing the cloudy yellowish color, but also discourage the growth of algae.

Mechanical Filters: These simple equipment help remove most of the floating substrate, suspended particles, amphipod, and copepod.

Biological filters: Biological filters house bacteria, primarily nitrosoma, as a filtering medium. They are effective on various types of dissolved substances like ammonia.

Cleanup crew: Animals such as hermit crabs, zebrasoma, blennies, etc. feed on algae and thereby prevent it from growing out of control. Similarly, certain animals eat the undesirable crustaceans and clean up the marine aquarium naturally.

Flocculants: These additives help filter the diatoms by forming large lumps of suspended cells.

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