Tank water yellow

[dreamzcape]

Just recently caught my attention that although my tank looks clear with the lights on, i recently scooped my tank water with a white container and found that my water is a slight yellowish tinge.

Any bros have any idea whether this signifies anything? Maybe DOC levels too high? LS all doing fine

[AhLoon]

Use carbon. Should clear in a few days time.

[Alvin Tan]

Just recently caught my attention that although my tank looks clear with the lights on, i recently scooped my tank water with a white container and found that my water is a slight yellowish tinge.

Any bros have any idea whether this signifies anything? Maybe DOC levels too high? LS all doing fine

did u do any partial water change regularly?...

[iori_del]

u need ozone, i once have the problem like u, but after ozone, it is crystal clear

[fishtalk1517]

hmm.... u might wan to check the nitrate level..... Recently a friend's tank also yellowish color, jus like urine color Test the water and found tat nitrate level super high.

did 20% water change and also use carbon and phospate removal to clear up the yellowish water.

Now water clear and nitrate problem also solved.

[Flame-Tail]

hmm.... u might wan to check the nitrate level..... Recently a friend's tank also yellowish color, jus like urine color Test the water and found tat nitrate level super high.

did 20% water change and also use carbon and phospate removal to clear up the yellowish water.

Now water clear and nitrate problem also solved.

Back -Breaking water change man.. Now need to solve the piping problem.

[dreamzcape]

yeah read up on the net about how using carbon and ozone will help clear it up...but the main thing I fear is what's the cause and can it be stopped? Coz right now i'm using an skimmer overrated for my tank so I'm assuming it is doing it's job but the yellow water is it a sign that my skimmer is still not sufficient for the job?

Thanks for all the suggestions for removal, will carry out as suggested. But it makes me wonder if i should upgrade my skimmer.

[blueheaven]

Do you grow algae in a refugium?

[madmac]

so what skimmer do you use.? and does it skim wet? Here's an excerpt from Eric Borneman about yellowing compounds and the cause of it.

When food, waste, or other particulate organic matter (POM) is trapped, especially in an aerobic environment, it is acted upon by several types of bacteria that break down the substances into more basic dissolved organic and inorganic components. Some of these breakdown components are organic acids and refractory compounds that can impart a yellow tint to the water column. This yellowing has been called "gelbstoff."

and this takes the cake:

It is a paradox that in an attempt to "cleanse" the water column of particulate material using flosses and other mechanical traps, the result can be poorer quality water as well as one which is visibly less "clear." To address the inherent problems of these microbial breakdown products, activated carbon -often an inseparable component of filter media - is frequently used in conjunction with some of these devices in order to remove the yellowing compounds; the very same compounds that were ironically the result of the filter media itself. Ozone is also occasionally employed for this purpose. Following the absorption of some of these refractory compounds, the result is a variable amount of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and inorganic nutrients that simply pass through the filter.

Protein skimmers seek to "short circuit" the process partly by removing particulate matter before it is broken down by microbial action.

article here : Part 6: POM by Eric Borneman

[dreamzcape]

Using an aquamedic biostart flotor on a 1.5ft. It comes with the rotating biosponge wheel, that may be the area of the aerobic breakdown.I do get it to skim quite wet coz if it is too wet then the skimmate is tea like and i feel that removes more water.

So the article is basically saying that using floss and all results in more trapped particles and more aerobic areas to break down particulate matter thus contributing even more to the problem,right? Hope i understood that correctly.

As such since the protein skimmer serves to short circuit the process, i guess the ideal way to go is to either increase circulation(so that more particulate matter can be fed to skimmer)or upgrade skimmer?

thanks madmac for the thread,much appreciated

[dreamzcape]

BH, nope no refugium to begin with...system running mainly on natural filtration with skimmer...or at least thats what i'm trying to achieve. The rotating biowheel does help the bio filtration, but still wondering whether the rocks have enough anaerobic regions to do the final conversion.

[cityofangels]

hmm.... u might wan to check the nitrate level..... Recently a friend's tank also yellowish color, jus like urine color Test the water and found tat nitrate level super high.

did 20% water change and also use carbon and phospate removal to clear up the yellowish water.

Now water clear and nitrate problem also solved.

Yeah, definitely do a water change & incorporate carbon in your sump. I bought Seachem Seagel, which is actually a mixture of Seachem Matrix Carbon & Phosguard. My tank water cleared up the very next day and with 0-10ppm Nitrate.

[dreamzcape]

yeah bro i can do all that but it sounds more corrective than preventive. So bottom line, is it an indication that my skimmer may not be working properly?

[cityofangels]

How often do you do water changes for you 1.5ft tank? And how much water do you change at a time?

When you top up freshwater in your tank, do you use distilled water? If you don't use distilled water, do you at least use anti-chlorine in the freshwater?

I am not so sure about the skimmer you're using. Perhaps, you may need to fine tune the equipment alittle so that it will produce more skim-mate?

[madmac]

yeah bro i can do all that but it sounds more corrective than preventive. So bottom line, is it an indication that my skimmer may not be working properly?

bottom line is difficult, unless we know all abt ur tank. Export is one, while you could watch ur imports too. I have this impression that when the water is yellow, theres too much to break down. i.e. one doesn't have enough bio-filtration going at the same rate as it is being thrown at.

Thats a good approach to look at things, masking the problem seldom helps in the long run.

[dreamzcape]

thanks all for viewing suggestions...tuned skimmer to even wetter settings(as in light green tea), over the few days the water started started clearing...however...will definitely read more and monitor feeding and water change habits to see which one caused the yellowish tinge in the water. Had to spend a few days convincing myself my skimmer is ok for my stocking lol....thanks all once again

Any new info can be posted too!

[samier]

Hi, could u pls give me more specs on the tank. how many ltrs?, what r ur paramaters, what sand? what rock, pls give as much info on ur tank as possible. what stock is in the tank.

[dreamzcape]

can't really remember how many litres...i think about 9 US gallons...with about 1 inch of sand...a few liverocks...anemone and ocellaris pair with some green yumas.sand is grade 0 and 1 mixed

[samier]

Ur tank might b overstocked as the other guy has said, ur filtration might not be able to cope with the load. ur subsrtate could also be causing the yellow tint. do u have lava rock or any other rock that is not live in the tank. also do u have sunlight shining onto tank.

[dreamzcape]

in your opinion not enough of what kind of filtration? bio mech or chemi? I personally think chemical coz i don't run carbon at all. I don't think it's the substrate too coz the observation was made in a white cup. i have other 'dead' live rocks and nope no sunlight shining.