cloudy water still

Dear hobby:

Yes, while you are visiting your not-too-local fish store, you might pick up a water clarifier that is designed for use with saltwater aquariums, such as Kent Marine Pro-Clear Saltwater Aquarium Water Clarifier. Be careful not just to grab any old water clarifier, however — many of them are designed to work in freshwater only and are not safe to use in a marine aquarium.

These products typically work by causing very fine suspended particles to flocculate or clump together so that they either settle out or are more easily filtered out, and are designed for clearing up cloudy water in an aquarium, but make sure you get one that’s designed for saltwater, not freshwater!

Yes, you can go ahead and add the live sand or other substrate and rockwork to your aquarium without clearing up the cloudy water problem first. There will likely be some sentiments or fine particles stirred up when you add the substrate and rocks, so clarifying the water after they are added will be more productive.

Best of luck getting your new aquarium clear as glass again!

Respectfully,
Pete Giwojna

Dear hobby:

Your very welcome!

I should also mention that your Polyfilter Pad is designed for chemical filtration, not mechanical filtration. The Polyfilter Pads by Poly-Bio Marine Inc. are wonderful for a saltwater aquarium that has completed the cycling process, but they are counterproductive in the newly set up aquarium that has not yet completed the nitrogen cycle. So I would also suggest shopping for some micron filter pads to provide outstanding mechanical filtration while you are at your not-so-local fish store, hobby, such as the following:

Micron Filter Pads

Water sparkles clean and crystal clear with Pure Flow Filter Pads. These sanitized, polyester pads are interwoven with nylon fibers, making them durable, reusable, and highly effective. They trap debris and small particles in both fresh and saltwater to prevent the clogging of biological filter media. Can be cut to fit any mechanical filter.

You’ll want to cut the micron filter pad so that it’s the right size to fit in the drip tray for your wet/dry filter. It will do a fine job of removing any fine sediments or fine particulate matter that suspended in the water column after you add the sand substrate and rockwork. But, as we discussed before, it will clog up quickly, so be sure to remove it after a few days when the water has cleared up so that it doesn’t restrict the water flow to the filtration system or cause the drip tray overflow and bypass the trickle filter.

In short, you’ll want to remove the Polyfilter Pad until after the aquarium has cycled, and replace it with one of the micron-size filter pads such as the Pure Flow Filter Pads to clear up the cloudy aquarium water after you add the substrate and rocks.

Then you can return the Polyfilter Pad to provide chemical filtration for your aquarium after it has completed the cycling process and the biological filtration is fully established.

Best of luck preparing your new aquarium for seahorses!

Respectfully,
Pete Giwojna