Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board  

Go Back   Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board > General > FOWLR

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 10-19-2012, 06:28 PM
mandyplo's Avatar
mandyplo mandyplo is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario
Posts: 218
mandyplo is on a distinguished road
Default Cloudy Greenish Tank...What's going on?

Recently our 55gal tank has had a red cyano bloom going on, which has occurred once before in the past some months ago, so this is the second time its happening. We know its from our tap water, once money situation is a little better we will be purchasing an RO/DI unit asap. We used a treatment called "RedCyano Rx" by Blue Life. In the original cyano bloom, this treatment worked within a day or two and got rid of the algae. This time, the water was slightly clouded BEFORE I started the treatment (could be from me stirring up the sandbed a little bit when cleaning the glass inside). When I started the treatment I unplugged the skimmer, as was instructed on the cyano-x box. After one day however, the tank has become very clouded with a green tint to the water. I resumed use of the skimmer and did a 25% water change. The pH and salinity are at their normal levels. The cloudiness didn't become this bad until after the protein skimmer was unplugged for two days. What could be causing this cloudiness? Whatever is making the water green isn't clinging to the rock or the glass, it appears to be completely mixed in with the water. I also turned the lights completely off in case it is an algae bloom.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Cloudy Tank.jpg (20.7 KB, 101 views)

Last edited by mandyplo; 10-19-2012 at 06:35 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 10-19-2012, 06:50 PM
Enigma's Avatar
Enigma Enigma is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Calgary, AB
Posts: 1,062
Enigma is on a distinguished road
Default

Holy smokes! When you said "green" I was NOT expecting that.

Me prephoto guess was going to be "bacterial bloom" . . . But that's nuts.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 10-19-2012, 07:22 PM
kien's Avatar
kien kien is offline
¸.·´¯`·.´¯`·.´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.´¯`·.´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸. ><(((º>
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Calgary, AB
Posts: 7,665
kien will become famous soon enoughkien will become famous soon enough
Default

It could be that something has bloomed or spawned in your tank. Perhaps algae. Sometimes algae will do this when it feels threatended due to chemical changes. Actually, some corals will do this too. Clams will spawn and cloudy the tank as well.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 10-19-2012, 07:54 PM
reefwars reefwars is offline
R.I.P.
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Calgary, AB
Posts: 6,186
reefwars will become famous soon enough
Default

did the water in your skimmer go foul?? did you leave it in the skimmer??
__________________
........
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 10-19-2012, 08:09 PM
FishyFishy!'s Avatar
FishyFishy! FishyFishy! is offline
Gold Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Calgary SE
Posts: 1,674
FishyFishy! will become famous soon enough
Default

Have you tested for ammonia and nitrates?
__________________

They call it addiction for a reason...
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 10-19-2012, 08:13 PM
Coralgurl's Avatar
Coralgurl Coralgurl is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Calgary
Posts: 1,894
Coralgurl is on a distinguished road
Default

My skimmer has been sitting since I treated with Chemiclean and after each water change I turn it back on, but as it still overflows, I unplug it. I don't think this is the cause.

Are you running any carbon?
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 10-19-2012, 08:57 PM
whatcaneyedo's Avatar
whatcaneyedo whatcaneyedo is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Prince George, BC
Posts: 2,198
whatcaneyedo is on a distinguished road
Send a message via MSN to whatcaneyedo
Default

I've seen several tanks turn into phytoplankton soups when run without a skimmer. Our Total Pet has one right now. They are trying to setup a 90gal without a skimmer and the whole thing has turned into green water. But its sort of hard to tell by your picture. Is the image showing the true color of the tank? Because it looks relatively blue to me.
__________________
"We shall dive down through black abysses... and in that lair of the Deep Ones we shall dwell amidst wonder and glory forever." - H.P. Lovecraft

Old 120gal Tank Journal
New 225gal Tank Journal
May 2010 TOTM
The 10th Annual Prince George Reef Tank Tour
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 10-19-2012, 09:08 PM
MarkoD's Avatar
MarkoD MarkoD is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Edmonton Alberta
Posts: 1,904
MarkoD is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Coralgurl View Post
My skimmer has been sitting since I treated with Chemiclean and after each water change I turn it back on, but as it still overflows, I unplug it. I don't think this is the cause.

Are you running any carbon?
You have to let the skimmer overflow while you drain the cup. I had to drain 25 gallons total from the cup before it calmed down.

You won't get rid of chemiclean with just water changes

To the OP, borrow a uv sterilizer from someone if you can and run it. It should clear it up
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 10-19-2012, 09:08 PM
mohammadali mohammadali is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Surrey central
Posts: 395
mohammadali is on a distinguished road
Default

thundering in ur tank
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 10-20-2012, 01:05 AM
mandyplo's Avatar
mandyplo mandyplo is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario
Posts: 218
mandyplo is on a distinguished road
Default

To try and answer all the questions at once:
Don't know anyone with a UV sterilizer
No not running carbon or Gfo yet (bought some, just need to do the big tank move before I can set up the reactor)
We have no clams and no coral except for 1 little 4polyp zoanthid frag
Only fish are 2 dispar anthias 1 blue chromis 1 kole tang 1 yellow watchman goby
No my bf turned off and back on the skimmer and I can quite confidently count on the fact that he did not clean the cup before turning it back on.
We turned the lights off going to keep them off for a few days and see if anything clears up.

As for tank specifications, tank is just shy of 1 yr old, 55gallon, aragonite fine Sand bed 2-3" deep, 45+ lbs live rock, carbon filter and protein skimmer rated for 200g tank and 2 Hydor 1050gph koralia powerheads
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
algae, cyanobacteria, green, red algae

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 05:09 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.