Another cloudy tank thread...

AbjectMaelstroM · Apr 4, 2020

Tank has been cycled for a couple. Months now, had a pair of clowns for the last month or so. Over the last 3 weeks or so everything has been turning greenish brown as what I assume to be the "ugly stage" coming in. It blows off the rocks fairly easily and I've been trying to do it once or twice week. Glass gets fogfy with green/brown film every day and gets cleaned every day. Sandbed gets stirred every few days. Every time I clean the glass, rocks and sand I'll crank the power heads and try to catch as much as I can in filter cups with floss and media bags of carbon. Floss gets tossed daily because it looks disgusting by the end of the day. Skimmer smells absolutely horrible... But not sure if that's normal.

Parameters:
Temp 76
SG 1.026
Ammonia 0
NO3 0
PO4 0
Alk 9.1
CA 430
Mg 1480
PH normally 8.2-8.4. Lately has been 8.4-8.5, sometimes hitting 8.6 during the day.

Ive been dosing NO3 to 2ppm weekly and within days it bottoms out. PO4 dosed to 0.08 every other day and goes to 0. I'm guessing the green stuff is eating up the nutrients but I don't want to det dinos, thus the dosing.

Monday I thought I'd try give Vibrant a go and did 14ml dose (120 DT 20g in sump). Doesn't seem to be doing much for the green stuff or the cloudiness.

Any ideas?

homer1475 · Apr 4, 2020

Vibrant takes a while to start "seeing" it working.

On the cloudiness, run carbon at all?

AbjectMaelstroM · Apr 4, 2020

In media cups, yes.

lavoisier · Apr 4, 2020

Your tank is very young so don't overdo stuff. Be patient and think long term. Carbon reactors work well to clarify water.

AbjectMaelstroM · Apr 4, 2020

Should I discontinue dosing of PO4 and NO3? I suppose nutrients are still there just being taken up by the algea as soon as its made.

lavoisier · Apr 4, 2020

Nutrient spikes may cause bacterial blooms.

AbjectMaelstroM · Apr 4, 2020

So is that a yes to the stop? Or spread it out more? I'm doing manual doses now once a day.

Slawman · Apr 4, 2020

I would stop dosing. Try to put as little into the water as you can as a general rule particularly when the tank is new. You want to stabilize. Do decent (15 to 25%) regular water changes. You are doing well and your parameters look good.

t5Nitro · Apr 4, 2020

Alternately my tank has been cycled about as long as yours. I'm not dosing any nitrate or phos and numbers are very close to your parameters and my tank is full of algae. I cant fix it for anything so I'm going to start dosing also to give that a try. I also am having really difficult time with coral health despite parameters in goal limits right now.