Help! Cloudy Water and GHA!

[Janessa]

My tank was being over-run by green hair algae. I added a phosphate reactor (diy) to the tank -- that's the bottle in the back. The phosphates quickly fell to zero. Some algae died, but some is still alive (you can see it in the back left) and the water became cloudy. I have done 2 major water changes without the cloudiness being reduced at all. Can anyone help me understand why my water is cloudy now? Also, how do I finish killing off that dratted algae! Thanks!

 

[flowflezy]

Try a uv sterilizer I would not do more ater changes sometime it makes it worse. Uv will clear it up n a day or 2.

 

[Reefing Madness]

What are you using to test for phosphates? They should read under .05, not 0.
What are your Nitrates reading? Did you change out your phosphate material as it may have exhausted with the first round. ?
You could run lights out for 3 days, that would finish off the rest of the algae. Then do major water change to get rid of the cloudiness.

 

[Janessa]

I have the API phosphate test kit. The next step up it measures after 0.0 is 0.25. My nitrate test kit is from Nutrafin and the lightest pink on the card reads about 5ppm. My water is testing a little lighter than that. I will change out my Phosguard and see what happens. I know my test kits aren't the best. I am hoping to upgrade to a hanna phosphate reader soon. Any advice?

 

[Reefing Madness]

The cloudiness is more than likely a bacterial bloom. Using API for phosphates, if that test tube changes colors at all, your phosphates are high, in a tank with them high, the GFO exhausts quickly, your going to have to watch about every 2-3 days to see if its full and your reading don't go down. Nitrates are probably ok even if your reading slightly over 5, thats not a big deal.
Is the powerhead stirring up the sand bed at all? Do you know what the TDS on the water is? Are you using Tap or RO?
You might get away with moving that one powerhead in the back, over to the other corner, and get cross movement.
Whats going on with the water depth?
Do you have a canister filter you could run with carbon in it for a week or so?

 

[Janessa]

The cloudiness is more than likely a bacterial bloom. Using API for phosphates, if that test tube changes colors at all, your phosphates are high, in a tank with them high, the GFO exhausts quickly, your going to have to watch about every 2-3 days to see if its full and your reading don't go down. Nitrates are probably ok even if your reading slightly over 5, thats not a big deal.
Is the powerhead stirring up the sand bed at all? Do you know what the TDS on the water is? Are you using Tap or RO?
You might get away with moving that one powerhead in the back, over to the other corner, and get cross movement.
Whats going on with the water depth?
Do you have a canister filter you could run with carbon in it for a week or so?

I do not believe the powerhead is stirring the sandbed. I am using RO water from the lfs, but I do not know what the TDS is on it. How do I find that out? The water level is low because the stand we have under the tank has begun to bow a bit in the middle and my husband is paranoid that the tank will crack with too much weight. The water in the skimmmer runs through a carbon filter on it's way back to the tank. I will move the powerhead and see what happens. Thank you for your help!

 

[peterthegamer]

For the green hair try to scrub the rocks:

 

[Sobo's Reef]

You said you have a phosphate reactor. Did you rinse it off before using it? How fast is the media tumbling? If its tumbling too fast, its probably being crushed up resulting in a cloudy tank.

 

[Janessa]

You said you have a phosphate reactor. Did you rinse it off before using it? How fast is the media tumbling? If its tumbling too fast, its probably being crushed up resulting in a cloudy tank.

Plus 1! You figured it out. I took my phosguard out last night intending to change it out today and this morning the tank was clear!

Also, Peterthegamer, I am going to try your advice....I have a soft toothbrush I'm going to use on the rocks right before a water change.

 

[Sobo's Reef]

Glad I could help out