Help please! Tank water turned brown!

[Isla_Nut]

We've had tanks for years, but I'm still finding myself stumped & a little panicky. I have a new FOWLR Fiji peninsula 37 that's been set up for just shy of 3 months. The rock cycled for 3 months in a trashcan before that. Haven't had any problems with it at all. It cycled beautifully, no uglies. Then all of a sudden this week, I thought I was getting diatoms, but I'm afraid it could be dynos or something else. Cleaning the glass 2 and 3 times a day. Having to put new floss in 3-4 times a day, it's growing like crazy. The water's cloudy & brown. Strange thing is it was cycled, and we had nitrates, but now it's all zeros across the board. Ph and salinity are good. I have 2 firefish, small chalk bass, green clown gobi yellow watchman gobi, 2 new little baby butterflyfish, possom wrasse, cleaner shrimp, couple hermits & a red barrel sponge in it. (The butterflies are only in here until they get big enough to go in the main display tank. I was afraid they'd get picked on because they're so little.) But now I'm worried that the water might be harmful to them.
Any ideas? I really don't want to lose these fish

 

[FurrierTransform]

Have you checked your phosphate levels? The thing is, if it's some sort of algae, it'll consume nitrates and phosphates, leading you to measure low levels. If you run your water through some media which removes those things then hopefully you'll starve whatever is causing this. Or, you might just wait it out. You haven't said whether your livestock are adversely impacted or not.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

8 fish in a 35 is very overstocked, what kind of filtration system are you running on this tank?

Pictures with white lights will really help a lot.

 

[MnFish1]

If it's a FOWLR. - the key is patience. I would do nothing differently

 

[Isla_Nut]

If it's a FOWLR. - the key is patience. I would do nothing differently

Thanks, I think you're right. In hindsight, I think in our overexuberance in trying to clean up some algae, we probably stirred everything up and created a bacterial bloom. I was just worried about these new fish. They seem okay now that I'm putting more oxygen with flow in the tank.

 

[AetherealKnight]

Thanks, I think you're right. In hindsight, I think in our overexuberance in trying to clean up some algae, we probably stirred everything up and created a bacterial bloom. I was just worried about these new fish. They seem okay now that I'm putting more oxygen with flow in the tank.

Run some chemipure. It should help with water clarity.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

We've had tanks for years, but I'm still finding myself stumped & a little panicky. I have a new FOWLR Fiji peninsula 37 that's been set up for just shy of 3 months. The rock cycled for 3 months in a trashcan before that. Haven't had any problems with it at all. It cycled beautifully, no uglies. Then all of a sudden this week, I thought I was getting diatoms, but I'm afraid it could be dynos or something else. Cleaning the glass 2 and 3 times a day. Having to put new floss in 3-4 times a day, it's growing like crazy. The water's cloudy & brown. Strange thing is it was cycled, and we had nitrates, but now it's all zeros across the board. Ph and salinity are good. I have 2 firefish, small chalk bass, green clown gobi yellow watchman gobi, 2 new little baby butterflyfish, possom wrasse, cleaner shrimp, couple hermits & a red barrel sponge in it. (The butterflies are only in here until they get big enough to go in the main display tank. I was afraid they'd get picked on because they're so little.) But now I'm worried that the water might be harmful to them.
Any ideas? I really don't want to lose these fish

Can you post a clear video under white light? I'm having some difficulty determining what you are describing...

Jay

 

[Isla_Nut]

Sorry, were in FL. Hurricane has stolen the show. Lost a shrimp & a fish so all of the fish were transferred to our large display tank with the back up power bank. The tank in question literally looks like a muddy pond. Really sad & frustrating!! We'll try to post pics once we are out of the woods with Milton.