is this what an algea bloom looks like???

the clear pic is my tank literally the night before the nasty pics
is this an algea bloom?

 

yikes, I would say yes.

 

kits are showing all parameters normal
im not kidding when i say this happened overnight
im not sure what to do
will the fish be ok?
will the corals be ok?

i am running the lights 8 hrs
actinics 1hr before and after the 8 hours as well as during the 8hrs

nova extreme pro 6 light

 

im running a batch of water right now for a water change tomorrow

the only corals i have are a green star polyp, a zoa rock and a mushroom rock, will they be ok with no light????

should i still be feeding the fish as i have been?

 

holy wacamole

 

that wasnt the word i chose but i guess it will do

i will shut the lights down and see how it goes

im so pissed because the tank was looking great and im having people over this weekend for my sons 1st bday, they have all heard nothing but tank talk since i started the build, and now it looks like a Pennsylvania pond.

wish there was something i could do to clear it up in a day or two

 

Holy crud! Never knew it could appear that fast. I would do a major water change to get out any loose stuff. Plus keep lights off for a few days.

 

What type of water are you using?
Well water / Tap water / RO-DI water?

Your supply could be bad.

Check your water parameters on your new water BEFORE it goes into the tank. You may want to pickup a cheap TDS meter to test ppm.

Good luck to you.

 

One way to use up nutrients, just remember to remove the algae do not kill it through light reduction. Killing that much algae wouuld lead to the depletion of all dissolved oxygen in your tank. Meaning the death of every thing else in the tank. If the dead and dieing algae is left in the tank the nitrifying bacteria in your bio syatem (live rock) will use up all oxygen available to them to try to turn the nutrients in the dead algae back into nitrates, it will be like putting them on meth, and they will zap the oxygen up quickly and steadily. No skimmer I would venture to guess?

 

im using RODI water

also i am skimming the crap out of this water right now
stuff im dumping from the skimmer cup is almost black
i also have put a sponge filter in my bubble trap to try and catch some of this stuff and take it out

i did a 10% water change this morning

should i do another tonight??

 

I would do another water change and try and suction out what you can while doing one. Be sure to make the water up a day ahead of time and let a powehead run in it until your ready to use it. How's your livestock doing?
When I had a red algae problem I was doing at least a 20% water change everyday for three days then I went to every other day until I had it under control. It'll take awhile.

 

Phosphates/nutrients = algae, if you reduce your phosphates and nutrients you will reduce your algae. A TLF (two little fishes) phosban reactor is cheap and the GFO media from twopartsolutions.com is cheap and works. Obviously as its friday morning it may not be enough time to get it up and running and all that for friends. For a quick fix get a filter sock (100 microns is what I use) and use that to strain the water, filter socks should be available at your LFS. I use this one from marinedepot.com and it is a good sock.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewI...es-Filter_Media-Mechanical-Socks~vendor~.html

 

Plus how much are you feeding your fish? Are you using frozen?

 

feeding fish twice a day, all frozen, none of the liquid, just the solids

i am going to start using a filter sock and the one you linked me too is perfect

for now i bought some polishing media to put in the bubble trap of my sump to filter some out

doing another water change tonight

all my parameters check out fine

phosphates are harder to check right now because they are being used up as fast as they go in

but ive calmed down and will ride this one out
its a very young tank and im sure its a stage of settling in

piggy, my livestock seems to be doing fine (what i can see of it)
i think my polyps love it because there is an abundance of phytoplankton to eat, i cut the lighting back a little but not crazy, and have been running my skimmer wet.

 

hey hey, bottle some of that up and ship it here =]

 

bottle up what....some of my pond water????ooh:

 

Good luck. Keep us updated.