bacteria bloom

[countryhova]

Hey guys. I added my first 2 fish sat. A pair of oscellaris clowns. The tank was a little cloudy on sunday but by monday it turned really bad. It is now tuesday and I can barely see through the tank. It is a 29G with 60lbs of live rock and a skimmer. The tank had cycled and been animal free for 6 weeks before this. From what I have read this is normal but I want my damn tank to be clear again! Should I just leave it? The fish look fine and are feeding on copepods and their daily couple of vibragrow pellets. How long do these things last? I appreciate the help in advance!

 

[countryhova]

Anyone? Its now wednesday and still looking about the same. Anybody experience this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Lrood]

Have there been any jumps in your chemistries (ammonia, nitrite, etc)? I can only remember this happening if my water became fouled (fortunately it's been a long time). Have you considered a partial water change?

 

[countryhova]

just checked my parameters 5 minutes ago and everything is negative. nitrates are at 20 ppm but they were there before the fish. im setting up for a 20% change now.

 

[llewoh05]

it your nitrates where at 20 then you were not done cycling. should be at 5 or less before addin anything. you probably have green water. i would do 5 gal water changes every other day for a week or two and then see where you are at.

 

[Jim Z.]

What color is your water--milky white, green, yellow...? If there is alot of photosynthesis in the tank due to cyanobacteria, this can sometimes cause saturated calcium to drop out of solution. Your water will appear milky white. Single celled alga and cyanobacteria will give the water a nice green color. What does the surface of your live rock look like--slimey, velvety film....? With 60 lbs of live rock, your nitrates should be undetectable. A dead snail or crab can also cause a bacterial bloom as well.

Change at least 1/4 of your water to help reduce the nutrient load. Do not feed your fish for a couple of days--they will be Ok. What sort of gunk is being collected in the skimmer cup? Grow some macro algae and remove excessive amounts to get rid of nitrate.

I have a clump of Chaetomorpha, a type of green alga, in my 30 gallon and during the first 2 months of my tank's cycling, the mass grew considerably and was trimmed weekly. It did remove quite a bit of excess nitrate.

Smaller tanks are less forgiving and you have to experiment until you get the desired effects.

Try to post some photos of your setup so the gang can provide you with very specific help.....Jim Z.