New tank is cloudy

[MarkL]

I set up my 120 gallon reef tank 3 1/2 months ago. I have 60 lbs of live rock for now and have placed 5 fish and a few inverts in the tank. All was well until 4 days ago when the tank became cloudy with a green tint to the water. My ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings are all 0. My pH has had an increase to 8.5 from it's normal 8.4. Tank temp is 81 degrees F. I have a MH light which is running 11 hours per day. I have had a red-brown algae on the rock and tank for the last 3 weeks, which the snails are cleaning fairly well. The sand is another story, its covered with it. Two questions...what do I do about the cloudy water and what can I do about the algae? Are these normal?

[Poseidon]

As far as the cloudy water, what fish do you have, and what type of substrate? Could it be a fish stirring up the sand? I know my trigger likes to move the sand around, it causes the water to cloud up for a while.

The algae problem usually comes from PO4 (phosphate). Do you have any macro algaes in a sump or refugium? The more complex algae usually out compete the diatom type for the same nutrients. However a algae bloom is pretty common in new tanks, it usually clears itself up.

Your lighting schedule seems a bit long to me though, what type of corals do you have in the tank? Are they SPS or maybe a clam, if not you could cut back the amount of time you have that halide on. Less photoperiod results in less algae.

OH YA, and WELCOME TO REEFLAND!!!

[WHOSYOURDADDY]

Red slime algae is actually not a "true" algae at all, but classified as a cyanobacteria. Often considered to be the evolutionary link between bacteria and algae, cyanobacteria are one of the oldest forms of life on earth and date back at least 3.5 billion years. These organisms produce oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis, and scientists believe that if it weren't for this microscopic organism, there would be no blue skies on Earth.

What Makes Slime Algae Grow and Solutions For Eliminating This Problem

I suggest that you don't try to put all of these solutions into action at one time, because if you do, when to problem subsides you'll never really know "exactly" where the problem was coming from and which solution worked to fix it. Start with one solution and see what results you get, and if that one doesn't work, try another one, and so on, until the problem is resolved. Now, i n order for all forms of algae to grow, they require only two things; light and nutrients.

• Lighting: The use of improper bulbs, lack of maintenance, and extended lighting hours are contributors that can lead to all sorts of algae problems. While these organisms do well in the 665 to 680 nanometer (nm) wavelength range, they are quite active bewteen the 560 and 620 nm range as well.
  
  • Solutions: Only use bulbs that are designed for aquarium use, run the lights 8 to 9 hours a day, and following the basic wattage rule of thumb, try different types of bulbs to increase the intensity and the spectral qualities of the light in the aquarium, particularly when it comes to any type of full-spectrum or color enhancing tubes being used.

• Nutrients: Phosphates (PO 4 ), DOCs (Dissolved Organic Compounds), and nitrates (NO 3 ) are primary nutrient food sources for red and other slime algae.
  
  • Phosphates (PO 4 ) are commonly introduced into aquariums by means of using unfiltered fresh tap water, and through many aquarium products that may contain higher than normal concentrations of this element, such as sea salt mixes, activated carbon, KH buffers, foods, and many other sources. Also, for established reef tanks the long-term use of kalkwasser precipitates phosphates out of the water, and these phosphate based compounds can settle on and in the live rock and substrate.
    
    • Solutions: U se RO/DI filtered make-up water, a high quality sea salt mix, and be aware of the elements contained in other common aquarium products you may be using. For solutions to problems that can arise from using kalkwasser, refer to The Fishline's Microalgae article.

Try reducing the amount of time your lights are on try maybe 8-9 hours a day.


Reduce the amount of food provided go to smaller but more frequent feedings (this will allow the fish to eat more and leave less in the aquarium)
Keep your partial weekly water changes going.

Phosphates are a big problem what is your water source? I had this problem until I switched to RO/DI water. Any public water systems will be loaded with phosphates