Advice please! Woke up to a very cloudy tank!!

Quartapound · 11/03/2011, 09:52 AM

Morning guys,

My tank is about 3 months old, woke up this morning to see this

I perform a 5 gallon water change once weekly, one had been performed monday night. when i found the tank in this condition I immediately tested the ammonia and nitrates, which are both 0

I recently (on Saturday) picked up some macro algae from the LFS. I believe it's Caulerpa.

I've been turning the lights off for 6 hours at night in my fuge,

it's not lit very well either... it has an old daylight spectrum CFL bulb for the sump (i'm working on it)

after a frenzied search at 5am for the cause, I believe that it went sexual.

but it never turned white... heres a picture of what I removed

there doesnt seem to be anything in the tank that's dead, I removed the caulerpa immediately after reading that this might have been what caused it.

I'm at work now but will be home in a few more hours and would like to put a plan in motion for damage control.

Is there anything else I should do, or be checking to ensure I get things back to the way they should be?

I still have a large clump of Chaeto that was in the sump beside the Caulerpa... it's been there for a month, growing nicely...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

fishgate · 11/03/2011, 10:34 AM

I think it is either a bacteria or algea bloom. Neither should be a particular problem. I had an algea bloom so bad once that only a UV filter could get rid of it.

Sugar Magnolia · 11/03/2011, 10:45 AM

Run some carbon. It'll help clear the water.

thegrun · 11/03/2011, 10:47 AM

On a side note, I would use cheato not caulerpa as a macroalgae. It's also a good idea to have the "lights out" in the refugium during the main tanks highest light photoperiod; this will help stabilize your Ph swings. I agree the cloud is probably a bacteria bloom and not the caulerpa, but it can go asexual and spread. Caulerpa is very difficult to remove once it gets into your DT.

Quartapound · 11/03/2011, 11:32 AM

Thanks for the input guys, puts me at ease somewhat.

My Skimmer is going crazy too.

Sent from my Android using Tapatalk

Sugar Magnolia · 11/03/2011, 11:48 AM

For future reference - http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/nftt/index.php

11/03/2011, 09:52 AM	#1
Quartapound Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 108	Advice please! Woke up to a very cloudy tank!! Morning guys, My tank is about 3 months old, woke up this morning to see this I perform a 5 gallon water change once weekly, one had been performed monday night. when i found the tank in this condition I immediately tested the ammonia and nitrates, which are both 0 I recently (on Saturday) picked up some macro algae from the LFS. I believe it's Caulerpa. I've been turning the lights off for 6 hours at night in my fuge, it's not lit very well either... it has an old daylight spectrum CFL bulb for the sump (i'm working on it) after a frenzied search at 5am for the cause, I believe that it went sexual. but it never turned white... heres a picture of what I removed there doesnt seem to be anything in the tank that's dead, I removed the caulerpa immediately after reading that this might have been what caused it. I'm at work now but will be home in a few more hours and would like to put a plan in motion for damage control. Is there anything else I should do, or be checking to ensure I get things back to the way they should be? I still have a large clump of Chaeto that was in the sump beside the Caulerpa... it's been there for a month, growing nicely... Any advice would be greatly appreciated! __________________ Quartapound Current Tank Info: \|120G 48x24x24\|Basement sump & Frag tank\|2x XR15 G4 Pro\|2x MP40QD\|Vectra M1\|IceCap K2-200 Skimmer\|Apex Jr\|Caribsea Life Rock Shapes\| Last edited by Quartapound; 11/03/2011 at 10:07 AM.

11/03/2011, 10:45 AM	#3
Sugar Magnolia Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Northern VA Posts: 17,691	Run some carbon. It'll help clear the water. __________________ Adrienne The only thing to fear is fear itself....and spiders.

11/03/2011, 11:32 AM	#5
Quartapound Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 108	Thanks for the input guys, puts me at ease somewhat. My Skimmer is going crazy too. Sent from my Android using Tapatalk __________________ Quartapound Current Tank Info: \|120G 48x24x24\|Basement sump & Frag tank\|2x XR15 G4 Pro\|2x MP40QD\|Vectra M1\|IceCap K2-200 Skimmer\|Apex Jr\|Caribsea Life Rock Shapes\|

11/03/2011, 11:48 AM	#6
Sugar Magnolia Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Northern VA Posts: 17,691	For future reference - http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/nftt/index.php __________________ Adrienne The only thing to fear is fear itself....and spiders.

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11/03/2011, 10:34 AM	#2
fishgate Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Damascus, MD Posts: 3,340	I think it is either a bacteria or algea bloom. Neither should be a particular problem. I had an algea bloom so bad once that only a UV filter could get rid of it.

11/03/2011, 10:47 AM	#4
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	On a side note, I would use cheato not caulerpa as a macroalgae. It's also a good idea to have the "lights out" in the refugium during the main tanks highest light photoperiod; this will help stabilize your Ph swings. I agree the cloud is probably a bacteria bloom and not the caulerpa, but it can go asexual and spread. Caulerpa is very difficult to remove once it gets into your DT.