the green monster!

[skriz]

hey guys.

i am in the process of setting up my tank. everything was going well, until all of a sudden...i got green!

i am only using a single 110w actinic vho for about 6 hours a day for lighting. i have about a 3" sand bed, which was seeded with live sand. no live rock yet.

the tank cycled and all was running fine as i was setting everything up. summer hit, and i think the windows let in a little too much sunlight? now the tank is as you see.

the skimmer is not running yet, so i am skimmerless.

what's going on and what can I do?

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/3106green.jpg

[Kevin McG]

Is the tank in the direct sunlight? what is the temp of the water in the tank?

[cediss]

Well, it is fairly obvious to most and I think even to you that you had an algae bloom. If you really want to clear it up you should put a skimmer on there. Even better would be to put a skimmer on, do a water change and or use some carbon. I suspect a good skimming would clear it up real well. Are there any corals or fish in there. If so take it slow. Skimmer first, then a few small water changes over next few weeks. 10% at a time. You dont want to shock your inhabitants.

[Kent E]

A few carrots, some onions and you'll have a fine soup.




Skim hard.

[skriz]

no spices? Soup is always better with a little spice :D

Yeah, that's what I fugured. The tank is in direct sunlight (20" ceilings with HUGE windows). The tank temp is stable; I keep the house at a decent temp.

I guess I'll run my smaller skimmer for now until the big one is ready.

I do have some fish, had a coral...don't know if he's still in there. The anemone is doing ok from what I can see (which as you can tell, I can barely do).

thanks guys. I'll post some pics of the after shots :)

[818]

Hahahaha omg that is insane! You definatley need to get that fixed....

Good Luck!

Sam

[smorrow5773]

A properly sized UV unit will clear that up in a few days, and if you run it continuously, will prevent it from happening again.

[cediss]

Maybe you can start a new reef trend! Back reef lagoon tank. Some corals like bubbles, elegance and fungiids are suppose to thrive in these conditions! Guess we'll see if anyone follows your lead! J.K.!

[Shnabbles]

It looks like you dumped a whole bottle of Phyto in the tank.

[8mycash]

my 500 gallon reef sit's in natural sun light for around 4 hours a day. I don't have anything like that. Crank up the UV and protein skimmer.

[wjhuie]

I have only seen algea like that in freshwater tanks.

[jjackson]

did you dose phyto??? seriously looks like a large vat of phyto!!!

[Marcus K]

UV cleared mine up in two days. You could only see my clowns when they were against the glass.

[philipm]

Suspended algae bloom. It will go away on its own durring the cycle. As stated previously a UV will clear it up. If you are not planning on using a UV then it would be a big expense just to clear this up. Try borrowing one from your LFS or a friend.

[skriz]

LOL!

I wasn't going to use UV, but this is INSANE! What size would I use on a 750g system?

and no, I haven't dosed it with anything.

[reef10]

people work hard to grow that stuff. Sell it on ebay. How many gallons ?$$ Could pay for the tank. This could be good for the population of the small stuff pods etc. Find someone with rotifers. What is your water source? Get some live rock because the algae will take care of ammonia and nitrates. This would make the ideal rock curing tank. Curing the rock without a spike has to be good for the critters.

[blfuller123]

I have a skimmer for you to try out and I am not far from ya.

[anjhof]

This happened to my 75 gallon tank when I set it up. I bought a 9W UV and it cleared up in about 3 days. I noticed a huge difference in one day.
I thought it happened to me because I filled it with tap water - stupid me!

[thesaent14]

my freand this will help you out uv don't get it yet use carbon

first go here and reed this the same happent to me
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=849040

and this is my tank now is a link of the video
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a388/thesaent14/my%20diy/th_100_0608.jpg (http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a388/thesaent14/my%20diy/?action=view&current=100_0608.flv)

lol the camara don't get the ligths good so it look green some time lol but is not the water now

[skriz]

thanks guys. i started carbon today. let's see how that works out.

thesaent14: wow, your tank looks great now!

reef10: I have 750 gallons of this stuff. If you want some, let me know. If I can actually sell this stuff, I will just continue to harvest it for a few years to pay off this project! any takers? :)

I'll look into a uv for later.

[thesaent14]

thanks man just add carbon ill do the trick trust me my was like that and the sun in the mornign hits it to and is not green any more

[NexDog]

Had it happen to my 50g QT and carbon didn't help at all. I also did an 80% water change and it was dark green again in a few days. UV will fix it. I run one on my QT system 24/7 now.

[JCTewks]

I don't know how wise it was, but I used a Diatom filter on mine and it cleaned up in a couple of days.

Just my 2cents.


Jeff

[H22ATypeS]

Mann....Just funny.....That looks like a bottle of phytoplankton.....sorry for the mishap though.

[DitchPlains2]

I've done some serious fups in my day, but this takes the cake, never had a green reef tank yet, I will work harder on it though.:rollface: I can't believe someone suggested a water change on a 750g tank. lol
Kinda seems pointless to me to do water changes on a huge tank, better off just adding supliments and skimming the crap out of it, and doing maybe yearly changes. what's 15% of 750 lol thats no fun unless its automated.


good luck
David:lol:

[skriz]

yeah, water changes are a pain in the..well, u know. and from what i've seen, they don't do anything in this situation. maybe when the tank is actually supporting life, a water change may help, who knows!

it does make me feel a little better that this amuses you guys. atleast somebody is getting some joy from this beast! :D

[Chad Vossen]

with water like that, you can keep inverts that most of us couldnt. i think if you had a clam, it would be fat if u kept it like 1 inch under the water surface.

[hahnmeister]

Dont change a thing!!! What you have right there is a 750g phyto reactor! You need to start bottling that stuff and selling it for $30 a pop just like DT's! Leave that tank as is and set up a reef somewhere else.