green cloudy water?

Puffer22 · #1 10/25/2006, 03:09 PM

our tank is a 56g tall, about 3-4months old and we had no real problems up to this point. we had
1 cleaner shrimp
2 chromis
2 clowns
1 emerald crab
60+ small snails
12 larger snails (astrea, etc)
1 lawnmower blenny
1 gramma
sadly, we've lost 2 fish to ich already... they've hidden a lot and elude capture, so that was bad enough. so far we've caught the 2 clowns and 1 of the chromis for the quarantine tank. the male clown was getting white spots, very visible. the qt tank has been treated and the spots are gone. all that's left are the cleanup crew and one very annoying chromis who has evaded every type of capture known to man aside from taking the rocks apart.
we've tried see-through containers (which worked for one), plain netting, leaving the net in the tank so he gets used to it, emptying the tank to maybe 10-15 gallons, and now we have a fish trap.
the problem is... ever since emptying the tank, the water has been green and incredibly cloudy. been keeping up with water changes (about 10%) and it comes out green. the water seems to look a bit better, but a day later it's back. our cleanup crew is fine and eating normal...even water tests came out fine. what could be causing the water to be so cloudy and green? is there a way to counter this?

akrimmel · #2 10/25/2006, 03:24 PM

how long is your photo period? have you checked phosphate levels lately?

trendle · #3 10/25/2006, 03:33 PM

I had this problem and my photoperiod was too long. I had no light-needing inverts, like you, so this is what I did.

Turned all lights off for 2 days.
Turned them on for 2 hours for one day, 3 hours for another, 4 for a few days, and slowly dialed them up to about 10 hours where I am now.

Evidently it was some sort of bloom because I have crystal clear (except for the darn microbubbles) water.

akrimmel · #4 10/25/2006, 03:34 PM

that is why i asked?

bertoni · #5 10/25/2006, 04:14 PM

It's most likely a phytoplankton bloom. Such blooms can deplete oxygen in the tank during the night, but otherwise tend to be harmless. Some water changes and reduced feeding for a while might help it disappear. Borrowing a UV unit might help, too.

akrimmel · #6 10/25/2006, 04:15 PM

didn't htink about UV.

Ti · #7 10/25/2006, 04:21 PM

run some micro filtration and get some po4 remover.

akrimmel · #8 10/25/2006, 04:23 PM

i agree