125 g Filtration - What do I need?

[ifoundnemo]

Hi. I am new at this, so please bear with me. I have an 125 gallon tank I am hoping to turn into a reef tank. It has been running for about 3 months and currently has the following in it: base rock, 1/2 inch crushed coral, a feather duster, 2 damsels, a clown, a tang, a chocolate chip starfish, a coral banded shrimp and many snails/hermits.
About 6 weeks ago we changed our lighting to (A local pet shop said we needed to upgrade to have 5 watts per gallon -- is this really true?) Ever since this change, we have been unable to manage the mirky water and algae. I have managed to capture a SWAMP instead of a piece of the OCEAN!
Our current filtration system consists of 1 Fluval 403 and a protein skimmer. I know we need to upgrade, but I don't know what I really need. Local shops are not consistent with each other and are so expensive to boot!
Please, please, please what do I really need and where is the most economical place to purchase the supplies?
Thank you so much for your time and consideration! :help:

 

[reefraff]

Unfortunatly we aren't allowed to post links to online vendors but an internet search will turn up some places to shop for supplies. Watts per gallon isn't a very good indicator for lighting anymore because of the different styles of lights and tank deminsions. The biggest 2 factors are the deminsions of your tank and what kind of critters you want to keep IMO. Taller tanks need stronger lighting as do SPS corals, Anemones and clams.
Pull out your crushed coral and replace it with fine agronite sand. Crushed Coral must be cleaned every week or two to prevent garbage from building up and causing nitrates which will cause the algae blooms. You might also want to remove the filter material from the Fluval and use carbon in it to help clear up your water. Power filters like a Fluval can cause nitrate spikes if the filter material gets enough gunk in it.
Other than that there are some questions you can answer that will help people answer your question.
1. What are your water perameters: PH, Nitrates, Specific Gravity etc, whatever you are testing for.
2. How much live rock do you have and how long has it been in your tank?
3. What kind of skimmer are you running?
4. How much water flow do you have? Powerheads, pumps filters etc.
5. WHat kind of lighting are you using? Type of lighting, number of lamps and the color or K rating of the lamps.
Good luck.