memnoch
Member
Hello folks, simple question here with what I hope is not a very complex answer. I just recently set up a 180 gallon reef for a friend. I started with a 5" DSB and about 200lbs. of LR. There was some significant die off on the LR by the time I was able to get it into the tank (long story). The tank water I think is the source of the problem. My friend is a cheap (#$*#%) and didn't want to spend the extra cash on distilled water to mix his salt, he already had spent about two thousand on the setup so why spend $100 on good water? Anyway long story short the tank cycled well but now he has a suspended green algae bloom that has persisted for about a week. You can hardly see about two inches into the tank. I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to help this dissipate? The parameters are as follows NO2 0.0 NO3 unknown (i suspect high) pH 8.30 SG 1.023 NH3 (0.25)<--this is after the tank cycled, phosphate level is unknown. To complicate matters my friends tap water I suspect had a high sulfur content based on the tank smell and the smell of his tap water. Once the tank started to cycle he got a diatom bloom so I added a phosphate sponge and carbon to the sump. After that the BLOOM blossomed 
I have a berlin skimmer set and ready to go but hadn't engaged it during the cycle. Any advice is appreciated as I'm about at the end of my knowledge base. If left alone will this bloom exhaust the tank of food source and die off? HELP!!!!
I have a berlin skimmer set and ready to go but hadn't engaged it during the cycle. Any advice is appreciated as I'm about at the end of my knowledge base. If left alone will this bloom exhaust the tank of food source and die off? HELP!!!!