tank extremly clouded!!!!!

posie77

New Member
about a week ago i had a shrimp die which should have been a sign but i went to bed and woke up to a white tank I mean white I have a 90 gallon and i couldn't see the rocks or anything in it I spent the day doing water changes changing the filters cleaning the skimmer and totally freaking out. There was a white stringy substance everywhere blowing off the jets on the rocks in the filters the skimmer i thought for sure my tank had crashed but i only ended up losing my shrimp the tank is fairly new with only snails, crabs, a brittle starfish, blue croma, and watchman goby. The tank is now clear and most of the white is gone with a small amount on the rock but it seams to be going away. I have no clue what it was or why all my tests were good i checked them and my lfs also checked them they were also puzzled by it, and my lfs usually knows what there talking about. If any one has ideas on what it was or why it happened i don't ever want it to happen again!!!
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
posie, I can definitely say that this is not related to fish diseases.
How long has your tank been set up?
I'm going to move your topic over to the REEF Forum, where it should get more attention.
 

posie77

New Member
no there weren't any anemones i have seen a bristle worm but not more than one and the whole tank was covered with this white stuff and all the water was clouded didn't have more than two inches of visability it was a fifty five that was set up for about a year then transfered to a 90 about 2 months ago
 

twood

Member
Originally Posted by posie77
http:///forum/post/3170657
This is probably something i should know but don't how do i tell?
Well, if you don't know then you probably don't have any. Usually you have to add macro algae to your tank or refugium. Its not something that would just pop up like hair algae.
 

cranberry

Active Member
Originally Posted by posie77
http:///forum/post/3170657
This is probably something i should know but don't how do i tell?
The answer is probably "No" if you're not sure what it is. Macro is an algae peeps put in their tanks for form and function. It looks pretty and absorbs nutrients such as ammonia and nitrates. Here is some pics of the tanks I keep macros in... it's the different plant looking stuff. Do you have any of that in there?


 

flower

Well-Known Member

Wouldn't micro algae going asexual be green cloudy, not white and stringy?
White cloudy is associated with ammonia, but OP tests would NOT read normal, or something spawning like an anemone which OP does not have. Maybe a hitchhiker?
Whatever it was, if the only thing lost was a shrimp...it may have boosted the nitrates up to dangerous proportions that would kill a shrimp and not really bother a fish. Which leads it back to an ammonia spike, which would have killed fish at the level before it became nitrate...
.
Cranberry, that is the first I have seen a full tank shot of yours...those tanks are drop dead gorgeous...WOW...
 

flower

Well-Known Member

I see the calipora (spelling?) and some other type of algae...things may not be green...but remove the ones I circled...don't kill it...put it in a bucket with saltwater for the night...see what the tank looks like tomorrow. I bet it clears.
 

cranberry

Active Member
Ya, it was C. racemosa that went in that tank. I knew it was going to go the night before, so I had the camera set up. Shortly after the lights came on, the stuff "blew" as it always will. I only let it go so far, for me to get a pic. But if I let it continue, the tank would be completely white. Corals get irritated and slime thereafter. I stuck an airline in there because the occurrence is O2 depleting.
 
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