Help!! What's wrong here?

To me it looks like a start of high phosphates. I wouldn't start over! Just treat it.

 

How Do Phosphates Affect My Saltwater Aquarium?

 

This looks like new tank process. How long as the system been up?

Syphone out what you can and water change from the syphoning.

 

Good point @abower, didn't think too much on that how long has the tank been up?

 

yep was going to say the same.

 

Lol, jumped to conclusions on this one.

 

Just do your research.

What are your nitrates at?

 

You first diatom bloom was likely a start. When I cycled my first 75 I had three different diatom blooms with the last one being giant. After everything stabled I added a cleanup crew and everything was ready to roll.

 

Welcome to GIRS and the world of saltwater!

What you’re experiencing is commonly referred to as “new tank syndrome”. We’ve all been through it and there are certainly days that feel as though all is lost and it’s time to start over. Someone said something years ago on another forum (Reef Central) that’s always stuck with me: “Nothing good happens quickly in a reef tank” (author unknown). One of the best skills for a successful reef tank is patience as what you’re experiencing will soon pass.

There are several articles and I’ll link to one on Reef Central in a moment. There are many great sources of information on the web as well as many opinions and half-truths or gospel based on one person’s experience – Google (or Bing, etc.) is your friend.

New tank syndrome. An opportunity for you to set up a tank with some live rock (presumably), saltwater, lights, filtration and a few critters or clean-up crew and sit back to experience the magic you see online. Unfortunately, after a week or so, everything starts to get taken over by a brownish looking growth (diatoms) and in your case a bright green algae. No matter what you do they won’t stop and seem to be taking over everything! This is completely normal. For instance, I added some dry rock to my tank 2 months ago and within a week it was covered in diatoms before it disappeared and this is in a 120G tank that’s been established for 2 years.

What you’re experiencing is a biological system settling in to your environment. Different algae are using available nutrients and as everything stabilizes, usually 30 – 60 days, the diatoms will disappear along with the other algae unless you continue to feed the green algae.

How do you feed it? Typically, algae outbreaks come from the top-off or replacement water that you’re using which is why most reefers prefer to use RO/DI water (reverse osmosis deionization) to remove 99% of contaminants before using in their tank as depending on where you live your water supply (i.e. city water) can fuel nuisance algae. Another way they crop up is by feeding on decaying matter such as a fish that perished or die off from new live rock.

What can you do now? Wait. Then wait some more. Make sure that you’re testing your parameters to monitor the nitrogen cycle (nitrogen, nitrites and nitrates) and especially the nitrates as you have invertebrates in your pictures that don’t do well with high nitrates and may perish. Strive to keep them below 20 with water changes and ultimately get them close to zero (I aim for <5). As much as possible, keep your hands out of your tank as you’re introducing contaminates (skin oil, lotions, soaps, etc.) that are amplified by your environment as it isn’t as big as the ocean. You do, of course, need to put your hands in your tank but some theorize new tank syndrome can also be partly attributed to a new owner always fidgeting in the tank and I always rinse my hands and arms with clean tap water before proceeding.

We’ve all gone through this and it will be over before you know it. Ask for assistance and spend time (lots of time at first) researching. Welcome again and here’s that link I mentioned earlier.

Good luck!

-Eric

Diatom discussion on Reef Central