Cloudy water!!! Coral's look terrible, Help!

[Squiers007]

Hey all, haven't posted much recently but am kinda freaking out...

I have been dosing vodka in my 75 gal reef tank for 7 days now and woke up this morning to a bacterial bloom. I estimated my total water volume at ~70gal and started my vodka dosing at 0.3ml, did that for 3 days then bumped up to 0.6ml, stayed there for 4 days and woke up this morning to a bloom! My nitrates and phosphates were really low to begin with but I had lots of leafy algae and hair algae in my tank so there had to be nutrients there. I did not dose this morning and am not sure what to do!? I did a water change last night and am wondering if that might have had some effect? My corals are looking like crud this morning (no polyp extension, showing signs of starting to bleach!)

Also, my skimmer (Reef Octopus 150) is putting out a ton of micro bubbles which it doesn't normally do?? Anyone have any suggestions for how I should proceed? I'm really worried all my SPS are going to die... please give me some feedback! Thanks!

[ErikH]

Water changes and stop dosing is your best way out of it.

[randomfish]

do a water change soon as possible ive never been a fan of vodka dosing

[Squiers007]

Yesterday I noticed a bunch of algae starting to die... do you think this could have caused the bloom? Should I discontinue the vodka permanently or until the bloom subsides?

Also, any ideas on why the skimmer is going crazy with the micro-bubbles?

[Bill S]

As noted above, water changes. Your water quality could be the algae dying off. Remember, the die-off releases those locked-up nutrients back into the water.

[Squiers007]

As noted above, water changes. Your water quality could be the algae dying off. Remember, the die-off releases those locked-up nutrients back into the water.

That's what I was thinking... I just don't know why this would be effecting my corals so adversely? Do you think it will be ok to wait until 5 tonight to do the wc? or do I need to do it asap?

[justahobby]

Do a water change, replace carbon, and back off on the vodka.

With vodka dosing, be painstakingly slow. I started with a couple drops and after a month I was maybe up to .5 ml in my 58g. Even at that rate I would get a bacterial film on the glass. No negative side effects though.

Your skimmer may be running poorly because of excess bacteria in the chamber. I would pull it out and rinse it after you do a water change. Get it back online though so you keep the tank oxygenated.

[Squiers007]

Ok, changed my carbon out last night when I did a water change, also took out the skimmer and cleaned it. I was only dosing 0.6ml and the last dose I did was last night... going to do a water change when I get off work this afternoon, hopefully nothing dies before then :cry_smile:

[justahobby]

White vinegar is a safer, diluted carbon source. There are reports of less cyano with it too. Might consider that as an option....

[Squiers007]

Ok, did a 20gal water change at 11am this morning... I get off work in a hour, hopefully things are looking better... I will keep everyone posted. Thanks.

[stoneroller]

I'd run a battery of water quality tests to make sure you don't have something else, in addition, going on. Check nitrates first IMO.

[Squiers007]

Update... got home from work yesterday and things weren't looking a whole lot better... The bloom was not as strong but the water was still a bit cloudy. I ended up pulling all the SPS out of the tank that I could and took them to a friends tank. Most of the softies look alright but I did lose a couple SPS.

Not entirely sure what happened yet as all the water tests check out ok. I think that dying algae may have released some sort of toxin into the water and that coupled with the stress from the bloom caused the coral to bleach. I also lost my pair of orange-lined cardinalfish which was sad, but my possum wrasse survived (my only good news).

Did another 25gal water change in the evening and this morning the water is all cleared up and I things look back to normal. There are still a couple SPS in there that seem to be holding on so we will see if they recover. Thanks to everyone for the quick responses. I knew what to do but sometimes in a panic you second guess yourself! Thanks again!

[justahobby]

Were your fish gasping? With a heavy bloom, your oxygen levels might have dropped sharply.