I am throwing in the towel. (12/10/14)

I have not. I would have to do more research on the UV and ultimately I would rather solve the underlying issue. I've had the plae issues before and solved them with feedings, more fish etc.

Thanks and you're right in almost every case. However, I watched the phosphates bottom out (from 0.9 to 0) on my Hanna ULR checker after I added Chemi Pure. It stayed "0" for a while and then begin creeping up slowly again.

Could very well be the case. I increased the water level in my skimmer.

Yeah, I am to the point where I jusst want to ignore the thing and maybe that is for the best. Give it time to adjust.

 

There may or may not be an underlying issue. When I had this it was that my skimmer was incorrectly assembled and therefore not skimming very small particulates even though it was otherwise working. The result, in combination with biopellets, was a bloom.

I know all the advice for most problems is to focus on fixing underlying issues. I really don't believe this is a good time to follow that advice. This is a simple, cheap, benign fix. More importantly, if it does fix it, it established definitivly what the problem is. Getting at underlying issues is a lot easier when you can identify the problem with certainty. Finally, with bacterial blooms, sometimes the solution is just to supress the free floating bacteria long enough for the stuff on rocks and surfaces to establish itself. The underlying problem as you put it is the bloom itself. End it for a week and it may just go away.

The current approach, which seems to include some fairly radical tank redesign, is probably a lot more harmful. The UV is a test. Run the test so we can help you solve this thing.

Please try it. You'll either discover its not a bloom and we can look for other solutions, or you'll stop causing yourself needless frustration.

 

Servillius so perfectly worded and I cannot agree more. I probably should have added to my story and fully supports Servillus statement. I only ran the UV sterilizer for a little over the ten days and fully removed it. It has been 3 months with no UV and the water is sparkling clear. It almost feeds on itself

 

I think the UV sounds like excellent advice. you'll need to give the test time to see if it will indeed work. I know sometimes trying too many things or more importantly not giving any one thing a chance can really exacerbate frustration. Good luck! hang in there!

 

I have two extra UV laying around my house now. If you were closer I would let you borrow one.

 

Thanks all. Tank cleared up for a day or two, but was as cloudy as ever today.

Guess I'll have to go the UV route.

ATO is failing now too. Water is not pumping in for some reason. Salinity jumped to 1.029 because of it.

Ugh. It's getting worse and worse.

 

Salinity went up?

 

From the ATO malfunction, Yes.

 

The thing is, if the ato is dumping in water, the salinity should go down.

 

OK, I just reread your post. Said ato NOT working. Should be easy enough to manually top off till you figure out.