Cloudy Tank

Good thing you figured it out Keep your water tests ready! ;D

 

A couple things...

Cloudy: Take a clear glass container and scoop some out. Is it whitish or green tinted?

Lighting: T5's at 2x 54w will actually be more intense than 2wpg. What lighting did you convert from?

Oily Film: This is actually biofilm. Perfectly normal when there is a lack of circulation. Look at adding an air stone or power head to break the surface. I get this alot in my tanks as I dose CO2. I turn on the airstones at night to keep things in check.

 

for the heat simply turn down your heater, if that doesn't do the trick then you can use a fan blowing across the top of the water. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.marinedepot.com/Cooling_Fans_for_Aquarium_Lighting-FILTACAF-ct.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.marinedepot.com/Cooling_Fans ... AF-ct.html</a>
do you have something such as a temp alert? wondering if that water is getting much hotter when you're not home (that could cause your hazy/greenish water...plant death...etc)

If your water is looking green then your defin. having an algae bloom. Again, uv sterilizer recommended (but if you have a buddy ask if you can borrow there's first).

I seen you listed ph in the previous but what about nitrites, nitrates, ammonia (sorry if I missed them, some of the postings are on the lengthy side).

 

Turn your heater down as suggested, however if you suspect the heat is coming from the lighting fixture then simply float some frozen water bottles of water in the tank to gradually lower the temp.

 

water bottles are a great idea!, but if you're not going to be home to monitor it and constantly need to do this to lower the temp the fans will be an easier solution for you. AND if your tank tends to get warmer say mid-day you can simply put the fans on a timer to come on just during that time rather than running them 24/7

 

There's your bingo....algae bloom. Time for a 3 day black out.

 

You could do a black out or add some fast growing nutrient hogs such as water lettuce to suck up the extra nutrients causing the algae outbreak.

 

Fast Summary

filtration for 55g at optimum 8-10x per hour would be 440 - 500 gph.
MORE is always better when it comes to filtration...and if it's too strong you can always pre-filter.

Again, if the water has a green tint to it you're looking at an algae bloom.
You can do as James suggested and try the 3 day blackout (cover the tank, don't peek, don't worry about feeding as healthy fish will be okay for 3 days) OR you can borrow/buy a UV sterilizer and run that.

BUT with your high heat your experiencing I'd still suggest to turn the heater down to 78-80F and monitoring it throughout the day (if you can keep an eye on it get yourself a Tom temp alert that will do if for you..cheaper on ebay). If you continue to experience troubles with the temp of your water/ fluct. then I'd purchase a fan and run that across the top of the tank/water. IF a certain time of the day is hotter than the rest then you can set it on a timer to run only during that time frame. Examples of cooling fans are linked below.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.marinedepot.com/Cooling_Fans_for_Aquarium_Lighting-FILTACAF-ct.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.marinedepot.com/Cooling_Fans ... AF-ct.html</a>


and with the lighting I wouldn't run it more than 10 hours, if you're still experiencing issues slowly cut it back by a half hour-1hour at a time until you find your "Sweet" spot. (Timers are an aquatic keepers best friend)

 

Confirms the algae bloom. Recommended course of action is a three day complete black out. No lights and cover tank with a blanket or similar.

That's a big jump from 2x T8 15w to 2x T5 54w. That created the algae playing field.

Nope...just surface aggitation. The biofilm is common place when there is little to no surface movement.

 

Now that is something unfortunately I can't help with. Don't use them. To be honest with ya...not really needed if you ask me.

 

They can be OUTSIDE of your tank.
I use the coralife turbotwist, just stay away from the jebo's (heard bad things about them).

IF you do the blackout and all is well then you can do as others suggested...airstone to create surface agitation...possibly increased filtartion...cut back on your feeding amt...check your phosphates and nitrates (if they're the culprit there's products you can use such as Seachem de*nitrate and phosphate filter pads you can cut and use)...notch the heat back to 78..80F at most (although plants will appreciate a bit lower 76ish to 78ish)....make sure when you clean your filter you do it in aquarium water (you can use a bucket/pan...simply take some of the dirty water you're pulling out from partials and use that to "clean" your stuff in...that way your bb will stay intact)...use limited products in the water -- simply a good dechlorinator such as Prime and any plant dosing IF you plan on doing so or CO2 (james has a great co2 recipe/inst in the diy area)...and not sure how long you're running the new light but I wouldn't go more than 10-11 hours at most (if you have to cut back the lighting do it slowly)...and partials should be aprox. 35% each week (can do larger amounts and even do partials daily if you so choose).

AND if your dosing for plants remember NO carbon media as it will remove the stuff your dosing the plants with.

 

If you must know my secret to success...I had an algae bloom once.....once <insert Danny Vermin voice there> ;o)

In all seriousness though...I only experienced the bloom once myself. And actually it was for the same thing...an upgrade of the lighting. Did the blackout and have not had any reoccurances in that tank.

 

Lucky Brat, I did the blackout and couldn't get over mine..did the uv and haven't had a problem since