OK, so I set up my ATS using all the instructions here, almost a year ago. A bit before, by heater had gone haywire one night and pretty much cooked the tank. killing most everything. This resulted in a Biblical scale algae bloom. Set up the ATS into this mess and even with already seeded screen it would not take off, probably due to the jungle of algae in the tank taking all the nutrients. Next step - cook the rock. It has been in tubs in a dark bathrrom upstairs for over 6 months now and still has stubble of algae after water changes, plucking, shaving, etc. Anyway, the ATS has run since and never has developed a full beard, but assume that is beacuse it is servicing an empty tank.
Problem - Water was turning green. A problem noted here and I took the advice found somewhere to add a charcoal filtration bag. That seemed to be working for about a week then one AM woke up to a cloudy white tank. You can see through it front to back, but side to side it is like soup. It is like being in a thick fog with a tiny bit of breeze, you can see the cloudy water moving around. Google research tells me that this is a bacteria bloom which should go away in a couple of days. It has now been three weeks. Any ideas or alternatively, is anyone interested a full 45 gal setup with tank, ATS, lights, etc.?