First Container garden and algae

[acpart]

I have just set up a container water garden for the first time. It's in a 54 gallon tub which is probably holding about 40 gallons of water. I'm hoping to get fish next week (I started it 2 weeks ago). The only problem I'm having right now is that the water is very murky. There's some algae growing on the sides and bottom of the container. I have barley straw in there and am using a small pump to circulate the water. Before I started the pump there was scum on the water and it smelled bad. Now it smells fine but there are tiny green particles in the water and it's hard to see too far down. I'm not sure what adjustments I should make or if I should use a clarifier. Any suggestions would be welcome. If I need to supply more information just let me know.

Aliza

 

[acpart]

No one responded to this, but I figured it out so I thought I'd post my update. I guess I just needed time for the barley straw to start working since the water has gotten clearer in the last few days. This afternoon I added 6 giant danios and they seem to be enjoying themselves.

Aliza

 

[zacdl]

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Sorry I missed this. I'm having a bit of an off week.