green water

[tammielynz9881]

question: how can i make my water clear again?
you see,,,,, about a week ago my anemone twisted at the stem (like you would a loaf of bread to close it) and snapped in half, i took him out and now i have this green water that i can not see thru but it is not from the algae growing on anything (took some time and studied it but all objects in tank are completely free of algae growth). I did a 25% water change and it did not help at all, (i think it actually stayed the same to a little worse.) HELP ME.. i want a clear tank again. Im trying to avoid chemicals because it messes with my protien skimmer and i don't like to add to much chemical because it cannot be good for the fish, but then again, is the green water going to hurt them?.....

 

[S.Reef]

Green water is single celled algae that is triggered by excessive nutrients. Some how something got into your water whiched triggered this. You have a few options. First I would move the fish to a quarantine tank. Second make sure the water you use to refill the tank contains no phosphates or silicates. Nitrates and other minerals are bad as well. From now on use only R.o. water for everthing. No more water changes for a while. The new batch of salt adds extra nutrients to the water. Third chemical filtration, maybe a Polyfilter to remove some/most of the nutrient, and a diatom filter (brand name or no) to remove the single celled algae and the nutrients bound up in them... Shading the tank... Encouraging a collapse by over-stimulating the mix of algae... but none of these techniques appeal, too messy, and unstable...Instead, place as much live rock as you can afford, the Live Rock will re-set the system... and exclude much chance of a recurrence of your "free living" algae bloom problems.

 

[wayne]

I'm not sure I'd bother moving the fish unless they're obviously suffering. I agree it's a nutrient problem, but now they're all bound up in algae. I'd suggest getting your skimmer setup right - you should be producing absolutely masses of green skum now.
Skim the stuff out. If it's not coming straight out you have a skimmer problem

 

[S.Reef]

Well...Wayne my reason for removing the fish is because some people I know had a problem with fish dying while the tank was like that...I guess its more of a precaution.

 

[wayne]

Fair enough. My only experience of green water is in freshwater. I can see you might well get a problem when the lights go off and photosyntheseis stops causing a crash in dissolved oxygen.
I don't think a good skimmer would take more than a couple of fairly intense hours to skimm all that stuff out though.
I repeat , if you have green water and a skimmer, and you're not hauling the stuff out by the bucket, you have a skimmer problem. Sort that out, then the nutrient problem. Turning the lights out is the worst option - sooner or later you have to turn them back on.

 

[1979camaro]

im betting the algae is a result of the anemone implosion and as wayne said it should skim out eventually, just keep dumping the cup cause if the skimate overflow back into the sump...well that is just not gonna do any good...a water change could help it along as well.

 

[tammielynz9881]

ok,, i took a water sample to the pet store and its free floating algae... no scum is appearing anywhere,, it just looks like someone died the water with green food coloring, you cannot see any mass of anything, i took all the fish out and the anenomes too because they looked pathetic as well my mushrooms and others so all live rock has been removed as well since i have mushrooms, anenomes and other life on them that made them appear ill (i could only find this out by holding the rocks to the front of the tank and studying them since it is so dense i cannot even see my water circulator and heaters on the side of the tank, I now have filter galour (one that attatches to the powerhead and one that is a Magnum 350) I also have my skimmer on full power and its not budging it. So now,,, i THINK,, i need to recycle a tank of water im guessing about 70% since my live sand is in there. Please correct me if im wrong. I don't think that its going to cure itself so this is my only option in my head,,, i did the steps Sam has suggested, including putting a comforter over my picture window, i only use the blue lights now (for about a week). Hope this works out! Please let me know if there is anything else i can do or am i stuck recycling a new tank of water?

 

[1979camaro]

yah, i wouldnt have expected scum...its just in the water. i am surprised the skimmer isnt sucking anything out of the water...if you mix up some fresh SW and replace as much of the display water as you can...and then return the LR to the tank you shouldnt have a problem with a cycle b/c the LR and LS will still be fully alive...may be a little rough on the anemones and corals but it will probably take care of the problem

 

[S.Reef]

Yeah...agree with 1979camaro. Big water change.

 

[1979camaro]

i spoke with her earlier on aim and she is planning to do just that...so i suppose we will know the answer in a few days. hopefully the green water doesnt come back, if it does there is something in the top off or salt water she is adding bringing in nutrients

 

[wayne]

I don't think you need to recycle, and I'm not really sure of the merits of a big water change.
I would try to borrow a better skimmer than a skilter. If you could borrow a plug and play skimmer that worls like a remora I think the lot should jsut come out.
At the end of the day this is exactly the sort of problem a skimmer should fix - large blobs of sticky organics. The fact it's not skimming out is a measure of how bad the seaclown is.
Tammie - do you ever get much out of the skilter? Can someone from the petshop either lend you a better skimmer , or visit and show you how to get yours to work. This should all be gone in 3 or 4 hours.

 

[1979camaro]

i dont think she has a skilter...i believe she has a regular skimmer of some sort

 

[S.Reef]

I think she has a seaclone?

 

[wayne]

It's irrelevant. Any decent skimmer will haul it straight out. Frankly so should a bad one if it's set up right, even my prizm.

 

[tammielynz9881]

sorry its taken me soooo long,, but we qualified for racing nationals and i have found little time for computer but, i did the water change 100% and all is going well. I left the light out for the following day to kill any algae left. i have a seaclone and it pulled stuff out but would not budge the water color (like someone added green food color to it) and yes it was hooked up properly. all fish and rock and anenomes made the change. Mark that one up as a lucky thing... bye for now