green water

[morrigann266]

i seem to be having a problem that is stumping me at the moment. perhaps you peeps can help me out with this, as it has me completely stumped right now.

i have had fish tanks for a while now, though there was a big gap in time. for the longest time, i took care of my gold fish, and they entertained me. now i have moved on to bigger tanks and other fish, and i seem to have developed a problem.

when we first put the tank together, my hubby decided that living thorugh chemistry would be good for my fish. i had always set up the tank, let it cycle for a week or two, then started adding fish. we lost some fish.

then the water got cloudy. i knew that this happens, and you just have to wait it out, but my hubby poured some sort of clearer in, and turned the water purple. a day later, the water was bright green. i replaced the filter cartriges, and nothing happened. i tried a chemical that kills algae, and it did not change.

in frustration, i broke the tank down and scrubbed it clean using hot water and paper towels, knowing that soap of any kind might foul the tank for life. i lost a few fish, because my hubby did not take the water from the old tank for the fish to sit inwhile i cleaned, buyt treated new water which was too cold for the tropicals, and we lost all the bala sharks to the temp change. luckily everyone else lived thorugh it.

i put the tank back together, and ran the cycle of new water for 3 days, trying to get the temperature and such to a point where the fish would be happy. i lost none of them when we placed them back in the tank.

it's been two weeks, and the water is green again. oncw again i tried the algae killer, and nothing happened. what in the world is wrong with my tank? the fish seem unaffected by it, and swim around happily, not showing a care in the world. ammonia and nitrate levels are fine and well balanced.

why is my water green?

 

[lizwinz]

throw some floating plants in...works 100% better than any chems

i know...ive tried both, the suspended algae in my tank was so bad i could hardly see my fish but i threw some anacharis (sp?) and it about 1 1/2 weeks the water was crystal clear

it takes a while for it to starve the algae out, it's not a quick cure but its worth it

--liz

 

[SoulFish]

cut back lighting, do water changes, be sure not to over feed, add plants like said above, and make sure your tap water does not contain high amounts of nirtates of phosphates, i would stop using any chemicals and try to solve the problem, also the chemicals can kill plants and bacteria

 

[sinasster]

Listen to SoulFish.

Throw all your chemicals in the garbage. they just erase problems and they do not solve anything. Let the tank cycle. Test your water, do regular water changes. and most importantly..... WAIT IT OUT!!! I know its hard to look at a problem tank and not do anything, but... just wait it out. and all shall soon be well

 

[morrigann266]

thanks for the sugestions! i never thought of using live plants, mainly because though i have had tanks in the past, i always used plastic plants for ease and simplicity. there is a place in town that has live aquarium plants, and i shalll head therrre post haste in the morning when they open. once again, thanks for helping me out! i'll keep you peeps posted on what happens. hmm, i might just give up on plastic plants if this turns out well...

 

[wayne at home]

Ask them for something that floats and is stupid easy to grow like riccia. Then do what soulfish says - throw the chemicals out and wait.
Your ammonia and nitrate levels are fine as you've replaced bacterial filtration with algae filtration. When you get the live plants beware, I note from your other post some of your fish will eat live plants more quickly than you'll believe so don't be surprised when that happens. A also note you've got some potentially big fish there - how bigare the fish, how big the tank?

 

[nonamethefish]

The chemicals(algaecide) also effect plants and fish.

The advice everyone gave was good...cyclign etc.


What kidn of fish do you got in what ized tank?


Is the tnak next ot a window(if so, move it, as thts whats causing the problem)

 

[morrigann266]

fish wise, i have...

2 angelfish
1 sailfin pleco
3 clown loaches
3 red tailed black sharks
1 blue goraumi
1 type of catfish fish
2 silver dollars

they live an a 150 gallon tank, longer than tall. picked it up at a specialty store not far from here, along with lights and stand for the whole shebang. is that enough space for these fish? most are about 2 inches long, except the pleco which is about 5 inches long.

 

[Avalon]

In my experiences, green water is caused by a couple things: excess urea or direct sunlight. There could be other reasons, but I have yet to find good documented evidence of this (the rest is hearsay). In your case, I'm pretty darn sure that it's not excess urea. Direct sunlight could be a problem, but may not be the cause. Green water must be gotten rid of methodically. Other than the first two methods listed below, there is no quick way to get rid of it.

Regardless of the problem, here is what I propose:

Make sure you have really good filtration. What are you using at the moment?

IF you:
1) consider this as your "show tank," purchase an ultraviolet filter. I gaurantee you you will never see green water again. It can run 24/7 or in 48 hour per week spurts. If you can afford a 150g tank, you can afford a $125 UV filter. When you get than tank fully stocked, the UV is your insurance.

2) do not consider this your show tank but have multiple tanks, you may consider a diatom filter. This will get rid of green water, as well as polish water in all of your tanks. It's about half as cheap as the UV, but it is only a temporary fix and can be a tad messy when dealing with the diatom powder.

You can also get rid of green water by completely blacking out the tank for several days. The fish will live, but this is (in my opinion) annoying to the aquarist.

Chemicals will not work. Water changes alone will not work, but they will help during treatment of the above methods. GW will not hurt fish. Plants will not rid you of it (in my experiences, but I hold out faith that they possibly can); ironically, GW can rid your plants of other algaes if they have it. Jobes and Miracle Grow plants sticks are the main cause in planted tanks.

 

[wayne at home]

Blocking out the light won't work - when light returns ,so does the green water.
Actually there is one treatment you can try in conjunction with plants.... a phosphate remover, preferably rowaphos. I've heard of good results using this.
Also if you have a really deep gravel bed, make sure you're cleaning it good