kats_eyes_6

I've been having alot of trouble with my one tank for a while, the water at first turned cloudy and then green to the point that I can't see my fish any more. I recieved this tank from my sister back in the summer, she had it set up as a saltwater but I have converted it to a freshwater. For the first two month of having it up and running every thing was fine, then the water started turning green. Iwas doing a 20% water change every week before this started. Then I found myself changing 10-20% three times a week to keep the water clear. I did a 100% water change about two months ago cleaned everything, I even boiled the gravel. Ifilled the tank put everything back in changed the filter cartrige... And now I right back to green water AGAIN!!!! I do not use tap water (I will not even drink it,I don't expect my fish to live it)
So two weeks ago I did it all over again 100% water change. The only thing I did different was the3fish into my larger 36 gallon insted of leaving them in a bucket and rushing to clean everything. BIG mistake!!! Now my 36 gallon tank that I have had up and running for over two yaers without a problem, is ruined. Withina week the water was green.
Ican't take it anymore!

I let the oher tank cycle and put the 3 fish back into their house and the water went back to green in less than a week.

soo now I am changing 10% af the water three times a week in the 36 gallon and also in the 25 gallon.

I've tried water clear and it did nothing.

can someone help me Please.

Kat

RoxiesMom

Can you give us a little more information?
Type of fish in your tanks
Ammonia, nitrite & nitrate readings
Light (both artificial and sunlight) reaching the tank? How many hrs/day?
What water ARE you using?
Do you have live plants? If so, what nutrients are you feeding them?
How often & how much do you feed your fish?

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70 Gal Heavily Planted Community
55 Gal - Sand/Rocks - Royal Pleco, Featherfin, 2 horseface loaches, a young Jewel Cichlid & young yellow lab
20 Gal Moderately Planted Community
10 Gal Hospital - empty!!
And 1 empty 55 gal - still deciding - FOWLR vs. Reef vs. Discus.

Tommy3492

hey, i had the same exact problem with the green water, go to your local fish tank store, and buy algea meds or whatever to get rid of it, after i put it in 4 hours later it turned crystal clear... or you can buy a UV sterlizer

RoxiesMom

Wouldn't you rather find out the REASON for the green water so it doesn't happen again? Instead of throwing in chemicals?

__________________

70 Gal Heavily Planted Community
55 Gal - Sand/Rocks - Royal Pleco, Featherfin, 2 horseface loaches, a young Jewel Cichlid & young yellow lab
20 Gal Moderately Planted Community
10 Gal Hospital - empty!!
And 1 empty 55 gal - still deciding - FOWLR vs. Reef vs. Discus.

Jay

Roxiesmom said...
I sure would, since I have never seen an algaecide that does not kill fish, and plants along with inverts.

What you are seeing, green water, is an incredibly healthy bio colony of algae and micro organisms. It's energy is derived from light, and it's food source is ammonia, urea, nitrates, phosphates. <-some clues there

It is almost impossible to water change away green water, as all it takes are a few spores to start the colony growing again.

You can deal with green water by....

Using a Diatom Filter...takes about 4 to five days
Using a UV filter set to deal with algae.....again about 4-5 days

Because this critter derives its energy from light, a 100% blackout for 72 hours will kill it.

YOU MUST however, find the source of nutrients that are holding up the bloom; overfeeding, overcrowding, high nitrates, ammonia etc. and eliminate the problem.

Regards,
Jay

DevKal17

This exact same thing happend to me EXCEPT I did not convert, nor do I have a second tank. water changes EVERYDAY (25%) worked for a while, but it just came back as soon as I stopped. I have live grass, amazon swards, onion looking plants, I have 4 african chiclids, a gourami, and a dragon gobi all in a 55 gal freshwater tank. I feed the plants iron and generic liquid food every other week, I feed my fish every evening once just enough for them to eat. My water parameters are great except my pH has been a little low for african chiclids but is standing at 6.8 now. (They like it around 8) So I'm at a loss. I do not like to use treatments for algae because most kill plants, and I love my plants. They have been in there longer than my fish. WHat's next for me?

RustyNut

UV sterilizer?

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Tommy Gun

IMHO and IME, a UV sterilizer is probably much better at preventing algae blooms than it really is at solving them once they have set it. An important consideration with UV is that it will kill the single celled algae floating in and discoloring the water, but it does not remove it from the water...which only releases the nutrients it is thriving on back into the tank, along with creating a new source of nutrients. So, in the end you are solving the problem via water changes anyways.

One important thing to think about here is that unlike plants, algae can only gain nutrients from water...it cannot retrieve them from your substrate or decorations, even though it may be growing on them. So, the good news is that, as already mentioned, we have quite a bit of control over those nutrients.

I think Jay's suggestion regarding a black out is probably the best place to start. Here is what you need to know:

• What are you current water parameters?
  • Are ammonia levels high?
    • What is your pH? If it is lower (7.0 or less), what is your total cumulative ammonia and ammonium?
    • Is your tap water treated with chlorine or chloramines?
      • Chloramines are a bonded molecule of ammonia and chlorine
    • Of the few forms of much needed nitrogen plants require for life, ammonia and ammonium are included.
  • Is nitrate levels high?
    • Does your tap water contain nitrate before it is in your aquarium?
    • Of the few forms of much needed nitrogen plants require for life, nitrate is included.
  • Are phosphate levels high?
    • Does your tap water contain phosphate before it is in your aquarium?
    • Is the food you are feeding your fish a large source of phosphate?
    • Are you performing enough water changes to remove the phosphates created by your livestock?
• What is your lighting strategy?
  • Are you keeping your lights on for too long?
  • Is natural sunlight reaching your tank in large amounts and/or for long periods of time?
    • If so, can you divert that light?
    • Can you relocate your tank?

72-hour blackout:

1. Just prior to the blackout, perform a large water change
   • Perform the largest water change you safely can to reduce nutrients such as nitrate and phosphate (and ammonia if your tank is not cycled).
2. Turn off all lights over your tank AND block all ambient light from reaching the tank
   • You may need to cover the tank, but do not restrict oxygen!!!
3. Do not feed your fish, nor allow any light from reaching the tank for 72 hours (three days)
   • Your fish can live without eating for three days, no problem
   • Not feeding them means you are not adding nutrients to the tank, while the current algae population is using what is left
4. After 72 hours, perform another large water change to remove nutrients further and those nutrients released again by dead/dying algae
5. Continue to restrict nutrients
   • The algae bloom may not be completely "cured" after the 72 hours, but you should have the upper hand by this time and so prevention techniques will also help end the problem:
     • Closely monitor water parameters
     • Increase size/frequency of water changes to keep those parameters at the most ideal levels possible
     • You may need to reduce the number of fish in the tank
     • Do not over feed your fish
       • Even though they may appear to be hungry, this is most likely a learned response - like Pavlov's Dog - in which they see you and act hungry
       • Even if your fish eat all the food you offer them, you may still be over feeding.
         • More food = More wastes
       • Many fish are "opportunistic eaters" and will eat any and every time food is available; even if they do not need to
       • Ensure that you are feeding your fish the right foods so that you are sure they will be able to use more of it and create less wastes.
     • Reduce the amount of time your lights are on as necessary.
       • I have found that using timers to turn my lights on around 10 or 11 a.m. allows me to keep them on later into the evening, which I typically have more time to watch my fish, versus turning the lights on before I go to work and have to turn them off right after I get home to help control algae.

cassb

You have to also consider whether your water changes are *adding* nutrients to the tank. Have you had your tap water analyzed?

By the way, I would have really been happy with your problem a few years ago when I was raising daphnia to feed my fish... they'll feast on that algae and reproduce like crazy until the water is clear! :-) If you're adventurous, you could even set up a secondary 5 gal. tank inline with your filter that only has daphnia in it. That would be a cool project - and you'd get free fish food for your trouble. :-)

Jay

Cassb is right on with daphnia as a solution. They will desicimate an euglena bloom.

Green water is very often "Euglena"

The Euglena is unique in that it is both heterotrophic (must consume food) and autotrophic (can make its own food). Chloroplasts within the euglena trap sunlight that is used for photosynthesis, and can be seen as several rod like structures throughout the cell. Euglena also have an eye-spot at the anterior end that detects light, it can be seen near the reservoir. This helps the euglena find bright areas to gather sunlight to make their food. Color the eyespot red. Euglena can also gain nutrients by absorbing them across their cell membrane, hence they become heterotrophic when light is not available, and they cannot photosynthesize.

Because of these traits it is difficult to get rid of.
The two best methods are a diatom filter or a UV sterilizer as Tommy mentioned.

A complete black out of the tank NO LIGHT for 72 hours, preceded and followed by a 50% water change will usually kill it. This procedure may have to be repeated in a weeks time.

Husbandry:

Watch out for too much sunlight on the tank
Overfeeding
Overcrowding of live stock
Weekly vacuuming and water changes
Cleaning Filters and equipment.

Regards,
Jay
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