Algea Bloom

[Tarryn]

Please can someone help me, I've been keeping fish for a long time and recently got into aqua scaping. I bought a 55 gallon tank to keep some fish in while I scape a smaller one (the large tank had been cycled and all of the water conditions were fine) but two weeks ago, after about 6 months of being fine, the water turned cloudy. I thought it was a bacteria bloom and last week the water turned green and is now extremely cloudy. Is this an algea bloom? I have a filter running with activated carbon in it but there hasn't been a difference.
I know getting a uv sterilizer filter will help clear out the tank so I am looking at getting one but does anyone know where my fault is and what might have caused this bloom and maybe what I can do in the meantime to help it.

The tank doesn't get direct sunlight and the lights are on for 10 hours. I'm not sure what other information might be needed but any help would be appreciated

The tank is very bare at the moment and only has some plants and a ship in the back, I am going to scape it once the other one is ready.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

It looks like green water to me.
Do a large water change.
Use a UV sterilizer.

Reduce your light duration to less than 8 hours and use a lower wattage light.
Algae growth is mostly due bright light and long duration of light.

What is your lighting wattage?

You can read here for more info.

How to fix green aquarium water and keep your tank clean and healthy

Is your aquarium water turning green? Here's the reason why, and the steps you can take to treat it and keep it from coming back.

www.pawtracks.com

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Milky cloudy water is a bacterial bloom.
Green cloudy water is an algal bloom.

Algal blooms are simply single celled algae that had reproduced in such numbers the water turns green. Algae grows anywhere there is water and light. If there are live aquatic plants in the water, they use the nutrients and light and stop or slow the algae from growing. If there are no live plants or only a few (as in your tank), then algae will grow instead.

The simplest solution is to reduce lighting as mentioned by @Lajos_Detari, or add a heap of live plants so they can use the light and nutrients. In the mean time, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until it clears.

Do not buy a UV sterliser, it isn't needed. Just control the light and nutrients, or add more plants, and the algae will go away by itself.