Continuous Bright Green Water!

[laurac94]

Ok, so I haven't been on here for a while, my 40 gallon cracked and I've been really annoyed about it.

Now I have a 250l tank with an all pond solutions external 2000lph filter and a tetratec 1000 internal. It has been up and running for a good few months now, I've been keeping fish since I was little with my dad so I know alot about stocking etc but I can't seem to figure out why my water is constantly green! And when I say green, I mean luminous bright bright green! It would be a lovely colour on a tree but not in my tank!
I'm guessing it is some species of algae since I can't even see to the back of my tank.

I've been doing weekly 50% water changes which doesn't help at all with the clearing of the water. To top it off my nitrates are terribly high and one of my pictus cats died this morning
There is about 4kgs of bogwood and some fake plants as decoration.

Stats are:
Ammonia 0
Nitrates. 80 -160 (basically a dark red colour!!)
Nitrites. 0
Ph. 6.5
Temp. 26c


I am seriously thinking of selling all of my fish and just shutting down the tank.
Any questions/ advice would be great.

 

[Maehlice]

BTW, I LOVE the ram your profile pic.  It looks almost exactly like my first Bolivian, Pearl.
 
I had a similar problem last year when my aquarium was next to a window.  It first appeared almost immediately after I fed the tank zucchini (for the pleco).  I'm not certain if that was really the cause, but I read later something about Potassium in the zucchini and plants (including algae) feeding off excess potassium.
 
Anyway, I tried adding all kinds of plants and algaefix and stuff, but it never fully left.  I bought and installed a 9w UV sterilizer and water pump (collectively about $150) and never saw the problem again.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Hmm, IMO green algae water is usually down to direct sunlight. Is your tank positioned directly in front of a window?
 
If not, then could possibly be down to your lighting perhaps, try reducing the timing of your lighting to about 6 hours max.
 
If this is not the case, perhaps trying a UV steriliser will help a lot.
 
As for one of your pictus cat dying, this is probably, as you already mentioned, due to your high nitrates levels.
 
Try adding live plants to your tank to reduce nitrates, elodea plants for example is good at absorbing nitrates as far as I know.
 
Just seen Maechlice post his message about the UV steriliser, good to know others are thinking along the same lines as me anyway.

 

[fluttermoth]

I don't know if it's the source of your problems, but your nitrate is very high.
 
That would lead me to think that even 50% weekly water changes aren't enough for your set up. What's the tank stocked with?
 
If I were you, I'd definitely be doing more frequent water changes for a while to get the nitrate down and see if things improve at all. Measure the nitrate level in your tap water as well; that'll give you a base line to work from.

 

[laurac94]

The tank is close to a window but not in direct sunlight, thanks for the advice. I'm going to get some live plants and do more water changes I think.
I might try moving the tank to a different area of the house (if im allowed)
Fingers crossed that helps.
I'm glad my rams are still thriving, although he doesn't look as good as in that picture in my luminous water. I've practically completely stopped putting the light on too, I only put it on to feed them and switch it off again to try help the problem. Just annoying because I've put so much time and money into it.

If what ive said i'll do doesn't work I'll try the uv steriliser

Thanks all.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

If it really is a bright green I'd change 80% of the water now and the same amount for the next couple of days until the water is no longer green. This should also help with the nitrates.

You should be able to have the lights on without fear of the water going green so if it continues to go green after all the water changes then there must be something else you need to sort out.

I'd start with removing the bogwood after this to see if that helps.

 

[KirkyArcher]

Green water can sometimes be associated with high ammonia levels at some point, a single spike every now and then can be a major cause even though these spikes may not show up during weekly tests, are you using test strips, liquid test kit, or taking water for testing to your LFS, I'm surprised no one so far has mentioned the "blackout treatment" totally cover tank so no light whatsoever can enter the tank for 3-4 days for added good measure. I too would also do a large water change both now and also the day after the blackout period has been completed, and then put some "real" easy growing plants in too asap after that