Green Water, Algea

[LucaBrasi]

My relative has a tank with approximately 12 guppies.

its obviously freshwater

feeds them regular tropical flakes

just recently put in a teaspoon of the ammonia and chloramine eliminator

today i put in algea destroyer drops

has been green for a while...

what should i doooo??

 

[AndyOleszczuk]

Hi there Luca

You say in your title "Green Water, Algae, Tank is Green". Do you mean the glass is green or the actual water ?

Regards

Andy

 

[LucaBrasi]

the water is green.

the owner feeds them once a day. twice tops.

but she may feed them a bit to much at a time so i dont know if its too much nutrients

or too much light, becuase the tank light sn't on for a long time during the day and the tank is placed next to a window BUT heavy curtains do block the sunlight.

however the ultrviolet light can still penetrate through without knowing.

so im not sure which it is???

 

[rabbut]

Do you have any water stats? How about maintenance details? Basically, throw as much info with regards to tank size, stocking, equipment, care and lighting as possible, so we can try sus out the cause for you and advise on how to fix it

 

[LucaBrasi]

i believe its a 30 gallon high

about 12 guppies

no decorations/live plants

hang over filter w/ carbon

fed tropical fish flakes

possible over feed daily

no stats =/

temp. in range about 74 degrees Farenheigt

 

[LucaBrasi]

dont have stats because relative doesnt have a test kit, nor do i

 

[LucaBrasi]

=/

 

[fatheadminnow]

This type of algae is a unicellular algae.

We need to know what Ammonia is at.

Green water is most typically caused by an Ammonia spike that has gone undetected.

It could also mean an imbalance in nutriments (fertilizers/live plants), or in imbalance in Co2, which is most likely not the cause in your situation.

Here is what you should do, that is to say the Ammonia reading is now at zero. Need to get a test kit to test this.

To get rid of it: A three day blackout followed by a large water change will hit it hard and sometimes may clear it.

A blackout means, cover the tank with a towel/whatever so the tank gets ZERO light. There will also be NO feeding, and NO peaking during this time.

There cannot be any light that enters the tank.

Hope this helps?
-FHM

 

[LucaBrasi]

hey thanks alot

that sounds like it will work great!!!

i will try and post my results.

thanks again,

Luca Brasi

 

[fatheadminnow]

hey thanks alot

that sounds like it will work great!!!

i will try and post my results.

thanks again,

Luca Brasi

You're welcome!

Yeah, let us know if it works!

-FHM

 

[rabbut]

UV sterilisers are not the way to go, they mask the symptom, and do not cure the caurse. The triggers of Green water can be;

Excess light
Ammonia presant
Nigh Nitrate due to poor maintanance/other reasons
Overstocking
Over feeding
Other un-known variables

Please post water stats (get the lfs to test and give you the numbers, not just "it's OK/not OK" if nessisary) and avoid doing large water changes untill you have the stats. If poor maintanance is the caurse, you could have OTS (Old Tank Symdrome) and the large water change may toxic shock the fish, killing them or making them unwell

All the best
Rabbut

 

[OldMan47]

I just managed to get my outdoor tub pond to go green by dosing with pure ammonia. Obviously it was already getting enough light by sitting in the sun. I did give it a bit of a boost by spiking the original fill of water with some water from my daphnia tank that was slightly green. By this time next week, the water should be regular pea soup and be ready for the summer stocking of fish. Green water is not harmful to fish, it is esthetically not pleasing to aquarium keepers. My summer tub pond is intended to be a place for my fish to breed and grow, not a thing for me to sit and admire, so I intentionally green the water before the spring stocking. Green water is a health tonic for typical livebearers.