Green Water

[FiSh123FiSh]

Hi all, I have a cichlid tank which has got very cloudy greenish water and it is very boring trying to get rid of it. The filter has got filter wool in there and its been like it for a month.

Please can anyone help?

Tom.

 

[SJ2K]

Doing regular water changes?

 

[FiSh123FiSh]

Yes. Yesturday I got bored and just cleaned it out only leaving about 6" of water in the tank and now it is much clearer.

 

[J1mbo]

to stop the water going like that you have to do regular water changes, to keep the water clean.

 

[england]

is the tank located in front of the window?
it should ideally be housed away from direct sunlight
waterchanges should help emensly with this problem
its probally an algae bloom filter wool should help this probally better to change the wool regually!!!!
there is a chemical you can by from lfs called green away<ive used once when i had my tank next to a window and had an algae bloom it collects the particles togther where they either sink or sucked up by filter, it worked well but wouldnt reccomend using it always

 

[FiSh123FiSh]

Thanks all,
The tank is not in direct sunlight. It is on a wall on the right hand side of a bay window (big wide stretched window ) I do water changes about once a month, is that not enough?

Thanks Tom.

 

[nath1]

Really you should be doing a 10% water change about once a week.
nath1

 

[FiSh123FiSh]

Ok I will try to do 10% water changes thanks for that tip.

 

[shelaghfishface]

i have the same problem in my oscar tank, i do water changes everyday ( some bigger than others,) but given where it stands, its a bit immpossible not to have it happen( right next to the window)
you cant see it from the front but if you are on the sofa looking at the tank from the window end then its looks green

shelagh xx you def need to do more water changes tho,

ps this is when it was little fish, all pretty much the same tho + more lighting and plants etc

 

[dthoffsett]

Thanks all,
The tank is not in direct sunlight. It is on a wall on the right hand side of a bay window (big wide stretched window ) I do water changes about once a month, is that not enough?

Thanks Tom.

Really you should be doing a 10% water change about once a week.
nath1

Ok I will try to do 10% water changes thanks for that tip.

Actually you are overstocked for a 40gal (which is normal for mbuna), I'd do minimum 40% weekly water changes. African cichlids do just fine with large changes, and usually need it due to being overstocked for aggression. How much filtration do you have? It's usually recommend with mbuna for your filter(s) to turn the tank over 10 times per hour. Your algae problems are probably due to not enough water changes and/or not enough filtration.

 

[FiSh123FiSh]

Ok Thankyou I will do one now.

Apparently I read that it is good to overstock a mbuna tank by 3x so I could get about 120" of fish in there. This is so that the cichlids can have more than one intruder to scare away.

Tom

 

[rabbut]

Yes overstocking Mbuna tanks is a very good idea. Mass murder often occurs by the dominant fish if you don't, but overstocking needs additional work. High nitrates will contribute to this green water, and nitrates will always run high in overstocked tanks. The only way to reduce nitrate is with waterchanges. I'd actualy consider two 30% weekly changes minimum for your tank, but two 50% changes a week would be better. Also, get lots of filtration on there, to ensure ammonia and nitrite is not the caurse of the green water, as algea is almost always encuraged to bloom due to one of these

All the best
Rabbut

 

[FiSh123FiSh]

Thanks for all the infomation it has made the whole thing alot clearer.

In my tank i have a fluval 4+, is this enough?

Tom

 

[SJ2K]

You may also wish to concider a UV sterilizer its good for killing off free floating algae and could help you out there

 

[rabbut]

A UV steriliser would work, but it is reasoning the symptoms, not reasoning the cure, thus IM sould be saved untill a last resort. A Fluval 4+ possibly isn't enough. Assuming your tank is the minimum size for Mubuna, it needs help. If the tank is small enough for t to be suffice, you need an upgrade later

I'd look arround for a canister filter to share the load. You don't state you tank size anywhere, but I'll assume it's the second 40g in your sig. I'd go with a couple of Tetratec EX1200 filters, as two would give very powerful filtration for your tank, which is ehat you need in this set-up. If money is short ATM, go with one for now and run it along side the 4+, untill you can aford the second. At this point switch the 4+ for the second exturnal.
Don't change filters strait over without moving all your media into the new filter, or you will be left with an un-cycled tank, which is not good. If you change, run both side-by-side for 4 weeks, then remove 1/4 of the 4+'s media wach week untill you are reliant on the new filter

I bought my Tetratec EX1200 form [URL="http/www.1st4aquatics.com"]http/www.1st4aquatics.com[/URL], and their service was exelent. I ordered Friday evening, and it was deliverd at no extra cost on Monday morning for £69.99, which is their cheapest on-line price I could find They are great filters, and the company I bought from kept me informed of the happenings all the way. Both are highly recomended by me.

Do you have a test kit? Water Stats for Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH would be useful here. I need numbers as many LFS will just say "it's fine" when it isn't

HTH
Rabbut