Green Water

[Fluffy1]

Can anybody help me Ive had fish for years now but im having a mental block. My tank water is very green although there is no algae on glass or plants as i have a pleck. I dont leave the light on during day and the tank was fine before a year or so ago. I know this means something like it is high in phosphorates or something but what do I do.? I have done a water change every week 10% as recommended but it aint getting better. I also know that there is a product out there to clump all the particles together which gets rid of but cant remember what its called can anybody help. Im sure every one who's an enthusiast knows what to do just need a reminder.

 

[kevinjames]

its called an algae bloom (small particles of free floating algae) and normally caused by direct sunlight then triggered by a slight spike in ammonia. i had a similar problem around this time of year when my tank caught a small ammount of sunlight. in the end i moved the tank as it happenned at same time two years running and i was well on top of maintanence!!! anyway they are a few things you can do. firstly is the blackout method; this involves removing light out of the equation. basically do a large water change then cover the tank so that no light gets to it, a blanket works well for this. turn the tank lights off and then leave it covered for 3 days. then do another large water change. as you only do 10% weekly i would recommend uping the volume of water you change over next few weeks before atempting this as changing a load in one go might have a negative impact.
another method is to buy a uv sterilizer. these can be pricey but will work. they work by forcing a thin layer of water over a uv bulb. this then kills of the algae that is free floating in the water. people argue this is bad for the fishes immune system as it kills some of the bugs in the water and then when the uv bulb is removed the fish will be vulnerable.
i used the 1st method and it worked for me. after you have fixed it you may need to find the root of the problem. as you are only doing 10% weekly water changes your nitrates might be rising a lot. if so this will be what will be feeding that dreaded green stuff. i do between 30% and 50% weekly on all my tanks. if you have anymore questions please ask as i did a lot of research when i had this problem. hope that helps, as you can see im a bit bored this afty!!!

 

[sXeLifer]

Do an immediate water change of like 50-75% and see how it fares for the next couple of days. If it starts to come back use filter aid (not the most recent packaging but its similar)

 

[kevinjames]

Do an immediate water change of like 50-75% and see how it fares for the next couple of days. If it starts to come back use filter aid (not the most recent packaging but its similar)

that wont work as its most likely an algae bloom

 

[sXeLifer]

Do an immediate water change of like 50-75% and see how it fares for the next couple of days. If it starts to come back use filter aid (not the most recent packaging but its similar)

that wont work as its most likely an algae bloom

Worked fine for me, theres always and easier route though I suppose!

 

[kevinjames]

Do an immediate water change of like 50-75% and see how it fares for the next couple of days. If it starts to come back use filter aid (not the most recent packaging but its similar)

that wont work as its most likely an algae bloom

Worked fine for me, theres always and easier route though I suppose!

you didnt have a bad green water problem then but just particles in your water. the product you linked to wont solve this problem.