Greenwater

[rachaelcrinion]

Hi

New to the forum and had a tropical tank for two years. Have a cayman 240 litre tank with a Bluwave07 filter system, we have a variety of fish including clown loaches, neons, silver sharks, platys, catfish and tetras.

We moved house 4 weeks ago and the fish move was very successful with no loss of life. However since the move we have had greenwater four times, we have treated it with regular 30% water changes with no change and resorted to using Greenaway each time which does get rid of it but only for a few days and it returns again.

The water tests are all fine, the fish seem ok, the tank is in a dark corner with lights on for appx 10 hours a day. We've changed the carbon in the filter and I'm wondering what else to do. The mechanical filter has not been changed for appx one year as we just rinse it in pumped out water when we do a water change, I'm a bit apprehensive about changing it so soon after the move. Can anyone give me some advice on how to get rid of this problem for good?

Thanks
Rach

 

[Biulu]

The green water must be algae of some sort. Have you changed your feeding pattern? Maybe there are too many nutrients in the tank on which the algae thrive together with the light. Do you have an inert substrate or a substrate with nutrients in it?

I would cut down on the lighting first of all. Start with 6 - 8 hours. Do you have live plants in your tank? If you do, make photoperiods (means light on) for 4 hours, then turn it off for one or 2 hours and turn it back on. Plants will be able to live on it, and the algae can't stand the short period.

If you don't have plants, maybe you could 'black out' your tank altogether for a few days.

 

[rachaelcrinion]

The green water must be algae of some sort. Have you changed your feeding pattern? Maybe there are too many nutrients in the tank on which the algae thrive together with the light. Do you have an inert substrate or a substrate with nutrients in it?

I would cut down on the lighting first of all. Start with 6 - 8 hours. Do you have live plants in your tank? If you do, make photoperiods (means light on) for 4 hours, then turn it off for one or 2 hours and turn it back on. Plants will be able to live on it, and the algae can't stand the short period.

If you don't have plants, maybe you could 'black out' your tank altogether for a few days.

Hi
No plants in the aquarium. We haven't changed the feeding pattern and feed once every two days. We just have the normal aquarium gravel in the tank, a couple of months ago we had a nitrate problem and removed a lot of the gravel from the tank as we thought it was the cause of the problem. Would you do theb lack out once the problem reappears or would it help to do it now before it reapears which is scheduled to take place in a few day!!!!!

 

[jasonskillz]

just get a UV sterilizer. not only does it kill algae, it also kills bacteria so your fish never get sick!

 

[BigC]

Too much light entering the aquarium (algae) to many neutrients and phosphates for the algae to thrive on.
Use Reverse Osmosis water (cheap kits on the market these days) I mix mine with some tapwater to get the right parameters. Place Rowaphos in the filter chamber. And conduct regular waterchanges. Other than that buy a Diatomic Filter.
Regards
BigC

 

[Dave Spencer]

Green water is synonymous with direct sunlight falling on the tank or persistent low levels of ammonia.

In your case, I am going to guess that the house move four weeks ago has caused sufficient disturbance of the substrate to release ammonia in to the water column and trigger the algae. Whenever I disturb the substrate in my tanks after a rescape, I carry out 50% water changes over the next three or four days to remove the ammonia.

It is possible for the tank to settle down and the algae to go, but green water can be pretty persistent. UV sterilsers, as mentioned before, are very effective in clearing the water. I hear that diatomic filters can be effective too, but you may want to clear it without any real expense.

Your cheapest option is to carry out a 50% water change, black the tank out totally for three days, followed by another 50% water change. This method is most effective when the green water isn`t too persisitent.

Dave.