Tank Problems With Water Clarity!

[electric yellow]

Hi everyone!

Sorry ive been gone last few weeks! We are in the process of moving house and im trying to find a new job! My cat ended up recovering well and has gotten us a $1300 vet bill to pay! She has permanent urinary malfunctions but she is not in any pain. Just weez a lot

Ramjets tank seems to be plagued with one thing or another. He has battled algea first, then whitespot/ich. I nearlly lost him and i treated him and brought him back to 100%. Now his tank seems to have chronic green water. I have tried blacking out the tank for a few days, daily water changes and it just wont go away. Im assuming its a green algea bloom? Does this hurt fish? he seems perfectly happy and is still making his bubble nests, swimming round, flaring and eating. But how can i get rid of it?

He shares with plecs that were brought to eat all the left overs etc and they do a great job in keeping the initial algea down.

Im wondering whether a complete 90% water change and filter wash would get rid of it? I dont want to use and algea eating chems as i have found even the ones that dont harm fish..kill them.

The tanks mature and has been running for nearlly 12months.

Tank details...

28ltr aqua start 320
internal filter
gravel
28degrees celcius
silk plant
clay pots
2x plecs
lighting 8hrs (original tank bulbs)
ph: 7
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0

ive been doing daily water cahnges and it helps it but the next day it comes straight back.

Pics:

His bubble nest He lvoes building nests..

Showing off..

The green gross water!! The flash makes it look terrible!!

I dont know what it is with this tank. None of my other tanks have this problem. Their water is crystal clear!!

*frustating!!*

 

[loraxchick]

it wont do him any harm but you should figure out what is causing the algae. it is not fun to stare at a green tank. is it near a window? if so try to move it away or tape some background on the tank to keep the light out...even dark paper, just make sure it blocks the sunlight out of the tank. (it seemed backlite to me so im assuming there is a window around) that sometimes causes green water and some algaes. i would scrape the glass, do a big water change and plant some fast growing plants like elodea and camboba to try to use up some nuitrients and out compete the algae. keep up with scraping and waterchanges in the mean time. if you have a tank light, decrease the lighting period. dont try quick fixes like "algae-away" or anything along those lines. you need to solve the problem in the first place.

 

[Amunet]

That is a little tank to have 1, let alone 2 plecos in.
Even small plecos need a fairly good sized tank w/ very good filtration.


Website that lists algae problems and possible ways to fix it
http/theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

I would personally try the black out. Put a blanket over the tank, anything to keep absolutely all light out. And black it out for 3-5 days.

 

[electric yellow]

The plecs will be moved to my 3ft when they get bigger. They are to small to go in my communal tank so are growing in a more safer tank.

I thought it was a lighting problem originally but i am not sure. Ive tried keeping the light off and it still builds up. It sits on my nech and only two sides are see through as it has a back ground and also a towel over one side. Towels to stop my cat staring at him from the couch. Would it hurt to pull him out into a container with the plecs and do a total water change and scrape?

The only thing that concerns me with blacking out the tank totally for a week is ventilation for the fish. Obviouslly the lights are kept off for that time but will it affect the air going into the tank? As bettas are surface breathers and all.... Is it bad to have the lights off for that long?

 

[loraxchick]

hi again,
i JUST did a blackout a week and a half ago in my tank as i had terrible bga that i tried to get rid of in every way possible. i initially was worried about my fish and not feeding them for 5 days, etc., but after three months of debate and hating to look at my tank i just did it. got some cardboard, did a 70% waterchange and balcked out. my tank is now beautiful again with NO trace of bga. i will never wait to do one ever again.
and i wouldnt be worried about ventilation...it's not as if the tank will be sealed up airtight. there will still be gas exchange and air currents to bring in a steady supply of air. id say blackout. but you still need to determine why you got the algae in the first place. id suspect the plecs and high nutrient levels. i noticed you had a plant in there. GET some fast growers after the blackout. see if that helps.

 

[electric yellow]

Awesome. Thanks loraxchick

I will do a magor water change today, pull everything out and wash it and black out for a week. I will feed him today after the water change.

The plant is a silk plant, so yeah nto real. I will go buy a real one when i get paid and drop it in. Thing is, in my other aaqua start tank (identical to this one) i have a VT, 2 baby plecs and 2 corys and dont have a shred of problem with it. It even has silk plants in it. Its just this dam tank that has constant issues.. The ONLY difference is the one with no problems has a spray bar across the back of the tank (facing the wall to dull down current) and this one has a fountain outlet thing facing the back corner. I may turn it around and see if it helps with water flow..

 

[loraxchick]

a week is probably unnecesary. i had MAJOR bga and did it for 5 days. try it for three and see what happens. you can always do it again for longer if it doesnt work after the initial blackout. i have a good feeling that it will make a TON of difference, even with only a three day blackout. just keep the cardboard handy after the first one, just in case you need to do a secondary blackout.
have you tested your water lately? lots of algae is caused by spikes of ammonia or even nitrate. how long has the tank been set up? when did the plecs go in (or the betta if he was second)...when did you first notice the algae? just trying to help you figure out the root of the problem so we can keep it away later!
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR BLACKOUT!!! and remember-no cheating. you cant feed them or even peek inside until it's over. if you scrape the glass and do a nice big waterchange (75-80%) with a good gravel vac before the blackout you will have the best possible chance of beating the algae.
and then id get a few very fast growing plants to try to out-compete it.
best of luck!

 

[Amunet]

Yes, good luck with the black out! Really hope it works for you! Algae is such a pain in the butt

 

[electric yellow]

So i did a 80% water change, fed him and then blacked out the tank for 5 days. It didnt work. Within 24hrs of taking the blanket off the water was green again. In the time it was blacked out he mangled his tail to

I dont know how to fix it. We are moving house in a few weeks and i plan to divide and set up my 4ft tank for my bettas so he wont have to swim through uck water. Is it possibly a filtration issue? The filter should be working fine and i run it under warm water not that long ago. Should i remove some gravel and find out if it helps the circulation at all?

I turned the outlet pipe around to the front t see if that helped at all and it made little to no difference.

 

[Amunet]

Here ya go... a good website on algae and possible causes and solutions
http/theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm


I dunno if you can get them in australia, but you could always get a freshwater clam
Hopefully if the betta doesn't try to eat it, it'll feed on the green water and eventually clear it up. Not sure how long it would take it, but maybe a neat solution
You'd have to feed it though once the green water does clear, but *shrugs* shouldn't be too much of a problem I guess? heh

 

[loraxchick]

did you do another big change when it was done. you have to remove the left over spores in there or it will come back...is it as bad as it was before?
most likely a circulation issue, hard to deal with when a betta is involved (whick is why i got my bga in the first place).
what type of light do you have on the tank? flourescent? incandescent? ive noticed that if you have an incandescent it promotes algae like nobodies business. i also highly suggest you get some fast growing plants in there like elodea(aka anacharis) wisteria or milfoil(i think it is also called camboba). they use up all the "algae food" and help keep it at bay.
dont give up...algae is not pretty, but it's not likely to affect your fish in ANY way.
do you have any suitable container to keep him and his heater in if you do another blackout? just change 30-40% of his water everyday...he'll be fine without filtration for only 5 days. he obviously was stressed in the blackout if he ate his tail...mine was fine with it...albeit hungry when it was over.
ever onward!!!!
good luck

 

[electric yellow]

The lighting is the lighting in the tank hood. I have two of these tanks and have NO problems with the other tank. The only difference is the gravel subtrate. Im thinking of ripping the gravel out and just having it bare bottom / with just the bottom of the filter and filter. It only need sto last a few more weeks or untill my 4ft is divided ans set up.

loraxchick: yeah i did another water change after the black out but that didnt help. 24hrs later it was back to green. Im off work sick today so will see how i feel later in reguards to ripping the gravel out.

 

[loraxchick]

the only issue i see with the gravel and it being the cause of algae is general lack of maintainence. if the gravel isnt cleaned every so often (more often the better) and then you go in there and start rooting around stirring it up, pockets of organic material start to break down and produce an ammonia spike, which might be the casue of the algae in the first place.
what is the cleaning routine of thetank? do you vac with each water change? do you make sure you go deep into the gravel? how deep IS the gravel?
ripping it out might cause another spike. regardless of what some members might say, there is a lot of benneficial bacteria that live on the surfaces of each piece of gravel (NOT just in your filter like same folks adimately will tell you). by getting rid of the gravel you will get rid of some good bacteria and this might cause ammonia issues for a while while your filter catches up, making your water even greener.
id just keep doing big changes for a few days and see if that helps. keep the tank lights OFF for a few days (the fish will be fine. at least he wont be all covered up like in a blackout.
keep up the good work. these are merely suggestions, but i think it might be helpful.
cheers

 

[electric yellow]

So ive done a 405 water change two days in a row and have left the lights off. I have a towel over one side of the tank so its not in direct light from anywhere. I did notice today that there is a heap of old food in the gravel and when i was vacumming it up it appeared to be a fair bit still. Im going to do a water change every two days untill we move and then add a real plant and drop a couple of baby corys in there. The only difference between this tank and the other tank is i have no bottom feeders in it.

 

[loraxchick]

hang in there...you're doing everything you should be. hopefully you will get it sorted out. algae is not pleasant to stare at, esp if it is discoloring your water...but the fish is just fine. it is merely an aesthetic thing for us
keep us posted and good luck.