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Sadly, our tank started to get pea soup green water from photosynthetic algae. Super gross! On Saturday I did a 75% water change on the tank. On Sunday we woke up to 3 guppies dead and 2 on the way, 2 in decent condition, and 2 just fine. I thought it might be the water I purchased so I dumped that out and purchased water from another store and did another 75% water change just to be safe. It looked like all of the baby snails were dead, maybe a couple survivors. I put the larger, original pond snail back in just so he could help eat stuff.

Well, I'm not sure if there was something wrong with the water I purchased or if I shocked the system with such a large water change. The first two died Sunday night and the second group of two died Monday. So now we are left with just 2 guppies, females who seem to be doing just fine. Now, as I'm writing this on Tuesday, our water is changing green again! Oy vay!

I've never actually heard of green water in aquariums, only ponds so this has been a frustrating experience. Yesterday I tested my ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate and they were all 7.6, 0, 0, and 0 respectively. I will test again later today to see if there have been any changes. I'm leaving the lights off in the tank for a 2-3 days to see if that kills the photosynthetic algae. I'll do a water change later today as well. We also have live plants so this has taken me by surprise.

Oy vay.
 
Wow, devastating so sorry to hear about your fish. A water change normally will help even 75% should not cause this. Is you tank exposed to direct sunlight?
 
Firstly may I ask why you are buying water? Guppies require hard water and bought water usually is not hard.
Secondly how was the tank cycled? At 3 weeks algae blooms are not particularly uncommon and should clear with regular water changes. You may need to tweak your light settings and or ferts. Did you test for ammonia and nitrites before the two big changes?

On an unrelated note white gravel rarely works. Not only does it reflect light and create an environment too bright for fish, but a healthy tank will always have some algae - so the gravel will never look pristine. The high flow rate may be an additional stressor for the guppies who are already having to deal with having been moved, possibly ammonia (prior to the water changes) and bright light. Adding the betta certainly is an additional stressor. Bettas do not get on well with guppies, especially male guppies.
 
Update on tank:
last two guppies died. I did a water change before our weekend trip. The last two guppies were doing fine. We came back and they were both dead - probably victims of the betta's hunger. My fault completely.

Now that we have a higher bioload our water quality is better, naturally. It's been staying clearer, longer. I'm thinking I'll be able to get into a regular water change routine here shortly.

Wow, devastating so sorry to hear about your fish. A water change normally will help even 75% should not cause this. Is you tank exposed to direct sunlight?

Not exposed to direct sunlight, nope.

@seangee

I've never had an issue with store-bought water before.
Tested water before? No. I had green water, didn't see the point.

White gravel? Oh yes, I'm aware. I didn't want white gravel.

Betta. I've seen them get along fine in other systems. In hindsight, I never should have added it to this one, the bioload was high already and the tank wasn't large enough for guppies and a betta.
 
One suggestion, Betta like marimo moss balls and they help with nitrates. When I had Betta fish I usually kept them in 5 gallon tanks by themselves so this may be best for the Betta. Even when they sit in the corner passive they are getting stressed whenever another fish swims into their area-it's natural for them to flair their fins.
 
Yes, we never should have purchased Lilac to help with the baby snails, oh well! Now she's enjoying her little 4.5 gallon and her plants. I've found she likes to swim around the plants she has.
 
That is a good size tank for a Betta, I have thought about getting a Betta tank for my desk but with 3 tanks going already and all my other hobbies taking over rooms in the house I don't want to push my luck with my lovely wife.;)
 
Well,
Lately we've been having problems with our salvinia slowly dying off and our compacta amazon melting. The main three, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate are not showing as a problem. pH is stable around 7.6.

I didn't know dosing fertilizers was a thing until maybe a week ago, so I started dosing Seachem Flourish - hoping the plants are melting due to low nutrients available.

I'm thinking I may have had the light too low as well. I was keeping it lower to help keep the "pea soup" algae from growing, I think that resulted in the plants starting to die off.

Oy vay, this hobby certainly is interesting!
 
Compacta Amazon was struggling too much and melting off. Replaced it with a Java Fern, we'll see. I read somewhere that the tubers aren't supposed to be buried, does anyone know of any links on this website or others that go into detail on that?

I've noticed one of the leaves on the anubias nana turned yellow, the others are green. I'm not sure exactly why. The tuber is more of less level with the gravel, I wouldn't call it buried. Yesterday I noticed a new leaf.

I'm still battling with partially green water, I'm going to resort to water changes every other day now until it's fixed.
 
Java fern consists of a thick root-like rhizome. the leaves grow out of one side, and the hair-like roots out of the other. This rhizome must not be buried or it will rot. The thin roots are OK to be buried.
Java fern is usually grown attached to decor. Either superglue it into position, making sure the superglue is dry before it is put in the tank; or tie it on with thread.

Anubias rhizomes should also be above the substrate; it too is usually grown attached to decor. I pinch the yellow leaves off when they start to go floppy.
 

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