Water Has Now Gone Green?

[wesley]

hi all,

At the end of last week my tank went cloudy (white). I recieved some advise on what to do in preperation of me going away for a few days.
Ive just got back and now the water is green, so bad that i carn't even see the backing card.

Just wondering if anyone could advise me on what it is thats causing it and how to get rid of it??

cheers, wesley

 

[rdd1952]

Hi Wesley and welcome to the forum.

I'm assuming that it's a new tank. The cloudy water would have been the bacterial bloom starting. The green water is also common in new tanks. It is diatoms (free-floating algae) that feed on the silicates in he substrate and also leeched from the silicone that seals the tank glass. It should clear up on it's on once the silicates are gone and the diatoms have no food source. Water chages most likely won't help except for immediately after when the fresh water will have naturally diluted the green water. A UV sterilizer will clear it but I don't think you necessarily need to incur that expense when it will soon clear on it's own. It looks terrbile but isn't harmful to the fish.

One other possible cause is direct sunlight. If the tank is exposed to direct sunlight at any point in the day, it will be a constant problem if you can't move the tank and get it away from the sunlight.

 

[wesley]

hi

no the tank is 5 months old, ive carried all the water tests and every result is ok bar the ph which slightly high at 7.8.
the tank is in a dark corner of the room and the only light it gets is from the lights in the tank.


wesley

 

[rdd1952]

Have you recently added anything to the tank or made any changes in it? I once ran into the same problem when I used some silicone to glue some rocks together.

 

[wesley]

no the tank is as of day one, the only thing that has changed is new fish but the fish are as happy as larry and no deaths, is it advised to do 75-80% water change??

 

[aaronnorth]

green water is usually caused by an ammonia spike. You say you have added new fish so the extra stocking may have brought a bit more ammonia that is present than usual. You probably cant test for it as it is undetectable with hobbyist test kits.

what we need to know is the tank size, fish stocking before the bloom, then the fish most recently added.

Also what wattage are the lights, diameter, and what is the photoperiod.

Thanks

EDIT: have you disturbed the substrate at all?

 

[wesley]

hi,
the tank is a 125ltr

its been atleast 4 weeks since the last fish went in, 2 weeks since white now green water started.

There are two bulbs, aqua glow & power glow, 20W 24" lenght, T-8 1" dia.

 

[drobbyb]

The "bacterial bloom" actually produces ammonia and triggers green water. As the bacteria feed on the organics in the water they produce ammonia just like fish do. To get rid of it you could try a blackout. Blackout all the sides of the tank and leave the lights off for 3 days. After the three days do a 80% waterchange to get rid of the dead algae (I know that 80% won't get rid of all of it in one go, but a few large waterchanges will get most of it.)

HTH

 

[wesley]

whats the safest way to carry out a large water change??

 

[drobbyb]

whats the safest way to carry out a large water change??

Siphon out 80% of the water, add water conditioner, and refill the tank with water. Make sure you turn off your filters, heater, air pump, etc. before you drain the tank.

 

[wesley]

regarding water conditioner, is it necessary or can i get away without using it as ive just found the bottle is empty??

 

[drobbyb]

regarding water conditioner, is it necessary or can i get away without using it as ive just found the bottle is empty??

If you re on municipal water, there are probable chlorine or chloramines in it and you will need the water conditioner to remove those.

 

[wesley]

awsome

thank you all for the advise, ill do a large water change and get back to you on the situation.

wesley

 

[aaronnorth]

The "bacterial bloom" actually produces ammonia and triggers green water. As the bacteria feed on the organics in the water they produce ammonia just like fish do. To get rid of it you could try a blackout. Blackout all the sides of the tank and leave the lights off for 3 days. After the three days do a 80% waterchange to get rid of the dead algae (I know that 80% won't get rid of all of it in one go, but a few large waterchanges will get most of it.)

HTH

i thought about that although i wasn't 100% sure on it.

 

[drobbyb]

i thought about that although i wasn't 100% sure on it.

I remember reading that somewhere here recently. Can't remember exactly where though.