13 replies to this topic

[Dude sir]

Hi I currently have a fifty five gallon aquarium. It is somewhat heavily planted and has several tetras loaches catfish and live-bearers in it. About a week after I set it up, it got a green color and now the water is just green. I tried water changes and such but nothing seems to work. So if anyone has any info on that then plz let me know

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[Chasmodes]

I had this problem last year. Like any algae, it needs light and food. Fish ate very well adapted to survive with less food, so my solution was to give them one feedy every three days, same as your usual feeding. I only put the lights on during feeding time. My water improved and was gin clear after about 10 days. I also turned my sump lights off the entire time. My macro algae survived just fine. BTW, Ive kept fish for 44 years and this was the first time that I had it. I have a 140 gallon system. I suspect that you could probably beat this in a few days. Just watch the water color each day. Dont be surprised if a bacterial bloom follows and just keep doing the same thing for a few days more if that happens. Since your system is small, you may not experience that.

[Chasmodes]

and good luck!

[Dude sir]

and good luck!

Thank you!

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[Moontanman]

My 75 is currently green, has been for more than a year, I turned off the lights three months ago and it is still green. I mean so green you can't see more than couple inches into the tank. I'd love to see what ever is making it green under a microscope. Now if I wanted green water to raise daphnia or fairy shrimp getting green water would be impossible.

 

Usually green water goes away in relatively short order, I even tried to put asian clams in the tank, didn't make a dent. I think it might be connected with fertilizer pellets i used to grow large banana plants in the tank. The plants were native to my area and grew like crazy and had leaves as big as saucers. but ultimately the water turned green and has remained so for over a year now. 

 

I am planning on taking the tank down soon and changing to native saltwater but to be honest I did, one time, long ago have a similar problem with a marine tank. I was using saltwater I collected locally in the surf and gravel from the same source. I did get a chance to look at the water under a microscope and it was populated by featureless tiny green spheres. It took 500X to even make them visible, it took several weeks for it to go away. Only time I ever saw a marine tank go green like that.   

 

Green water is a weird thing and sometimes partial water changes can make it worse, it did in my current case. All I can recommend is less light and less food into the tank and more plants, usually works but not always. Fast growing plants should be considered. 

[Chasmodes]

I considered putting an oyster in my tank if my methods didn’t work. That definitely would do it for saltwater or brackish. For freshwater, I would’ve thought the Asian clams would’ve been a solution also. I was just thinking about what else would eat microscopic algae, maybe stocking rotifers would work? But then again, Michael, selfishly, I’m looking forward to your native saltwater build!

[Moontanman]

I considered putting an oyster in my tank if my methods didn’t work. That definitely would do it for saltwater or brackish. For freshwater, I would’ve thought the Asian clams would’ve been a solution also. I was just thinking about what else would eat microscopic algae, maybe stocking rotifers would work? But then again, Michael, selfishly, I’m looking forward to your native saltwater build!

 

Do to my experiences with clams I question whether or not they really eat unicellular algae, I think they might feed on detritus instead, I'm sure the fish would eat rotifers but it's a good idea. Before I drain the water to set it up as salt water I am thinking of draining several gallons into a plastic tub to see if i can grow Daphnia magna in it. 

[Dude sir]

I ordered a uv sterilizer and my water turned clear in just about two days

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[Moontanman]

I ordered a uv sterilizer and my water turned clear in just about two days

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Not an option for me but I can see it working. 

[Chasmodes]

I bought one too for the same reason, but my green water cleared up before mine was delivered. I'm considering using it to help control parasties, but, admittedly, have been too lazy to install it LOL. Anyway, I'm glad it worked for you.

[Warbadger]

I added the Fluval in-line UV sterilizer to help control algae growth and diseases a few months back.  First time I've used one but it seems to work pretty well, at 8 hours/day it definitely slowed down the spread of algae on new hardscape, so it'd probably work for green water.

[Chasmodes]

In your opintion, does it seem to help control diseases?

[Moontanman]

I added the Fluval in-line UV sterilizer to help control algae growth and diseases a few months back.  First time I've used one but it seems to work pretty well, at 8 hours/day it definitely slowed down the spread of algae on new hardscape, so it'd probably work for green water.

 Was it expensive? 

[Chasmodes]

You can get a Coralife Turbo-Twist 6x (up to 250g) like I got for half price on Amazon right now, $143. To me, expensive is relative. My wife would say it's cheap because it's 50% off and would buy it (if it was something she was interested in). I, on the other hand, view this as a major purchase, being over $100 and sometimes would be reluctant to pull the trigger and buy something like this. But, I had a need, so I did. I checked out cheaper versions and compared ratings, and figured it was a good deal after all.