Redvelvetsword

I have a 46 gallon bowfront freshwater tank set up in my living room. It has been operational for about 3 months. The water perameters are just right: 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites and 10ppm nitrates. The issue I am having now is the water is very green. There is not much algea on the glass or the decoration rocks or the gravel substrate. The water itself is green. I am wondering about the placement of my tank and or the filter type I am using. The tank is not in direct sunlight. There is a big picture window about 6 feet away but the sun travels away from the tank and will never directly shine on it. We do have vertical blinds that difuse the sunlight. Will indirect sunlight have that much of an effect. I have had many tanks before with the same kind of placement in indirect sunlight and have never had green water. The filter I am using is a HOB Emperor 400 with 2 bio-wheels. This is the first time using this type of filter. It does not have a top cover. Could this also be causing my problem. I am currently doing about 50% water changes to see if that will correct my issue.

Thank you again FL!!!!!!!

Shawnie

Indirect sun does have an effect...has it been gradual or over night type appearance? I dont have goodluck with bio wheels but many do and swear by them...if you run some fresh carbon and change it out every 3 weeks, it should clear it right up ..I do have a tank near a window and to keep the green down, i have to run carbon all the time....as well as some otto's ..overfeeding and overstocked will also cause it ..but im not sure if you are either....

Redvelvetsword

Overall, it has been gradually getting cloudier over the last 3 weeks. I have one very shy clown pleco. They are not overfed. I many feed once a day and only what they eat in about 2 minutes. Stocking: 3 swords, 2 platies, 3 guppies, 6 tetras, one cory, one clown pleco, 6-10 cherry shrimp. I did try one bag of active carbon in the filter but it did not seem to help much.

Shawnie

is there any green decorations or subtrate? sounds like it either could be the indirect light or the filter not doing its job...id run carbon all the time and change it out every 3 weeks if this is going to continue...they also make carbon sponges which sometimes catches the nasties better than the bags....

Redvelvetsword

There is a little algea on the decor and gravel but it is not excessive. Very little compared to my other tanks in the past. Could not having a top cover on the bio-wheel filter cause an excess of algea in the HOB filter?

Shawnie

im not sure about that..but I doubt it ....i was wondering if any of the subtrate or decorations has green coloring in it tho that might leach into the tank?

Redvelvetsword

The only decor I have in it are some flat rocks and a small piece of driftwood. I had 3 small plants but I think the algea suffocated them, they didn't look good so I took them out. Any thoughts?