Help green water

View attachment 1469123340987.jpg My water parameters are 26 degrees, I'd say the nitrate is about 30ppm but iv put a picture. The nitrite and ammonia are 0, I did a a big water change about 2 days ago. And it was fine yesterday but today it's green.

 

It looks like an algae bloom, I'd try daily waterchanges. I'm sorry, but I don't think I can help to much more as I've never had one or really read up on one.

 

It looks like an algae bloom, I'd try daily waterchanges. I'm sorry, but I don't think I can help to much more as I've never had one or really read up on one.

No worry I'm going to do daily water changes as you said, it was crystal clear yesterday evening, I only have my light on 6 hours a day too

 

Is it by a window?

 

Is it by a window?

Nope it's in complete shade, my nitrate looked high, Iv been doing a weekly water change, I'm going to step it up to twice weekly. But il do 1 everyday til it's clear

 

If it doesn't improve, you may have to do a complete blackout. I had an algae bloom last year and did a complete blackout for a week which worked. Decrease your feeding and make sure you have plenty of water circulation from your filters. You could also purchase a UV sterilizer if you're willing to spend the money for it. The Green Killing Machine I hear is effective.

 

If it doesn't improve, you may have to do a complete blackout. I had an algae bloom last year and did a complete blackout for a week which worked. Decrease your feeding and make sure you have plenty of water circulation from your filters. You could also purchase a UV sterilizer if you're willing to spend the money for it. The Green Killing Machine I hear is effective.

Do you need to do water changes during the blackout period. This might sound like a stupid question but do I put the filter boost liquid into my tank water or directly Into my external filter media?

 

No, just leave the tank alone for at least 3 days. Don't feed or anything and make sure you completely cover the entire tank wrapped in a blanket. You can't even let a little ambient light in. If you have live plants, they may suffer a bit but they should bounce back. Your fish will be fine.

Seems like your tank is cycled so not sure why you need a filter boost.

 

Il Try water changes everyda
y and if it dosnt work after a week il Try the complete blackout ago thanks for you help

 

What's on there for a light? A uv sterilizer is really the best way to get green water gone. You can try the blackout though

 

An led light with white and blue setting. That's all I know. Il Try the blackout if that dosnt work il use a uv steriliser

 

What's through brand? Does it have specs on the light?

 

Is it the actual water column that is green or just the glass needs to be cleaned?

 

The water was green, I did a massive water change and it seemed a bit better and cleaned all the glass and sand. I'm just doing a blackout period at the moment to try kill any algae bloom in the tank. Il check it when I get back il Try find out the light details

 

Is it the actual water column that is green or just the glass needs to be cleaned?

It went normal again, but after adding 5 more young tiger barbs it's gone green again :/ the nitrate isn't that high it's about 10-15, my light don't come with any information on it, but I don't have it on that long and it's not In direct sunlight either, my fish seem really happy but I just need to get rid of this green water, my sand looks clean and so does most of my Wood and stones, also the glass is clean too.

 

What did you do to make it "normal again" ? Do that again.
Don't add any more fish until you get the green thing figured out.

 

What did you do to make it "normal again" ? Do that again.
Don't add any more fish until you get the green thing figured out.

I did a blackout for about 2 days, and it seemed quite clear then I added my fish and it's gone green again, iv heard adding plants will help it from going green by absorbing the nutriants, this is what it looks like, View attachment 1469538517425.jpg

 

el337 post 6 would be my opinion too. Yes, adding plants can soak up nutrients, but you don't know what excess nutrients you have. Low O2 levels can cause it to.
here is a good pinned article by Dolfan that may give you some guidance:
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/algae-problems-and-how-to-deal-with-them.188662/

That's all I got, good luck.

 

I would've done the blackout for a week.

 

I would've done the blackout for a week.

I'm doing a good clean of my bogwood, rocks, substrate and glass then doing a good water change, do you think I should do a blackout for a week?

 

I'm doing a good clean of my bogwood, rocks, substrate and glass then doing a good water change, do you think I should do a blackout for a week?

Yes, I would. Don't overfeed, make sure you have plenty of flow from your filters, a couple of large water changes will help.

 

Yes, I would. Don't overfeed, make sure you have plenty of flow from your filters, a couple of large water changes will help.

Do I do water changes during the blackout period or after? Plus how would you kill off any algae on my bogwood and rocks? Would soaking them in bleach water for a day and then rinsing it off loads do the job?

 

Had the same when I set up my last tank used interpet green away, as long as ph between 6.5 and 8.5 worked well, it causes the partials to clump and the filter can then pick them up

 

Had the same when I set up my last tank used interpet green away, as long as ph between 6.5 and 8.5 worked well, it causes the partials to clump and the filter can then pick them up

In trying the non chemical route at the moment but il give that a try if this dosnt work

 

Do I do water changes during the blackout period or after? Plus how would you kill off any algae on my bogwood and rocks? Would soaking them in bleach water for a day and then rinsing it off loads do the job?

I'd do the water changes after. You don't want any light in at all for that entire week.

I didn't have any algae on my wood or rocks so I'm not sure what the best approach would be for that. Is it green algae?

 

I'd do the water changes after. You don't want any light in at all for that entire week.

I didn't have any algae on my wood or rocks so I'm not sure what the best approach would be for that. Is it green algae?

Yeah iv stubbed it well and I'm going to leave it in some water in a bucket for a week while I do my blackout and that should kill any algae on the wood iv done my waterchange about 75%, it looks miles better already, il do a blackout for a week and see what it's like then View attachment 1469544723201.jpg

 

Every pic you post looks like the green from tempered glass.

 

Every pic you post looks like the green from tempered glass.

My tank is made from low iron glass so it shouldn't be green, it's a light blue colour. And if glass was as green as my old pic I put it I'd be worried.

 

Ouch! Green algae floating in the water is mainly caused by an imbalance. Ammonia can activate the algae spores and nitrates can feed the rest. However, in your case it might be the amount of light in the tank.

I don't trust tests whenever a large amount of algae is present since the algae might have absorbed some of the nitrates/ammonia and thus, I can't get a good estimate of what's going on.

A black out is a sure fire way to get rid of it, but you also need to treat the source of the algae whether it's overfeeding or too much light. To test if it was the light, you can leave it off after a blackout or a water change for three days. Keep everything else the same (ie light from the ceiling, food, etc) and check if algae regrows. In my experience, an overabundance of light tends to be the issue for any type of algae since algae can form in high nitrates or low nitrates.

Another option is to add plants like frogbit to block some of the light, absorb nitrates, and shade your fish. Although I'll need to fact check, anacharis may also release some toxins into the water that's harmless to fish but wards off algae. However, these are cold water plants and are a very risky long term solution compared to frogbit or water wisteria which can float at the top and absorb nitrates just as well.

I hope you find a way to cure your algae problem!

 

Ouch! Green algae floating in the water is mainly caused by an imbalance. Ammonia can activate the algae spores and nitrates can feed the rest. However, in your case it might be the amount of light in the tank.

I don't trust tests whenever a large amount of algae is present since the algae might have absorbed some of the nitrates/ammonia and thus, I can't get a good estimate of what's going on.

A black out is a sure fire way to get rid of it, but you also need to treat the source of the algae whether it's overfeeding or too much light. To test if it was the light, you can leave it off after a blackout or a water change for three days. Keep everything else the same (ie light from the ceiling, food, etc) and check if algae regrows. In my experience, an overabundance of light tends to be the issue for any type of algae since algae can form in high nitrates or low nitrates.

Another option is to add plants like frogbit to block some of the light, absorb nitrates, and shade your fish. Although I'll need to fact check, anacharis may also release some toxins into the water that's harmless to fish but wards off algae. However, these are cold water plants and are a very risky long term solution compared to frogbit or water wisteria which can float at the top and absorb nitrates just as well.

I hope you find a way to cure your algae problem!

Thank you! I was thinking of adding floating plants, I never has a problem with algae, my water was clear but I left it a bit too long for a water change and came to green water! Il Try this blackout for about 5 days. Then do a big water change. My light is usually on from 12pm til 8pm then I have my blue light come on at about 9pm till 11pm is that too much cause I left my light on all day in my 10 gallon and I never got green water or any algae once.I know this light is brighter and I'm going to buy some plants for the bottom and some floating ones to shade the bright light a bit.

 

The amount is actually decent for fish (they need about 8 hours a day). It might just be the power of your light instead. You can keep using your light, but you'll need to put some sort of tinted glass or whatnot to try and dI'm it down. Another option is to keep it on for two-four hours, shut it off for one hour, turn it on for two-hour hours, etc. Algae takes forever to photosynthesize compared to other plants, so this is one tedious but decent method for people who have a planted tank to combat algae (plants need 12 hours of light, though).

However, I believe your light will be fine once some floating plants can absorb it. So you'll only need to worry about the above if algae is still a problem!

However, if it turns out that the light isn't an issue, the only suspect left is water quality. Like some people above mentioned, feed less a day (or skip every other day) to lower the ammonia input and invest in plants!

In general, anacharis, water wisteria, frogbit (floating plants in general) are the best since they're low maintenance and absorb ammonia/nitrates extremely well. If you want something else, look for another medium-high light demanding plant since those will grow much more quickly and eat up more nutrients.

I did quite extensive research when I encountered algae, so I hope this can help. Some of my sources were shady, so it's hard to say all of my info is 100% proven, haha. Good luck on your tank! Update us after the blackout!

 

The amount is actually decent for fish (they need about 8 hours a day). It might just be the power of your light instead. You can keep using your light, but you'll need to put some sort of tinted glass or whatnot to try and dI'm it down. Another option is to keep it on for two-four hours, shut it off for one hour, turn it on for two-hour hours, etc. Algae takes forever to photosynthesize compared to other plants, so this is one tedious but decent method for people who have a planted tank to combat algae (plants need 12 hours of light, though).

However, I believe your light will be fine once some floating plants can absorb it. So you'll only need to worry about the above if algae is still a problem!

However, if it turns out that the light isn't an issue, the only suspect left is water quality. Like some people above mentioned, feed less a day (or skip every other day) to lower the ammonia input and invest in plants!

In general, anacharis, water wisteria, frogbit (floating plants in general) are the best since they're low maintenance and absorb ammonia/nitrates extremely well. If you want something else, look for another medium-high light demanding plant since those will grow much more quickly and eat up more nutrients.

I did quite extensive research when I encountered algae, so I hope this can help. Some of my sources were shady, so it's hard to say all of my info is 100% proven, haha. Good luck on your tank! Update us after the blackout!

Thanks pal, my feeding is quite low tbf! Il see what happens and get done plants and update you.

 

Thanks pal, my feeding is quite low tbf! Il see what happens and get done plants and update you.

Iv decided cause my light quite bright and I don't want to be only having it on for like 5 - 6 hours a day and my livingroom gets quite a lot of bright sunlight in I'm going to buy a inline uv steriliser iv seen ones that go in your tank that are cheaper but they look ugly as

 

after blackout period it's clear

 

Glad it worked! Just try not to overfeed, limit the hours of tank lights, stay on top of your water changes and you shouldn't have it come back.

 

Glad it worked! Just try not to overfeed, limit the hours of tank lights, stay on top of your water changes and you shouldn't have it come back.

Iv set the light timer to come on all day but I'm manually turning it on and off on the switch cause the timer on the tank is ! So then I know while I'm out its definitely off when it's not needed on. I never really over feed anyway tbf, I'm off to get some live plants to help soak the nutriants up maybe some floating plants to block the lights intensity a little bit

 

How long do you have it on during the day? If it's a faulty timer, then get a new one so you don't have to mess with it manually.

If your light is too strong, you could also raise the fixture a couple of inches so it's less intense.

 

My timer isn't faulty it just rubbish ha, I want to have the white light set to come on twice a day with a break in between but you can't with mine. Iv added a few plants and bought a new fish for my tank got a electric blue acara.

 

Another idea is floating plants helps to remove nitrates and creates shade for both fish and plants under the surface.
Edit: sorry think this has been suggested before

 

There are really cheap timers that you can set so that they're broken into different times throughout the day. Definitely worth it, IMO.