green water

[Skimmerking]

well my 320 has a green affect to the tank. I thought it ws algae but my be it was the driftwood ,I dont know in the tank. i have huge rocks and i have granite grit as a bottom, i feed the fish spirlina flakes and tender vitels so i dont know why Im getting this i have been doing lots of water changes actually i have been doing big ones. So i think that it's from the big changes in the temp..
HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

[StirCrazy]

what lights are you using? that is a lot of water and any off green color will be intensified with that distance front to back. This is a effect of normal glass that is thick, it gets a greenish look. unless you are talking about aq algae bloom type green.

Steve

[trilinearmipmap]

Green water is caused by algae and similar microorganisms growing in your water. It often happens in new plant tanks when there is an imbalance between the light, the nutrients and the CO2.

If you are not running a planted tank, the simplest solution is to blackout your tank for a couple of weeks and do some 50% water changes weekly.

If you are running a plant tank it is more difficult to control greenwater. You can try a 1-week blackout with no lights on in the tank and covering the tank glass with a blanket or dark paper. You can try frequent water changes. Neither of these methods are likely to work.

If you can borrow a diatom filter, run the diatom filter to clear the green water. You will need to repeat this weekly or so until the underlying cause of the green water (excess nutrients in the water) is corrected.

The simplest and easiest way to clear green water is with a UV sterilizer. You do not need a high wattage. Run a UV sterilizer and you water will clear within several days. Keep the UV sterilizer running for at least 2 weeks after the green water has cleared. After that you can turn off the UV sterilizer and most likely the problem will not come back.

UV sterilizers are expensive and they only need to be used once or twice. I have 2 UV sterilizers both sitting in a box in my basement waiting for the need to arise. If you can borrow a UV sterilizer that would be best, it is a waste of money to buy one that you will only need for a brief time.

[StirCrazy]

If it is a algae bloom and you wan't plants put a lot of fast growing lower light type plants in it.. they will out compete the algae for nutrence and clear the water.

So you need to figfure out what kinda green it is.. is the water still green if you take some out and put it in a glass or is it clear?

FWIW my fresh water tank had a greenish look when the water was first put in. once i heated it and put on lights it looked normal.

Steve

[Old Guy]

What is your water source and have you tested it for nitrates and phosphates? Sometimes lots of water changes only fuel algea growth.

[Skimmerking]

My source for the tank is city water ,i tested for
nitrates 10ppm
Amm -0ppm

I have been doing water changes alot to get the green water down and ihave not been getting the temp in the warm area.

[Old Guy]

nitrates at 10ppm is adding to your problem IMO. I would probly relax a little on the water changes. Cut the light period and filter with fine filter floss. Change the floss daily. I installed a RO for our drinking/aquarium water to get rid of the same problem years ago. At the time our water was at 12.5ppm :shock:

[Skimmerking]

fixed the problem thanks for all your help it was the lights 43ooK DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Skimmerking]

:x Well i had the problem happen again. The water was green and i had the tank sorted out to,
Well i covered up the tank, did a few small water changes and uped the ciculation in the tank .I used to have a ocean runner 900 running with about 600 with the head, and now I added a iwacki 550 pressure and a maxi 900 with in the furture will have a addition 3 x 1200 maxi going with a total of 2115 gph in the tank...

Oh well not for long will be converting to SALL WATER AGAIN>>>> 8) 8) 8)

[mikey_d18]

when u have an algae bloom (green water), do not do water changes.....algae feeds of off phosphates in the water....tap water has phosphates in it, it only helps the algae grow............so, if u dont want to spend the money on a uv sterilizer which kills off free flowing algae, use a phosphate reducer..and keep ur lights off for about a week...also make sure ur tank isnt getting direct sun light from a window....green-x has been known to work great, a small cartridge u place in ur filter......mikey

[Skimmerking]

thanks Mike 8)

[Dresden]

I'm on my 13th day of dark green water, no water changes. Hoping new sponge will be thriving.