We have well water. I have used it, city water and even bottled water. No matter what I use the water turns gator-aid green. What is happening?!? The fish are still alive but I'm afraid they are stressing. This is my second home aquarium. The water was so bad in my first quarium I threw everything away but the fish and started over. I have a 20 gal at the office and use city water. I have no problems with that one. Someone said the green might be algae and maybe I should put some plants in the tank. I do have an algae eater. Did I need another one? Thanks for any advice you can give. I have algae tablets but instructions don't say how often to drop a tablet in the aquarium. I put one in yesterday but did little good. Gosh, I thought this would be easy since the one at work it doing so well. Where did I go wrong?!?
Oh yeah, would a heater help? Thanks for any advice you can lend.
Marti Z
2006-09-23 05:46:05 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
its the algee you have to clean out the tank if its not algee maybe the filter is broken
2006-09-23 05:49:06 · answer #1 · answered by taylor57mc 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
What kind of fish do you have in the aquarium? My guess is you have WAY too many fish in the aquarium and the filter cannot keep up with the bio load. For example - for goldfish - you should only have one fish per 10 gallons of water - so that means you should only have one goldfish in a tank that size. It all depends on the type of fish but 12 of anything in a 10 gallon tank is too many. See if you can take some of your fish back to the fish store, or get a larger tank. Email me if you need to! A heater will not help the green. It also depends how often you are changing the water. Smaller aquariums are MUCH more difficult to maintain than larger ones because there less wiggle room for error! Maybe buy a 20 gallon for your home as well. Well water obviously isn't ideal but my guess is overcrowding and not frequent enough water changes. I change 50% water every week.
2006-09-23 13:02:34 · answer #2 · answered by Soramdara 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The water source is not the problem. I think that you have algae.
Is the tank near a window? Too much sunlight will increase the algae problem. Try cleaning the whole tank, emptying it and washing the pebbles and put fresh water (remove the chlorine before putting the fish in there). Place the tank away from the sunlight or cover the windows with a shade. Algae eater fish like the chinese algae eater will help too.
Good luck.
2006-09-23 13:09:45 · answer #3 · answered by jbr930 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It probably is algae. I doubt a heater would help, but if you don't have a filter, then you should definitely get one. Also, snails as well as algae eaters can help clean up the algae in the tank. You might even try introducing a few water fleas or other small aquatic animals, as they can both eat algae and provide a food source for your fish. And plants may help too by using up the dissolved carbon dioxide, although I can't be sure about this.
2006-09-23 12:49:30 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
green water= algae!!! Try to move the tank where it'll be out of direct sunlight, also turn off the light at night. This kind of algae is in the water and algae eats will not be able to eat it. I found some great stuff at the pet store, it's called "green water clarifyer" you put some in(the dose is one the bottle) and it makes the algae clump together n your filter will remove it! It works for me everytime! Good luck!
2006-09-23 12:56:21 · answer #5 · answered by pharfly1 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I always use bottled spring water to be sure that there are no phosphates in it to feed algae. Try updating your light, algae grows better when the old bulbs start producing more lower spectrum light. Also, putting plants does help as they out-compete algae for nutrients. Protein skimmers will help keep the water extremely clear, they work better in salt water aquariums, but will also work in freshwater.
http://www.marineandreef.com/shoppro/fission_skimmer.htm
A
2006-09-23 15:09:01 · answer #6 · answered by iceni 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have an algae bloom. Your tank is overstocked. Most likely you have high nirates (good for algae growth) but algae will also thrive with a good amount of light.
To fix your problem - water changes, reducing the amount of fish by ATLEAST 3 or more (depending on what kind of fish you have) and reducing the amount of light in your tank.
2006-09-23 13:11:00 · answer #7 · answered by megan145 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If you have goldfish, uou have TOO many fish in such a small tank! The more fish you have, the nastier the tank is going to get. Your 20 Gal. tank is doing better because it is bigger. Either get another or bigger tank, or go to your pet store and get some chemicals that will kill the algae. (there is some that will not hurt your fish)
2006-09-23 12:55:31 · answer #8 · answered by If you build it, they will come. 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it is definately an algea. reason is that you might give too much food and you have too many fish. one gallon can have only one inch of fish. to get rid of algea actually green algea clean out the whole tank, wash every single thing including filter, gravel, decoration or whatever you have in tank. then put fresh water and water conditionar to kill amonia and chlorine. then put fish in and make sure you put new fliter cartridge after you change and clean everything. if you have gold fish you need to get rid of it cuz it makes sooooooooo much mess and produce amonia that could be harmful for other fish. and 10 gallon tank is good for 6 to 7 fish. i hope it helps and also if you have too many decoration pieces get rid of them too. on cpl of little things should be there no more then that
2006-09-23 14:20:59 · answer #9 · answered by hmalik 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, if you have frsh water fish, fresh water, salt wayer fish, salt water. As for the gator-aid green water, if you don't have a filter get one, and even if you do it still needs to be cleaned out.
2006-09-23 12:56:03 · answer #10 · answered by Mel Fortin 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Get yourself some Prime by Seachem. You can either treat the water with it before putting it in, or put it directly in once you fill up.
Prime by Seachem
http://www.petstore.com/ps_viewitem.aspx?idproduct=SC4435
2006-09-23 15:00:01 · answer #11 · answered by sly2kusa 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋