my parents clean the whole aquarium tank every week or so bcoz the tank keeps turing green...?

Question

, they keep draining 100% of the water every week or so, and i'm jus wonderring if thats wrong and unhealthy for the fish.

Answer 1

It's is extremly stressfull on your fish
you have to get your tank out of direct sunlight, stop overfeeding them (only what they eat in 3-5 min) and turn the light off for 12-14 hours at night and turn it on for 10-12 hours during the day (a time would help with that)
Do only partial waterchanges of 25% a week with a gravel siphon


Hope that helps
Good luck

EB

Answer 2

That is very stressful for the fish. Instead, stop doing water changes for a while. It is an algae bloom. Just keep the tank in pitch black for 4+ days and feed half the normal amount of food. This will stop the algae from photosynthesizing and they will get no nutrients. After the 4 day blackout, you can allow lights in and get back to the water cleaning schedule.

Never use chemicals, they often lead to a chemical imbalance in the water, which can be catastrophic. Also, Plecostomus get 2 feet long and Algae Eaters get 8 inches. Later in their lives, they will begin to harass other fish and eat their slim coats. In other words, don't get any fish that are supposed to eat algae.

Nosoop4u

Answer 3

Yes. I'd recommend the following:

Filtered Tank
10%-20% water change every week or so. More water and more often if you are having an algae problem, but no more than 50%.

Unfiltered tank
I don't keep these, but have read varying suggestions and so I choose to let someone else cover this.

I will however assert that all water going into the tank after the change be treated for Chlorine, Chlorimine, and toxic heavy metals. Your local fish Store has a bottle of this water treatment if they are worth their salt.

Answer 4

You are right, it is unhealthy for the fish. You should clean a tank using a gravel siphon and remove about 25% of the water once a week while cleaning the gravel.

Odds are good you are over feeding a bit and the lights are on too long. Both of these things will cause green water very quickly.

MM

Answer 5

If the tank is in direct/strong sunlight, consider moving your tank somewhere else, or rearranging your furniture so the tank is shielded from it. If this isn't the case, your tank hood light might be on too long. The green is growing because it's receiving too much nutrients in the form of light+waste. Reducing both is a good way to get rid of it. An overstocked fish tank might also be the cause of excess waste. Remember, the rule is 1 gallon per inch.

Draining 100% is not good for the tank. 25% is the maximum amount you should change weekly.

Answer 6

You should never really change more than 50% of the water at a time. Any more risks your fish's health. too much water being changed at once can be a real shock to the fish's immune system (due to the stress of having to adjust to such a radical change) and make them much more likely to become ill. So in other words, yes it is bad for the fish.

As for the green stuff, it's algae. You can buy chemical treatments from a pet store to get rid of it. Good luck

Answer 7

I use a thing called Algone if I ever have a problem with algae blooms and/or nitrates (it lowers nitrates, too). It's not a chemical so it doesn't mess up the balance in your fishtank, and it removes the algae fairly fast. It think it's made of like wheat and barley. I think the worse thing that happens is your water browns when you overdose to an extreme amount.

Also, as said before, don't do 100% water changes if you have a big fishtank. If you have like a 1 gallon, then you should, but not if it's a 20 gallon or something average like that.

Answer 8

I don't know about the green water, but I do weekly 50% water changes. I have done this for nearly a year, and I have only lost one fish, from old age, since. The tank sparkles, the fish are lively, and I never worry about ammonia spikes from decaying matter, because most gets sucked out....

Answer 9

The green stuff is plankton. A more healthier and effitiant way of cleaning the tank is to get some snails, shrimp, crabs etc. Make sure that the animal suites the type of water. Salt water fish, tropical fish, gold fish.... The pet store will tell you.

Answer 10

I'd recommend getting a few algae eaters.
Snails and maybe a few small catfish or a plecostamus or two. I am not sure if I spelled that right, but it is a type of fish that eats the algae. They eat a lot and will probably do your tank much justice, and they are quite interesting to look at.

Also, be sure they clean any and all "trinkets and pretties" that are in the aquarium. They probably are harboring enough of the algae that are causing it to return too fast.