Out of control green aquarium water!?

Question

I really don't know what to do. My aquarium is as green as it can ever get. I've treated it many times but this time it doesn't work?! I think the algae adapted to the treatments lol. I've tried about 4 different brands of algae control, none of them made any changes at all. I've tried scrubbing and water changes. I've tried blocking alot of sunlight out. I've tried all I can in the past 5 months, its been solid green for 5 monthes straight! My ph is good, my amonia is good, my temp is good. My fish are perfectly fine, just the tank looks horrible. Can anyone help me please. Thanks alot.

Answer 1

Algal blooms may be due to too much light, excess nutrients & organic matter. Eliminate sunlight, reduce total duration of tank lighting & also have a 1-2 hour break in middle of the lighting period. Reduce amount of fish food. If having planted tank, cut down liquid fertilisers & iron and have more fast growing plants to compete with algae.

Some commonly used algae eaters are plecos, otos, snails, shrimps. But not all algae eaters eat every kind of algae. Also, plecos poop way too much. Snails can multiply like crazy. Shrimps are rather sensitive & also may be snacks for some fish. You may need rather a lot of oto catfish if your tank is large, but suggest to introduce them if not already done so.

For algae treatments, most of those liquid stuff is pretty useless. Personally, I've had good results from a product called Algone which you place inside your filter, though it may be a bit expensive.

Answer 2

Stay away from those chemical products, they don't work as you've found out. And, a pleco won't help with green water. Your tank is either getting too much light, or there's too many nutrients in the water. It could be from the tank water, or even possibly from your tap water-especially if you're on well water.

What's your nitrAte levels reading? You want to try to keep those under 20 ppm.
How often do you leave the tank light on for? Fish only tanks, no more then 8 hours, live plants in the tank no more then 12 hours.
How often are you doing water changes? Should be changing out about 25% of the water, and vacuuming the gravel good each week. That'll help keep the nitrates down, and using the gravel vac will help to clean up any uneaten food and waste left over at the bottom.
Is the tank receiving direct sunlight? If so, try putting up blinds or curtains to block the sun when it's shining through the window.
I've never had to try this method, but heard it works. You should try a total blackout. Cover the tank completely with a blanket, so no light gets in at all. Make sure you turn off the light if it's on a timer as well. Leave it like that for about 3 or 4 days, and don't feed the fish(they'll be fine without food for that time) and don't peek at all. Algae only needs a small amount of light to start growing. Hopefully that'll work, then do a good water change afterwards and follow the above advice for maintenance.
It's not bad for the fish, they actually enjoy the algae water, just more of a problem for the fish keeper :) Here's a link that explains a bit more on green water/free floating algae:

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/maintenance1/p/greenwater.htm

.

Answer 3

Perhaps the afternoon sun is hitting the tank, or you are running the lights on for too long. Either way, what you are experiencing is a algae bloom. I'd cover the tank and keep the lights off for around a week to kill the algae (the complete darkness will kill algae, but will be ok for your fish). During this time, find the source of light that is doing this. sounds like the sun may be causing the algae to grow at a fast rate. im not sure about a quick fix but you can get algae remover at just about any pet store you alos might want to look into getting an algae eater aka fish that sucks on sides of tanks. Algea. get a snail or a pleco. or just go to the store and get water treatments. keep the lights low while you treat it. theres alot of stuff at petstores for this problem. they have drops or even wipes for the glass. found out through trial and error that sunlight does not help keeping your tank clean!! It is best in a semi dark place with it's own heat and lights. I have a red eared slider and found that the water likes the 125 gallon tank in the basement, it has kept the algae down tremedously! I do quarter water changes every 2 weeks or so but my water is never green. Hope this helps! Yes, there are chemicals that will aid in ridding of the algae. But really, you need to move your tank. Otherwise you are going to continue to have algae blooms due to all the light. Plus, the heat or cold air that comes off from the windows can greatly affect the temperature in your tank. This all can stress your fish out, thankfully they are fine. :) There is also another option, though more expensive. UV sterilizers are suppose to be able to kill the free floating algae (green water). But, I still would go with moving your tank. It will be cheeper and mean less work down the road. It could a number of things. Cut the lights for one. You can add live plants to control the growth of algae, they will compete with it for the nutrients. And also overfeeding your fish can contribute to an algae bloom. Make sure your not overfeeding.

Answer 4

Green Aquarium

Answer 5

It sounds like you're treating the symptoms, but not addressing the real problem.

Green water suggests an algae bloom and algae blooms occur when the water is poor. You need to look at your tank maintenance and make some adjustments.

How much sunlight is on your tank? How long do you leave your tank's light fixture on?

What size tank are you dealing with? How many fish are you keeping in it?

How often are you doing water changes? How much water are you removing/replacing during those changes?

What kind of filter are you using? What kind of filter media?

How often do you feed your fish? How much do you feed them? Do you remove uneaten food?



An immediate fix for the problem would be to shield ALL light from the tank for 3-5 days. The fish will not like it, but it will starve the suspended algae and it will die off. I'd follow that with a partial (15-20%) water change for good measure.

Nuisance algae needs two things to thrive: nutrients and light. You need to kill what you've got and then make it impossible for it to re-establish itself in this way in the future. Make sure you're not overstocking or overfeeding your tank because excess organic waste becomes a nutrient source for algae (ammonia is converted to nitrites which are converted to nitrates which is a natural plant fertilizer). Make sure you have adequate filtration on the tank and don't forget about regular partial water changes to keep your nitrate levels down. You also want to limit the light on your tank. Algae are plants, after all. You want to simulate a natural day/night cycle in your tank. I have timers on my tanks so that I don't have to worry about keeping an eye on the clock.

I would avoid throwing chemicals at any problem in a tank because it disrupts the natural cycle therein. When the cycle is interrupted is when you have problems like these.

Answer 6

I am going through the same thing(It's been 6 months). let me know if you find something that works!!! Don't buy a pleco or add any more fish to your aquarium. I have always had 2 pleco's in my tank and the only algae they eat is the green fur on the glass not the free floating stuff.

Answer 7

Those algea controls dont ever work and have bad effects on fish, from what I've heard. Black out the tank, put a large sheet cardboard anything that wont let light in over it. Leave it on for at least two days. It should be gone after that.

But of course this will cure if for now. You need to find out why your water is being overrun by algea.

Answer 8

Do 50% water changes every 5 days. Also buy a uv sterilizer they are great at removing algae as well as some parasites.
www.drsfostersmith.com has uv sterilizers starting at 60 dollars. It is a great investment and it will do the work of many plecos all by itself. Plus it helps keep your fish free of many pathogens.

Answer 9

I would move it so NO sunlight hits it and add some algae eaters or Plecos. Change at least 50% of the water every 2 weeks too.

Answer 10

A pair of freshwater clams would love your green water aquarium. They are filter feeders who strain water for algae and micro organisms. They are slow but will do the trick of cleaning your water.

1 clam for every 10g if you have a large tank.