i cannot get clean water

Fishbert

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 10, 2011
197
1
16
New York
hello, i have a problem. i have a few piranhas in a 150 gallon tank, they're still only about 3 inches a piece, and i cannot seem to get clean water. theres a cloudy green tinge to the water so bad sometimes i cant see the back of the tank. i mentioned it to a couple guys i work with and they said it was because of the diet i keep them on.i figured id ask again here and in the piranha forum because mechanics giving fish advise seemed a little out of place. they eat store bought fish, cut up and frozen, i don't remember what kind exactly, but i'm running low so will have to go out and get some more in a couple days, iirc it was the cheapest stuff they had.

anyway, i haven't tested my water in a few days but at last test everything was fine and im running a fluval fx5. water changes help, but by the next day it looks like i haven't done anything. theres some rocks, new pool filter sand, plants, and a plastic tree looking thing from petsmart. the plastic decoration does have some algae on it from a previous set up and its hollow as well.

Im thinking thats just full of algae and leeching it into the water maybe? theres no real wood, tea leaves, black water anything in the tank and i thought the fx5 would take care of my problem.

any ideas?
 

GrantA94

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 12, 2011
985
5
0
cumbria
Are you running carbon in the fx5? What light wattages and bulbs are you using? And for how long?

Might give an indication to the cause. I can't personally see the cause being food, or down to the P's. I know that excess nitrite can cause algae blooms. So i would check to see what your params are. There is a wide array of treatments that clear green water. Just go to your lfs and see. The only thing is you will need to gwt to the cause otherwise it will just come back.
 

geph

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 21, 2007
255
0
0
In my AE86
Hey im a mechanic!!!! LOL. How long are you keeping your light on? if not long is your tank in direct sun light? if you have your light on for a long time then try cutting that in half and if sun is hitting your tank try to find a way to get that window covered. Try cleaning that plant with algae and what ever is in your tank that has algae. That food that you buy that your not sure of the name, put it in a small cup of water let it sit and see if the water changes color. What pads are you using in your FX5? One thing also is getting your self a uv sterilizer which will help if its a algae problem.
 

Experimental

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 5, 2012
6
0
0
Arkansas
Sounds like you have an algae bloom. I had something similar happen to me. I had to turn out the lights and wrap the tank for seven days so that no light could get in. I was told not to feed during this time. After seven days of nervously waiting, the problem was cleared up and my fish were fine. I was a bit anxious about wrapping the tank but it worked. It sounds like you have something similar but I would definitely do more research before wrapping my tank and not feeding for seven days.
 

thepotz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 16, 2010
94
0
0
N Dakota
the bloom is caused by both your "messy eaters" and your light duration. I'd fix the messy eating (since I like my lights on alot) by getting what I call a cleaning crew. try getting a fish that runs through the gravel and eats the scraps that won't become food itself. I'd try a 4-5" koi or large goldfish. To get rid of the prob right away, go ahead and keep the lights off, even cover it, untill the bloom dies off. I know you have to keep those piranha well fed so they don't eat each other, but try cleaner type of food, like maybe shelled shrimp? a uv sterilizer should definately be in your future for a long term solution.
 

Fishbert

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 10, 2011
197
1
16
New York
alright cool, thanks guys, ill try some stuff to treat the apparent algae bloom and ill look into wrapping the tank, ive heard keep the lights off but never to wrap the tank, i guess it would make sense thou. and the tank is sorta near a window, but only gets a direct beam, thats still quite small, maybe a 3x4 inch spot through the tank, for a couple hours in the morning.

the light im using actually came with the tank, its a marineland natural daylight 48" bulb in the hood that came with it, not sure how to describe lights too well but our room lighting is also Fluorescent so that could be contributing to the bloom as well
 

Fishbert

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 10, 2011
197
1
16
New York
yea i was thinking a clean up crew, i had cory cats in another tank that i liked to look at but i'm not sure what fish would be best to eat left over meat, i'm not to worried about losing a few, i can always get more if necessary but i don't want to have to be replacing shoals every week if i could help it.

and thanks for the shrimp tip, i know the fish is messier than it needs to be, but i didn't know what to replace it with
 
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