Another Green Tank?? lol

[Shastacola]

So my 100 gal is all green. We built a sump about three or four months ago and it has worked great. But last week we noticed that the water was getting a green haze? So we cleaned out the top box of our sump, but this just seemed to make it worse. I'm thinking that we removed our good bacteria. We thought that drawer to be our "people filter" but sadly we were wrong, There is lil to none in the second two drawers. And most odd is that the water in the sump is clear! Now, what I'm wondering is, could the green be caused by the live plants? Cause they do seem to be reproducing. And how can I deal with the problem? Any help will be most appreciated. Thanks

 

[Shastacola]

just a lil bump

 

[tcarswell]

What kind of media was in the top box of the sump ?

Have you tested the water for nitrates / phosphates lately ? If your worried about the beneficial bacteria have you checked ammonia ?
Is it near a window ?
Whats the lighting schedule ?

Best of luck!

 

[Rijkaard]

Another thing to use would be a UV sterilizer. Sadly my 30 gallon tank sits right next to a window. During teh summer of last year i got an UV sterilizer and it cleared everything right up.

 

[dad_jsp]

can you post pictures of the tank and sump?

 

[I'mHooked]

Now, what I'm wondering is, could the green be caused by the live plants?

Green water algae isn't caused by live plants. It's caused from a nutrient imbalance in the water - most likely a high level of phosphates.

To clear up the water, I would recommend purchasing either a phosphate removing filter media and wait for the water to clear...or invest in a UV sterilizer. You should also conduct larger water changes than you normally do on a weekly basis.

And next time you "clean" your sump, do it in small parts as to retain the bacteria. You could cause a severe nitrate spike if you remove all the bacteria at once.

 

[tcarswell]

Green water algae isn't caused by live plants. It's caused from a nutrient imbalance in the water - most likely a high level of phosphates.

To clear up the water, I would recommend purchasing either a phosphate removing filter media and wait for the water to clear...or invest in a UV sterilizer. You should also conduct larger water changes than you normally do on a weekly basis.

And next time you "clean" your sump, do it in small parts as to retain the bacteria. You could cause a severe nitrate spike if you remove all the bacteria at once.

You mean a severe ammonia/nitrite spike. The reason we clean out media is to get out the pollutants that create nitrate/ phosphate. If the OP would post his water change schedule we could help him more. He may just need to change more water rather than use a UV

 

[I'mHooked]

You mean a severe ammonia/nitrite spike.

That's what i meant. My bad. Thanks for correcting that.

 

[tcarswell]

That's what i meant. My bad. Thanks for correcting that.

I figured.

 

[Miguel4u2]

It is most probably due to free floating algae or excessive fish waste. To fix this, take out fish waste you see, don't expose the tank to sunlight or leave on the lights on for too long, do a 30 % water change and you can buy activated carbon and a bag to put it in and put it in the sump, that's what i did and i fixed my green water with carbon.