the past 2 weeks i have had the problem with my water lookin green and cloudy. did 50% water changes every 3 days. the water would turn green the second day. what is causing this?
Green cloudy water
- Thread starter bruster
- Start date
Hey Bruster,
I think you have a simple algae bloom. When conditions are right, the algae population explodes, leaving you with green water. When we set up our pond, it was filled with 2,500 of clear just from the tap (and properly treated) water and then mixed with the existing water in the 400 gallon filter area. Within a few days our water was green.
If your tank is newly set up then the algae may be using the ammonia before it gets to the filters where your nitrifying bacteria are living. In this case you may have to be very patient and try to keep your bioload and feedings light. The algae bloom can cause PH swings. If your tank is already established you may want to do a sort of thorough cleaning where you try to remove all the broken down waste accumulating in your gravel/filters. Be careful doing this, as it will disturb your bacteria colonies and I also recommend lighter feedings while the bacteria re-establishes.
Check to see if your tank is getting direct sunlight from the windows, or possibly just keep your lights turned off for awhile as well. Hope this helps and maybe someone who has had this in their tank can give a better explanation. I've personally not seen it myself for indoor aquariums but do have a problem with it outdoors because of the sunlight helping to fuel the tremendous algae growth.
I think you have a simple algae bloom. When conditions are right, the algae population explodes, leaving you with green water. When we set up our pond, it was filled with 2,500 of clear just from the tap (and properly treated) water and then mixed with the existing water in the 400 gallon filter area. Within a few days our water was green.
If your tank is newly set up then the algae may be using the ammonia before it gets to the filters where your nitrifying bacteria are living. In this case you may have to be very patient and try to keep your bioload and feedings light. The algae bloom can cause PH swings. If your tank is already established you may want to do a sort of thorough cleaning where you try to remove all the broken down waste accumulating in your gravel/filters. Be careful doing this, as it will disturb your bacteria colonies and I also recommend lighter feedings while the bacteria re-establishes.
Check to see if your tank is getting direct sunlight from the windows, or possibly just keep your lights turned off for awhile as well. Hope this helps and maybe someone who has had this in their tank can give a better explanation. I've personally not seen it myself for indoor aquariums but do have a problem with it outdoors because of the sunlight helping to fuel the tremendous algae growth.
Green water is usually caused by an excess of phosphate in the tank combined with an excess of lighting or other disolved nutrients, sadly tap water sometimes contains phosphate. I have had this happen in my parents small pond, I used a product called Phos-zorb which took care of it. But I have heard from larger pond keepers that barley straw takes care of green water...never tried it personally. But i imagine a bag of it added to the filter couldnt hurt. I would make sure that it was organic barley straw tho.
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by chance have you changed your flake food or over feeding on flake? that can cause green water sometimes
not near any window and i dont use flake foods. turned off the light and went to smaller feedings. any other suggestions that can help?
bruster;1378835; said:
the larger waterchanges you do sometimes the worst for it. small changes, ie 5% help and being consistant also helps. i have had this in my tank a few times and it is a combination of nitrate, phosphates and another nutrient we dont test for as much, silicate. silicate is in a lot of tap water and is a nutrient that is hard to get rid of. it is also used in fertalizers in very high amounts and in pestaside sprays, and is no surprise to me, in every outdoor pond across america lol. the best way to reduce this is to use activated carbon as you may already be doing and useing phos-zorb as well. silicate will build up in the water column and in the sludge that pilles on the bottom of your pond, and fish tank. any dead spot in the tank were the material just sits there will start to break down and leach phosphates which with nitrates and when mixed with silicates will fuel this. again make sure there are no dead spots and then do small waterchanges, and also keep doing what your doing.