Pictures of the problem are in my gallery.
Please be ware that i am new to planted tanks and i have had this tank for a while with no issues until now. I have had crystal clear water and now for the past month i have been battling a serious green water issue. i think the onset was a bad water change in which i mistakenly cleaned the filter cartrages with tap water and possibly erased a lot of bacteria in my filter system.
here is the low down:
Tank size 75 gallon long made by tru view with external filters. No internal filters and about 71 gallons of livable water minus plants.
Tank ph is 6.4
water temp is 78 and steady
The API test kits that i do have show that Nitites NO2 is 0ppm and ammonia NH3/NH4 is 0ppm.
Two emperor 400 filters. Stage one is a sponge filter in the inlet in the bottom. Stage two is the activated carbon insert that comes stock with monthly replacement. Stage 3 is a mixture of fine filter floss and fluval bio balls in the extra compartment. Lastly each emperor has two bio wheels so four total.
Also there is a fluval 3 internal filter for added bacteria, good current and aeration.
Tank lighting is two 80w t5 bulbs at 10000k that are brand new. and 1 t8 bulb at 5000k also brand new.
The lighting and CO2 regiment is 9 hours of t5 light and CO2 pressurized at 1 bubble per second into the diffuser. The CO2 system is also new and I would like to be able to see some results from it. Also a 40 watt t8 bulb for morning and night viewing absent of the T5 lighting. Aeration is all day via an internal filter.
Fish in tank: one scomb payara 6 inches, one hujeta gar 6inches, one redtail barracuda 5 inches, two angels 4 inches, four buenos aires tetras 2 1/2 inches, one spotted pleco 4 inches.
All of the plants are jungle vallisneria, java fern, java moss, amazon sword. All plants are less than 3 months old and were doing great till now.
Sand substrate, play sand from HD that has been in the tank for about 6 months or so. Water has been crystal clear and thriving before with the sand and just a few swords growing at low light.
The jungle valls are just starting to come around after their initial adjustment to the tank and their new conditions. All of the leaves wilted away and now new shoots are everywhere. And new ones pop up every week. However in the last month of new growth they have yet to reach the surface. They seam to be a little twisty in shape and are staying low. The leaves of the swords are starting to turn yellow and eventually brown on the tips with a few holes in them.
The java fern is starting to turn brown as well.
Now the green water problem has arrived and i am tired of doing water changes every other day to battle it. I dont want to cancel out the light in fear that the weaker sections of plants will all die off.
I think that there is definitely some major changes that need to be made but instead of doing more damage i would like a professional opinion. Not something that seams to be coming from my LFS. We have an ADA dealer up here that sold me the CO2 selenoid but they are just so expensive in their advice.
Please help.
Please be ware that i am new to planted tanks and i have had this tank for a while with no issues until now. I have had crystal clear water and now for the past month i have been battling a serious green water issue. i think the onset was a bad water change in which i mistakenly cleaned the filter cartrages with tap water and possibly erased a lot of bacteria in my filter system.
here is the low down:
Tank size 75 gallon long made by tru view with external filters. No internal filters and about 71 gallons of livable water minus plants.
Tank ph is 6.4
water temp is 78 and steady
The API test kits that i do have show that Nitites NO2 is 0ppm and ammonia NH3/NH4 is 0ppm.
Two emperor 400 filters. Stage one is a sponge filter in the inlet in the bottom. Stage two is the activated carbon insert that comes stock with monthly replacement. Stage 3 is a mixture of fine filter floss and fluval bio balls in the extra compartment. Lastly each emperor has two bio wheels so four total.
Also there is a fluval 3 internal filter for added bacteria, good current and aeration.
Tank lighting is two 80w t5 bulbs at 10000k that are brand new. and 1 t8 bulb at 5000k also brand new.
The lighting and CO2 regiment is 9 hours of t5 light and CO2 pressurized at 1 bubble per second into the diffuser. The CO2 system is also new and I would like to be able to see some results from it. Also a 40 watt t8 bulb for morning and night viewing absent of the T5 lighting. Aeration is all day via an internal filter.
Fish in tank: one scomb payara 6 inches, one hujeta gar 6inches, one redtail barracuda 5 inches, two angels 4 inches, four buenos aires tetras 2 1/2 inches, one spotted pleco 4 inches.
All of the plants are jungle vallisneria, java fern, java moss, amazon sword. All plants are less than 3 months old and were doing great till now.
Sand substrate, play sand from HD that has been in the tank for about 6 months or so. Water has been crystal clear and thriving before with the sand and just a few swords growing at low light.
The jungle valls are just starting to come around after their initial adjustment to the tank and their new conditions. All of the leaves wilted away and now new shoots are everywhere. And new ones pop up every week. However in the last month of new growth they have yet to reach the surface. They seam to be a little twisty in shape and are staying low. The leaves of the swords are starting to turn yellow and eventually brown on the tips with a few holes in them.
The java fern is starting to turn brown as well.
Now the green water problem has arrived and i am tired of doing water changes every other day to battle it. I dont want to cancel out the light in fear that the weaker sections of plants will all die off.
I think that there is definitely some major changes that need to be made but instead of doing more damage i would like a professional opinion. Not something that seams to be coming from my LFS. We have an ADA dealer up here that sold me the CO2 selenoid but they are just so expensive in their advice.
Please help.
