Cheesejawa Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 I have a 34L tank with plants and a few fish. I have a horrible green water problem were the water is a murky green colur and you cannot see the back of the tank, but the fish to not seem to mind. I have have the correct material in the filter. It all started when I went on holiday and the water was not changed for 2 weeks. No mater how much water i change it always comes back. My nitrite is 0 so is ammonia. What can I do to clean up the water apart from empting the whole tank? :-? :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richms Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 When it happened to me I found that no matter how little of the green water was left in the tank, it would turn from a light green to a deep green in a couple of days, till I gave the tank some dark days with no light and a blanket over it. Greenish turned to quite clear and it was ok for a while. Now I have the tank where it gets sun and its always green, but I will solve that with some curtains sometime over the summer break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesejawa Posted December 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 thx is there anything else or any products I can use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naz_Nomad Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 Putting a UV filter in should clear it pretty well. Either that or black out your tank for a few days might work - I have had green water survive for a three day blackout but other people report quite good success. UV filters are reasonably cheap. I bought mine for about seventy bucks. It's not large and works very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesejawa Posted December 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 no way am I spending 70 bucks for 34liter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 Cutting down the light that the tank gets while doing some big water changes should help. I'm battling the same thing in a 2ft tank that sits on my kitchen counter (by the window). It was fine there for six mouths, then summer comes along and the morning sun hits the tank now. GREEN city Cant see the back of the tank :lol: I couldn't see the FISH unless they swam up to the glass! I have rearranged the pot plants to shade the tank and done about 6 x 50% water changes over the last 2 weeks. It's STILL green, but I can see the back of the tank now, so I'm winning. The main problem is too much light and nutrients in the water. Best fix is less light and more water changes Yes you can get algae killer in a bottle, but it's pretty much liquid weed killer... you really want to pour that in your tank ? :-? The ultimate is a UV filter, works by suntanning the little algae plants to death as they circulate through the filter. No nasty chemicals dumped in the tank - much better. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 Turn the lights off(fish dont need light) and do heaps of water changes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 Do you have a nitrate test kit? Excess nitrate would be feeding algae. Also excess phosphates... As everyoen else said....water changes but also do some really thorough gravel vacuuming and cut dfown your feedign ALOT. Who was feedign your fish while you were awy? They may have been overfed which could be why your problem started.. of and give your filter media a REALLY good rinse. Replace the filter wool if its very mucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesejawa Posted December 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 will no lights for 3 days kill plants or only algae? and I dont have a nitrate kit, should I get one and are they expensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 I had problems with it too it turned out to be phosphates change my food and feeding regime and it went away.. What are you feeding and how much of it? Are you doing regular maintenance water changes etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 will no lights for 3 days kill plants or only algae? and I dont have a nitrate kit, should I get one and are they expensive 3 days shouldn't how that much affect on plants Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesejawa Posted December 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 i feed twice a day with resonably small amounts (just a pinch) I feed flake food and sinking pellets which is mostly eaten by the danios and occasionly i feed the GBA cucumber. oh and i do 50% weekly water changes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesejawa Posted December 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 do you feed when you put the tank in total darkness? and for how many days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 I've read here that some have done the total blackout for a week, and reduced feeding. Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 I wouldn't feed for the blackout period and do a few water changes Fish can last 1 week easy with out any food Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesejawa Posted December 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 ive covered the tank with blankets and done a big water change. I am going to leave it for about 4 days and then do another water change. I think this should be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 i've read that doing water changes when you have green water just makes it worse because the bacteria/algae that are making your water green love the fresh new highly oxygenated water that you are putting back in. However, i have always just done huge water changes (90%) 3 or 4 days in a row, and it has always gone away for me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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