Greenish cloudy water problem.

[kiwipete]

Hello all, I have a problem with my tank. It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep the water clean looking. The water is a very mild greenish colour and now its going cloudy. There are fine particles floating in it, like the filter is not doing its job properly or something. I have the inlet on the bottom at one end and the spray-bar on top at the other.

I also have green algae spots on the front glass and will have to get a scraper to remove these, they are quite hard and wont come off with the magnetic scrubber.

I do a quarter to third water change once a week and feed every third day.

I have a Jeebo 810 external filter that I have recently cleaned and replaced the filter foam pads and charcoal. The old ones were rather old, unit is about 3 years old, and it was also full of a black slime type gunk in the unit.

The tank is 180L in size and is near windows, hence my suspicion about the green water. But it is here to stay, there is no where else to put it.

I also have a small internal UV filter thingy that its foam pad seems to become clogged and requires cleaning every time I do a water change. I have done an algae kill treatment and a Biological Filtration Booster treatment since the filter was cleaned. I will add that I did not clean the noodles too much and used tank water on them.

The water has a slight earthy, but not an unpleasant smell.

There is more indirect sunlight that direct sunlight on the tank and the external lighting is on for most of the evening. I also have a small LED strip light, (200mm long), for moon lighting affect that runs 24/7.

I am wondering if I should be looking at a bigger filtration system?

Any ideas, hints or tips here?

[Barrie]

Get some white cloud mountian minnows... they love it

[Caryl]

I wonder if the cloudiness is a result of you replacing all the filter pads and creating a minor bacterial bloom which, hopefully, should clear as the bacteria count goes back up.

That filter ought to do the job. What fish do you have in the tank? If the tank is well planted and not heavily stocked it should clear.

The green will be the excess light but not sure what to suggest if you can't move the tank. Are you able to cover any of the sides or top cut back the light?

I get the green spots on the front glass in winter as early morning lower sun gets directly on the glass for a couple of hours each day. They are very hard to get off! Many suggest an old credit card works best.

[VinsonMassif]

I think your filter is ok. There is nothing wrong with getting more filtration going though.

You mentioned the pads were all gungy and the charcoal was scummy. If they are the sponge pads then they are intended for mechanical filtration. To take out the bits in the water. By rinsing these out thoroughly under water and replacing them when they look worn then it will increase their capacity to clean the water. If the pads are allowed to clog up then the water is forced to go around the pads rather than through them, thus leaving your filter flow less than optimum. The pads are for trapping the particles in the water, the noodles are for the bacteria colonies.

The charcoal is great for scrubbing the water the remove residual medications and bind with some of the dissolved solids in the water. But their usefulness is very short term. According to some after 2 or 3 days then their capacity is reached and they should be removed. If you don't remove them they will start to break down and release everything back into your tank.

The easiest way to get rid of particles in the tank water is to do a water change. You can do daily water changes. If you are only doing 25% changes per week, start with 25% daily for maybe 3 days, then 50% for a couple of days. Then see how clear your water is.

The green spot algae on the glass is a pest and is hard to remove. There are not many fish that are able to clean it for you seeing as it is so hard. I use a scotchbrite Blue sponge pad with a scrubber. It doesn't scratch the glass, or have any cleansers and costs ~$2 from the supermarket. (test it on a small piece of glass to make sure it won't scratch your glass)

[Caper]

Unlike you are able to do, I was able to move my 10 gallon that was getting direct sunlight. Before I moved it, I would either put a piece of cardboard up to the window (this is only a bedroom so window not that big) or in front of tank. But my tank is only small, so this may not work for yours.

Caper

[kiwipete]

Get some white cloud mountian minnows... they love it

Cheers, I think there is enough fish in there already.

[kiwipete]

I wonder if the cloudiness is a result of you replacing all the filter pads and creating a minor bacterial bloom which, hopefully, should clear as the bacteria count goes back up.

Which is why I did a course of bacterial treatment.

That filter ought to do the job. What fish do you have in the tank? If the tank is well planted and not heavily stocked it should clear.

There is a little too many fish in there as I recently acquired about 20 unwanted fish. I will post some pictures later tonight.

The green will be the excess light but not sure what to suggest if you can't move the tank. Are you able to cover any of the sides or top cut back the light?

No I cant really do any more covering.

I get the green spots on the front glass in winter as early morning lower sun gets directly on the glass for a couple of hours each day. They are very hard to get off! Many suggest an old credit card works best.

I will try that thanks.

[kiwipete]

I think your filter is ok. There is nothing wrong with getting more filtration going though.

You mentioned the pads were all gungy and the charcoal was scummy. If they are the sponge pads then they are intended for mechanical filtration. To take out the bits in the water. By rinsing these out thoroughly under water and replacing them when they look worn then it will increase their capacity to clean the water. If the pads are allowed to clog up then the water is forced to go around the pads rather than through them, thus leaving your filter flow less than optimum. The pads are for trapping the particles in the water, the noodles are for the bacteria colonies.

I might have to look at the pads again and see if they need rinsing/cleaning out as I wonder if the course of algae killer has clogged them up again.

The charcoal is great for scrubbing the water the remove residual medications and bind with some of the dissolved solids in the water. But their usefulness is very short term. According to some after 2 or 3 days then their capacity is reached and they should be removed. If you don't remove them they will start to break down and release everything back into your tank.

I might get rid of the charcoal.

The easiest way to get rid of particles in the tank water is to do a water change. You can do daily water changes. If you are only doing 25% changes per week, start with 25% daily for maybe 3 days, then 50% for a couple of days. Then see how clear your water is.

I will try this thanks.

The green spot algae on the glass is a pest and is hard to remove. There are not many fish that are able to clean it for you seeing as it is so hard. I use a scotchbrite Blue sponge pad with a scrubber. It doesn't scratch the glass, or have any cleansers and costs ~$2 from the supermarket. (test it on a small piece of glass to make sure it won't scratch your glass)

I will be getting one of these pads later today. Plecks wont look at it so it must be bloody hard all right.

[yeeahboy]

i had this problem last week. the water got so cloudy green you couldn't see anything. i did a 48 hour complete black out, coverd tank with blanket ( no peeking inside). this thined out the green water. then used algaefix treatment. water is now crystal clear, worked a charm

[kiwipete]

Found a scouring pad at the supermarket, with a sponge backing and it seems to be doing the trick getting the algae off, but its bloody hard yakka ain't it. :oops:

One of those things I should do regularly me thinks.

The cloudiness seems to have abated now that I have cleaned out the filter pad for the UV submersible steriliser I have. It gets clogged up so damed quick. :-?

I still have a green tinge to the water, but at least its clear.

Thanks to all of you for the suggestions and ideas.

[whetu]

i had this problem last week. the water got so cloudy green you couldn't see anything. i did a 48 hour complete black out, coverd tank with blanket ( no peeking inside). this thined out the green water. then used algaefix treatment. water is now crystal clear, worked a charm

I think I'll try this. I've never had a cloudy water problem in all the years I've been keeping fish so I didn't really have a concept of how frustrating it is! I don't even know if I still have fish in there because I can't see them! :roll:

My water went green and cloudy after putting a kiwifruit in there for the fish to eat. They loved it, but 24 hours later (after I took it out) the water looked like soup! I've done multiple water changes but it just seems to be getting worse.

Time for the blackout & algae fix I think.

[Naz_Nomad]

Be very very careful with the Algae-Fix stuff. It can easily kill fish if overdosed. Personally, I never put chemical other than Flourish Excel in my tanks.

My answer to algae problems has always been to add more Otto's or Bristlenose. Except that wouldn't work for green water. Keep the sunlight away and run a UV filter.

[whetu]

Be very very careful with the Algae-Fix stuff. It can easily kill fish if overdosed. Personally, I never put chemical other than Flourish Excel in my tanks.

My answer to algae problems has always been to add more Otto's or Bristlenose. Except that wouldn't work for green water. Keep the sunlight away and run a UV filter.

Thanks N_N. I tend to agree about the chemicals in the tank - I am also very reluctant and will use them only as a last resort.

Unfortunately I don't have a UV filter so that's not one of my options. I intend to try blacking out the tank completely for a couple of days (with large water changes before and after) to see if that helps the situation. If not, I will use algae fix unless someone can come up with a better solution.

I already have a couple of bristle-noses in there and one of the reasons I'm reluctant to use a chemical intervention is that presumably it will kill all the algae in the tank - then what will the BNs eat?

Thanks for the warning about dosages. I will be very careful to stick to the instructions.

[whetu]

I did the black-out + algae fix and I'm delighted with the result. Crystal clear water & apparently no ill effects on the fish. Thanks for the tip, yeeahboy.

[yeeahboy]

Yes its amazing how clear the water goes aye. Glad a newbie like my self could shed some light.