megs27 Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Hello, I have a nice big tank (300lt) on display as you walk in our door except almost overnight I got what others have described as an algae bloom. The water has turned bright green, I have tried the 48hr black out and some TLC from the pet shop but to no avail also a 50% water change the fish are doing fine but I have to be careful what chemicals to put in as I have some discus. Any suggestions???? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 This is usually a sign that the tank has got out of balance for some reason. Has something changed recently? A new food, new person feeding the fish, light tubes replaced, an unusual water change from the normal, new fish or plants added (or removed)? To reassure you to start with - the fish will not be bothered by the green at all, it just looks ugly. I would do a 3 day blackout, rather than just 48 hours. I also assume you did not feed the fish during the blackout? I'm not actually sure if the blackout trick works on green water. I have only used it on cyanobacter which is the horrible sheets of green slime that grows over gravel and plants. Sometimes you never figure out what caused it and often, if you are lucky, it will clear up again as fast and mysteriously as it appeared! I get green algae blooms when I change the light tubes :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 what are the phosphates and nitrates in the tank at? do lots of water changes, (but do the water test first lol). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Also you can rubber band some filter wool over your filter intake and that will filter out a lot of the algae. You'll have to rinse the filter wool out every couple hours though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Ok, so this won't work in a tank with fish... But I have a tank with diving beetles and the leaf substrate caused this terrible bacterial bloom I couldn't get rid of with waterchanges. Enter: daphnia. They eat suspended bacteria and algae, and the water has been spotless since! It could do the trick in a tank if the fish are removed for a few days. It doesn't get at the root of the problem though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megs27 Posted June 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 If I do a black out for that amount of time without feeding my fish will the baby guppies be OK I have a nursery haning off the side of the tank with about thirty or so in it ages ranging from born today to almost ready to leave the nursery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 A black out is really only going to treat the symptom but not the cause, algae, like plants needs, light, nutrients, and CO2. By removing the light you are just temporarily changing the balance again, as soon as you put the light back the algae will come back, if anything it wil be worse since you wont have addressed the source. How old is the tank? What changes have you made? Have you done any maintenance like cleaning your filters? Power cuts? Had the filters unplugged? In the mean time your best option is water changes, lots of them. Most chemicals wont be of any use to you, don't be tempted to try any 'miracle algae cures', even if they work, it will again only be treating a symptom and your algae will come back. A couple of useful chemical's you could use are carbon, and phosphate resin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 I've only ever found filtering the algae out to work. Algae eat all the nutrients, algae goes down the sink. It worked in a tank I had that I was giving 95% water changes daily and it was still going such a thick green you couldn't see more than 2-3" into the water. Filter wool on the intake rinsed out a couple times a day cleared it up in about 2 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Have you changed food or overfed recently? I had the same problems when I was feeding a cheaper food filled with phosphates.. What is the water supply you use for your tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megs27 Posted June 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 I dont have those test kits will try getting some today. would the test be accurate as the water isnt crystal clear to start with or will the teat do its thing even though the water is green.what are the phosphates and nitrates in the tank at? do lots of water changes, (but do the water test first lol). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megs27 Posted June 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Thats the puzzeling thing there has been no changes whatso ever in my tank and we have bore water so that didn't change either when doing my water changes and the tank is about three months old now so not a new set up by any means A black out is really only going to treat the symptom but not the cause, algae, like plants needs, light, nutrients, and CO2. By removing the light you are just temporarily changing the balance again, as soon as you put the light back the algae will come back, if anything it wil be worse since you wont have addressed the source. How old is the tank? What changes have you made? Have you done any maintenance like cleaning your filters? Power cuts? Had the filters unplugged? In the mean time your best option is water changes, lots of them. Most chemicals wont be of any use to you, don't be tempted to try any 'miracle algae cures', even if they work, it will again only be treating a symptom and your algae will come back. A couple of useful chemical's you could use are carbon, and phosphate resin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 I dont have those test kits will try getting some today. would the test be accurate as the water isnt crystal clear to start with or will the teat do its thing even though the water is green. should be fine. most test kits give you a measure of the amount (n) of say phosphates contained in the water and not the concentration © of that chemical. so if your LFS dude is on to it and has some distilled water lying around, he can add it to the test tube with your water, so a colour change is visible. the concentration of what ever is in the water will change on addition of distilled water, but the amount (n) will not. having said that, he is only going to be testing about 4 - 5 mL in a t tube, so it should be fine. (don't go out of your way to buy those kits) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northland chic Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 Could it be your bore water? I'm sure someone told me bore water was no good for fish and when we get water from the neighbours bore in summer i don't use it for fish. My friends bore water is brownish tinged. Could anything have been absorbed through the ground into your water that would do this? I'm not sure what but what springs to mind if farmers spraying/fertilizing their paddocks? Apart from that I have no idea but good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinsonMassif Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 Stop feeding your fish for a few days, do daily water changes and see whether that reduces your problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 For some reason my Tank seems to suffer from this bright Green Algae, only seems to be on the driftwood though, is this the same Algae that Megs is talking about?? The pic below will show the type of Algae I'm talking about, I'm assuming it's the same stuff :-? viewtopic.php?f=4&t=39440&start=0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 That is the most beautiful. nicest, awesomest algae ever. I want it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 Well phoenix, I'm sick of it :evil: You can have very little bit of it you can get, I would gladly get rid of it if I knew how too :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinsonMassif Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 Lindy, there are a number of ways to reduce it: fish like sae's/flying foxes, other barbs like rosy barbs eat it all day long and keep it mowed down. Or there is taking the various bits out and soaking them in bleach solution (19:1), or potassium permanganate solution for 24 hours. Which kills it dead. Then you scrub the dead algae off. An easier way imo is boosting carbon and other nutrients so your plants out compete the algae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 yepp... get rid of the phosphates, and extra nutrient and it shall go away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raewyna Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 I see you are in Tauranga. The bore water is likely to be high in silica and to also have a brown sludge that is a bacteria that feeds on the silica (also very soft and slightly acidic). I think that's how it goes. It's stretching my memory back 30 years. It possibly also gives you nutrients that the algae will like. I don't know about that. I'm on town supply and have had big green water problems and have eventually succeeded in ridding it from 3 out of 4 of my tanks by simply trying to follow the principle that the green water is because the conditions favour the needs of the algae rather than the plants. To solve it long term, it's essential to get the plants growing more than the algae. I have used plants like indian fern, java fern, tiger lotus, Hygrphila augustifolia and Elodea canadensis as the key ingredients towards that. My bible is "Ecology of the planted aquarium" which you can get at the Tauranga library. Has a lot deeper level of science than you usually get in an aquarium book. It's written by a scientist who is also a hobbyist. Best of luck. (The 4th tank is my bare bottom baby guppy tank and it's pea soup green still, but has only been going about 3 months. So far the floating plants struggle to get enough light to grow well) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 I have tried dosing with Flourish Excel everyday, hasn't seemed to have made any difference from what I can see :evil: I did think about doing the Double Dosing thing with Flourish, not sure if this is a good idea with this algae being my Discus Tank. Finding it very frustrating :evil: Any other ideas would be fantastic. Really not wanting to pull the Tank apart and Bleach the Driftwood, but I guess if thats the only option I have left, then I really have no other choice :roll: Raewyna: I found your post very interesrting, maybe I'm having this green algae problem because I removed quite a few plants from the Tank about a month ago, by the sounds of it I need to add more plants back to this tank, and see if that fixes the algae problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 That fuzzy stuff will not go away with flourish. remove it and put hydrogen peroxide on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 So will adding more plants help with this phoenix?? Wont bother wasting my Flourish Excel anymore then :roll: What type of algae is this?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 I suspect it to be Cladophora algae - happy to be corrected on this. (that is if it is what I think it is, cant really tell by the pics). can you put a pic of it up? __ plants help everything not to mention they keep your water happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 I suspect it to be Cladophora algae - happy to be corrected on this. (that is if it is what I think it is, cant really tell by the pics). I would say that type is not Cladophora, the pics on the net show Cladophora as an algae that kinda comes out all matted, But the stuff in her pic(the same that was on my bogwood) its actually hard to pull off and its like Black beard algae only green :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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