Tank gone green!!

[Jammos]

Hi,

we have a 30l aquaone tank and has been setup for a while now. 

But because it was taking up too much bench space we have moved it (took 50% water out and carried it)

now all the tank water has gone green. We have been doing 10l water changes twice a week for the last 2 weeks with no change.

 

now what???

[Adrienne]

Is it now in a higher light position or getting light from the sun/windows or doors?  Green water is generally an algae bloom caused by too much light.  If that is what has caused it turn your lights off for around 3 days and blackout the tank.  That is only a short term solution though as you will need to remove the cause.

 

[Ira]

Yup, getting a lot more light is probably the most likely reason.   But, bigger water changes and feeding less probably wouldn't hurt, along with cleaning the filters.

[Jammos]

Cool thanks. I didn't think it's new spot got any sun..... but I will leave the lights off! 

I will let u know how it goes!

 

thanks

[Jammos]

Thanks for the help! My daughter was so happy when she covered the tank for a couple of days to find it clearer than it's ever been! Thanks so much

[Shilo]

Be aware that as Adrienne pointed out above, covering the tank is only a short term solution.  It will come back in a few days unless you solve the light problem.  Lower wattage bulbs, shorter period when the lights are on or if it looks like it might be a window then a curtain pulled shut or window tints.  What you do will depend on the source of extra light and what plants if any you have in the tank. If its green water then a UV filter ($$$$) can be a solution but that is treating the symptom and not the cause.

[Nibblets]

The green stuff is microscopic free floating algae. this is completely harmless to the fish it just inst exactly appealing to the eye. This is called an algae bloom

What this will be is a nutrient overdoes in the tank. Some common causes of this are

1.  Over Feeding
2.  Over stocking
3.  Not enough water changes
4.  To much lighting 

Lighting should be kept to about 8 hours a day to help prevent this algae bloom you are experiencing

Here are some fixes you could use

1. Cover tank with towel or similar
2. Prevent any natural sunlight from hitting the tank
3. Turn the light off for about a week until the algae has died down a little
4. Refrain from feeding fish too often (perhaps 3 feeds throughout the day of smaller amounts of food to ensure all food is eaten)

After about a week your tank will start to go cloudy. Do not fear this is only dead algae, Simply keep up with your water changes (50% once weekly) and all should return to normal. Once normal i suggest 30-40% water changes if you wish to prevent the algae from coming back. 

Make sure you wait until there is no viable milkiness to the water before removing towel and turning on lights etc as the dead algae will simply provide the needed nutrients for more algae to bounce right back and you will have the exact problem again.

Hope this helped