Okay, I have a bad case of greenwater.

Have been doing regular 50% water changes, decreased the amount of time the lights are on, and using algae cure. Filtration is 4100L per hour, Internal and External filter being used.

Anyone have anymore tips on how to get rid of this god forsaken thing.

I'm desperate and the algae is driving me mad :banghead:

- Check ammonia and nitrate levels.
- Cover tank for at least three days, or at least untill the green dissapears which is usually three to five days. It wont hurt the fish and just feed with the curtains drawn and at night. If you have live plants, they might lighten in color but should do fine. Look out for dead and dying leaves.
- Add bacterial culture and if you can find a product called Phos-zorb, made by aquarium pharmaceuticals, put it into your filter.
- Watch your feeding as excess food will contibute to your problem.

How mant hours is your tank exposed to light?
Could you please explain to me what your weekly tank maintenance schedule is like? Include the following:
- Water changes
- feeding
- filter maintenance
- testing and results: Ammonia, PH, GH, nitrates

Could you also explain the general condition of the tank other than when it is green. Things like debris on the gravel, water clarity, etc.

All this will help pinpoint where the cause is, so that I can help you can prevent it from reocurring.

Hi thanks for the reply.

- Tank is covered anyway (if you mean the top of it)
- Lighting was reduced, and is now on for 6hours instead of 10. (We have adouble reflector, so only half is now being used)
- Feeding has always only been done at night, except for breeding fish (in a completely different tank)
- Definitely no over feeding here :)
- Ph is 7.0
- Temperature is 24 degrees celcius
- Ammonia reading is 0ppm
- Water changes are done every few days atm 30%
- Filters are alternated between cleanings. Filter pulled apart and cleaned in unaffected tank water. Filters cleaned every 2 weeks
- Nitrate 20 PPm
- GH 140 PPM
- Already has bacterial culture


Tank before the greenwater.
Water clarity superb
No debris in tank
Aquarium safe sand and white aquarium gravel as substrate
All test levels normal
Filter cleaning was once a month
Water changes fortnightly 20%
Feeding only at night
Lighting on for 10 hours

First off, cover the tank completely, NO LIGHT 24/7, FOR THREE TO FIVE DAYS OR UNTIL IT CLEARS. Your nitrate is elevated, that could be from the algal bloom and more frequent water changes. Hold off on water changes untill the water clears as it is only perpetuating the problem. Dose the tank with bacterial culture with the "new setup" dose that is recomended by the manufacturer.

Also, is this tank exposed to a window? And are there fish in the tank right now? Because if there is, you should get them out as I am surprised that they are not dead yet with your Nitrates at 20ppm.

Another note is that white gravel usually contains limestone which can promote algal growth. Although your P.H. is reading 7.0, overtime, it can make the tank go slightly alkaline and unless you are keeping African cichlids, it is not the best choice in substrate.

Were you able to track down any type of phosphate absorbing filter media? It uses ion exchange resins that bond with the phosphates and removes them quite nicely. When you eliminate the source of nutrients and sunlight, the bloom will die quickly. The only thing that I can recomend at this point to prevent it from returning is to watch your feeding as there should be no food left after two minutes, especially if you are using dry foods as they can have a fair amount of phosphates in them.

Time out...

Nitrates at 20 ppm is perfectly fine. Since you stated that you have upped your water changes I am guessing they were higher. You want to aim at having nitrates below 100 ppm, preferably below 50ppm.

To figure out your water change schedule figure out how quickly your nitrates build up over a week and get back to us.

Your tank is cycled so you don't need any starter bacteria.
Instead use that money for a fresh water master test kit, usually $45 US.

Go with the blanket, as ICHTHYOSPORIDIUM said, to cut out all light and check your phosphate levels if you can.

Since white gravel is rather vague to jump the carbonic rock gun I would ask you to describe the gravel. Is is painted/epoxy coated, is it quartz etc?

I wanted to add that your routine seems sound,
Make sure you add bacterial cultures, every time you do a water change, when you do any filter maintenance, or even when you disturb the gravel bed.

For bacterial culture, I reccomend an unlikely source but it is one of the best sources I know of that really works, it is called Septo bac it can be found at many chain stores. It's primary use is to rapidly digest septic tank waste and it does it very efficiently. There is also a good thread attatched to a link that you can goto here. It is informative and you can find out more on septo bac and you should read on how it is dosed in an aquarium as you won't find it on the box. I use it to seed ponds that I build.

Make sure you do not do any water changes and filter maintenance on the same day.
Once again, I need to know if you have live plants and if so, do you fertilize or add any extracts and additives?
You seem to be on the right track the only thing that I can think of for causes is if this tank is established and it appears to be terminally problematic with suspended algae, you need to look for 'dead spots' in your tank. These are areas that have low to no water circulation, anywhere dead, organic material could accumulate but do this after you have cleared the algae. If you find one, then adjust the objects or increase circulation via a powerehead or bubble stone.

Personally, if my nitrates are ever over 20 ppm, I begin to worry as my tanks rarely exceed that amount. True, it does not affect the vast majority of healthy fish. I will still recomend to aim for <20ppm, but that is just my personal preference though.

The dead part of my previous statement was over exaggerated, just so you know and that I acknowledge and agree with glaive's post. Sorry for any starts I may have gave you.

Heya Glaive,

I'm not sure what the gravel is...just that I bought it from the lfs, and have the same white gravel in tanks that have been established for a few years...have never had a problem.

Tank is covered and I'll get back to you'se once I do the phosphate levels.

Ashli,
Sounds good just keep us up to date on how it is going. If you need further polishing let us know what filters you have and I am sure we can give some tips. I really wouldn't worry about the gravel. If the fish have been living with it so far then it should be ok.



ICHTHYOSPORIDIUM,
I am honestly confused about this bacteria starter. If you rinse your filter media in old tank water the bacteria remains unharmed. My media has been running off of the same bacterial colony I started years ago.

In the dead bit I wasn't sure if you had confused nitrates with nitrites which would be beyond deadly at those levels. I will say again that if someone states they have a solidly established tanks and then tells you they have nitrates there is not need to sell them cycle or any other starter bacteria for water changes. In all brutal honesty that is some what akin to feeding your fish per the dirrections on the fish food. Take proper care of your system and it will thrive.

Okay well we have an internal and external goin.

The internal is a Aqua One 104F with sponge media

The external is a Aqua One CF-1200 with ceramic balls, sponges, filter wool (I just added today), bio balls


I added the filter wool as I think it's great for picking up the tiniest of particles, also great in my opinion for helping get rid of cloudy water quickly.

I use bacterial starter in green water because although the tank is established, it is not balanced right now. The culrures rapidly remove nitrates and ammonia from the system so that there is even less for the algae to feed off of. Also, elevated phosphate and nitrate levels are due to excess organic material, the culture is sort of an army of house keepers that will efficently break organic material down which is usually a main contributing factor in green water.

Otherwise, in a balanced, established aquarium, I add a minute amount just to make sure that there are sufficient numbers to more rapidly replenish any losses. I realise that not everyone does this and I am not saying that it would be wrong to do so but over the past 15 years, many people, including myself have enjoyed sucess with that method.

Thought I'd give a quick update.......since cleaning the external filter out and adding the filter wool yesterday, I woke up this morning and was able to see through the tank again. It's more of a cloudy light green now, than the dark thick green it was before.

I'm going to take out the filter wool, coz I know it's doing a good job and probably filthy from the water, and replace it with some fresh filter wool.

Will keep updating.

Sounds good Ashli, I am glad to hear your tank is taking a turn for the better.

Well the greenwater cleared up in just under a week, from when it first appeared:):) But it really only started to clear once I put the filter wool in the filters, so I recommend others give it a go if they have greenwater, as well as keeping the lights off, reduce feeding until it clears, and using a greenwater removal product :drunk: