green water- start of cycling?

W

whydie11

AC Members
Aug 25, 2006
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hello
i been trying to get my tank to cycle
i kept doing water changes every week because the fish use to stop reacting to me.
i have a red devil about 8 inches long.
he does not react good to ammo lock whatsoever- he stops coming to the glass when i put my finger against it.
the ammonia level use to go up to 8.0, while the nitrite and the nitrate use to be 0
today i checked it and the ammonia went down from 8.0 to 1.0
the nitrite is .25
the nitrate is 5.0
now the water is really cloudy and green.
i can barely see my fish
i have a cheap filter and i am planning on buying the big one from petco for $179.
is my tank cycling right now?
should I change my water asap?
only the filter?
what you guys think?
please asap, b/c it looks like i will change the water tommorow b/c i am scared he will die on me- thank you.
 
it would help us to help you, if we knew the size of the tank, how many fish are in it, your pH, some info on how often you change the water and how much you change, whether you vacuum the gravel and if so, how often, and other such.

in the interum, yes .. change about 65 percent of the water.
 
It sounds like your tank is entering the last stage of the cycle (which is good) but there is still ammonia and nitrite around (which is bad for the fish). I would do at least a 30-50% water change every day or two until those readings are zero. remeber it will take the new filter a litte while to build its beneficial bacteria so you will want to keep the old filter on for at least a couple of weeks. What tank size and what kind of filter are you going to get?
 
Could it be algae if the water is green? How long per day do you have the lights of your aquarium on?
 
sorry i forgot to put the info

i have a 40 gallon breeder
i turn the lights on for about 8 hrs a day
i use the gravel cleaner about every 3 days when his fecies are alot
i only have 1 fish in the tank- the red devil
every other fish he eats and kills
i have the cascade 200 filter it cost me about $30
i want to get the filter for 179- i only remember the price i dont remember the name. it was the most expensive in petco. i was told i only need to change the filter every 3-4 months. i think it was the EHEIM Professional II.
the filter i have now i need to change it every week or so, b/c it really smells when i dont.
the ph is 6.4
the high range ph is 7.4
i will change 1/2 the water soon
once the cycle finishes, and everything is at 0- will i still need to change the water every week?
by the way, i have no plants in there because the fish hatesssss them.
he attacks the plant.
should i put 1 plant in there anyways to float around there?
 
i did a water change; about 65%
the water is still cloudy when the light is on; it is still green when the light is off.
anything i should do?
 
MORE water changes lol.

keep up the good work!

man you take better care of fish than I do:D

btw, just make sure you don't overdo it, if you know what I mean :rolleyes:
 
yeah, it sounds like green micro-algae (the type with floating cells that don't attach to surfaces). The blackouts will help kill them because the algae needs light to survive. However, that will only be a temporary solution. If you don't remove the cause (excess nutrients), it will return.

I also advocate large, frequent water changes. This not only removes the nutrients on which they are thriving, but also physically removes the algae cells.

Good luck! Let us know if you have any more questions :)
 
Green water is caused by a spike in ammonia and can be difficult to get rid of. I used daphnia to clear mine but I had hundreds and a low amount of fish to eat them. Great live food, 2 benefits in 1.

You can try a 3 or 4 day total blackout but that wasn't successful for me. A UV sterilizer or diatom filter will also clear it.

I found that doing large water changes only solved it temporarily. The green water still came back. You don't necessarily need to upgrade to the best canister you can find. Two Aquaclear 70's would be ample filtration for your red devil. Even just adding 1 more Aquaclear to what you have now would be lots. AC's are easier to clean but canisters are good too. Just more $
 
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