can't get rid of cloudy/green water....

A

aaron7114

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Mar 4, 2008
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I have a 29 gallon freshwater fish tank. It used to be CRYSTAL clear. Then about a month ago it got pretty cloudy. Then turned to a light green. There is no algae on the glass or any of the decorations.

I have changed the water numerous times, vacuumed the gravel, used several treatments of clear water, also used several treatments of accu-clear.

Then over the weekend I took EVERYTHING out of the tank including the gravel. Rinsed all the decorations and the gravel. Then I changed about 70% of the water.

Put everything back in it and filled the tank back up and the tank looks the same as it did before. I even tried doing another treatment of accu-clear.

From the front of the tank it just looks cloudy. But if you look on the sides it looks more green.

I have around 25-30 fish and only feed once a day.

Please someone help me! I want my crystal clear water back!
 
Please tell us as much about your tank as possible:

exact stocking (sounds a little overstocked to me), method of cycling, water params, maintenence schedule, ect.

Green water is algae bloom but cloudy water is usually the reault of a bacteria bloom. Both are harmless if handled correctly, however, I would stop using chemicals to "clear up" the water. They are completely useless and do more harm than good in some cases...A pic would help decide which 'bloom' it is...
 
aaron7114 said:
Put everything back in it and filled the tank back up and the tank looks the same as it did before.
Click to expand...
aaron:

This is a tough one.

How long after the 70% WC and the cleaning before the water became murky again?


aaron7114 said:
I even tried doing another treatment of accu-clear.
Click to expand...
aaron:

IMHO chemicals are NG as they only deal with the symptoms and not the cure.

TR
 
How long has the tank been cycled? How long has the tank been up and running? It sounds overstocked to me for the size tank you have. What kind of fish do you have? Could be an algae bloom and a bacterial bloom at the same time. If it is a bacterial bloom it will straighten itself out on its own even if you do nothing. Taking the tank apart the way you did will most likely cause your tank into another cycle again since you got rid of most of the beneficial bacteria needed to support life in your aquarium. I would stop using chemicals ASAP since they do nothing for the tank and sometimes cause more problems then the problem you are trying to solve. We need more info on your tank, the fish in it, and water test readings, as long as your routine maintenance schedule as well to help you further with this issue.

Marinemom
 
Its been up and running for probably 5 months. Most of my fish are small. Ive got a few guppies, two sharks, two albino corys, quite a few baby mollys because the big molly has got pregnant about 3 times, algae eater, then a few more fish that I'm not sure what they are.

Front view of the tank. Mostly just looks cloudy. Looks a little green towards the bottom, but mostly just cloudy


Side view of the tank. As you can see from the side it looks more green than cloudy.
 
aaron7114 said:
I have a 29 gallon freshwater fish tank. It used to be CRYSTAL clear. Then about a month ago it got pretty cloudy. Then turned to a light green. There is no algae on the glass or any of the decorations.

I have changed the water numerous times, vacuumed the gravel, used several treatments of clear water, also used several treatments of accu-clear.

Then over the weekend I took EVERYTHING out of the tank including the gravel. Rinsed all the decorations and the gravel. Then I changed about 70% of the water.

Put everything back in it and filled the tank back up and the tank looks the same as it did before. I even tried doing another treatment of accu-clear.

From the front of the tank it just looks cloudy. But if you look on the sides it looks more green.

I have around 25-30 fish and only feed once a day.

Please someone help me! I want my crystal clear water back!
Click to expand...

Dont worry this is not a seriuos problem. You have euglena protists. They are excellant food for small fry.See link.

http://www.fcps.edu/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/euglena.htm

This wont be a problem for your fish and if anything indicates that your water quality is pretty good. If it really bothers you the best treatment is a UV sterilizer, but it will eventually fade away over the next couple of months.
 
Punnet said:
Dont worry this is not a seriuos problem. You have euglena protists. They are excellant food for small fry.See link.

http://www.fcps.edu/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/euglena.htm

This wont be a problem for your fish and if anything indicates that your water quality is pretty good. If it really bothers you the best treatment is a UV sterilizer, but it will eventually fade away over the next couple of months.
Click to expand...

Can I just get any kind of uv sterilizer or do I have to get a certain size? How long do you think it would take to clear my tank? How cheap can I get a uv sterilizer?
 
For a tank that size, I would try to find the smallest one you can. I use an 18w one for my 1200gal pond. Also, if you're not running a canister filter, you'll need some sort of pump or powerhead to push it.
 
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