Algae explosion from filter

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Buster_NW

Registered Member
Jun 17, 2019
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Hi all,

I'm a first-time poster here. I had a small 20 gallon tank with a handful of fish several years ago, but am just now getting into the hobby with both feet.

This weekend, I purchased a used 75 gallon system locally. Everything is in excellent condition, except the previous owner had some pretty good algae growth going on when I inspected it at his house. "No problem," I thought. I was going to give it a thorough cleaning anyway, which I did.

After a couple hours of elbow grease, I filled the tank to begin the cycling process. (I think) I knew it was important to establish the tank bacteria using his old filter media, so I left everything as-is and got 'er going. IT WAS LIKE AN ALGAE BOMB. As soon as that filter started pumping, my clean and clear new tank turned into a green cloud with about 6 inches of visibility.

Here's my question: What, if anything, do I need to do about the algae? I will be doing frequent water changes, but now that so much algae has been introduced into the tank, do I need to drain it and start over? I will eventually put in new/cleaned filter media, but what at this point? Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience!

TL;DR: I installed a used canister filter and it pumped more algae into my new tank than I thought was possible. What do I do, if anything?
 

OrionGirl

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Aug 14, 2001
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I would have rinsed the media...but failing that, keep it clean with frequent water changes. Without nutrients, algae will die off.
 
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Rbishop

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Dec 30, 2005
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You could also put pre-filter sponges on the intakes to help draw out the larger particles mechanically.
 

fishorama

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Jun 28, 2006
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How long are your lights on? I'm a fan of prefilter sponges too.

You might try some fine filter media in your filter to remove even more particulates. It will need to be cleaned or replaced often, every week or 2 or 3.
 

dougall

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Mar 29, 2005
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I would change 100% of the water in the aquarium, clean the filer media in some of that tap water and then set back up.

Not ideal, but it should clean up.
 
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