Green algae won't go away...

[Luc]

It appears that you have a well established tank.
I'd say, add a suckerfish for the time being, other small algae eaters...
Do water-changes 2 or 3 times a week, about 50%.
Wait for 2 weeks...
Your filters need to catch up and develop more bacteria to eat all this.
It will disappear almost overnight once that happens.

 

[Luc]

It's just green water, dark neon-like green.

That's the same I had...just add some algae eaters, change 50% 2-3x p/week and wait for 2 weeks.
Don't change anything else, just let your bacteria catch up on it.

Works every time for me...happens 1x to each tank I set up...after that, no more and my tanks are outside, get direct sunlight for 2 hours a day and have a good deal of light on top.

 

[Canuck]

I'm afraid I agree with Luc. Green water is a regular occurrence in newly established planted tanks (less then a year old). I believe it's related to fluctuating levels of ammonia. There are only a couple of strategies for dealing with it. A UV unit appropriately sized will deal with it quite efficiently, the down side is price and the fact, you will probably never need it again. Wait it out, green water will run its course over a couple of weeks and then just suddenly clear up. Not much help I know.

This is slightly off topic, but based on some of the advice you're getting I think it should be stated that it is impossible to have a healthy algae free tank without adequate supplies of nitrate and phosphate.

 

[Lillyan]

Readings of the tests that I have as of just now. I have no idea how the water's pH IN the tank is so high, yet the tap is showing as none what so ever... I do not have a Phosphate test.
Tank:
PH-7.5
High pH-8.8
Ammonia-0
Nitrites-0
Nitrates-5

Well water:
pH-6 though tube liquid is darn near clear
High pH-7.4 though color doesn't match, lighter
Ammonia-0
Nitrites-0
Nitrates-0

 

[ToeJam]

Readings of the tests that I have as of just now. I have no idea how the water's pH IN the tank is so high, yet the tap is showing as none what so ever... I do not have a Phosphate test.
Tank:
PH-7.5
High pH-8.8
Ammonia-0
Nitrites-0
Nitrates-5

Well water:
pH-6 though tube liquid is darn near clear
High pH-7.4 though color doesn't match, lighter
Ammonia-0
Nitrites-0
Nitrates-0

You missed the well water post I gave you. The well water normally is high in co2...once in tank and aerated up...the ph goes up.... could be the cause.

So far the tests look good on the other things for the well water.

 

[Lillyan]

I seem to be missing an Angelfish, what kinds of fish will be affected by the high pH from a petstore?

 

[Richey117]

If its cloudy green water, I had the same problem. I would suggest this. Take blankets and completely cover the tank keeping all light from entering, it wont hurt the fish. then leave the tank lights off for about a week depending on the thickness of your algae. if you have a seperate tank or container you could move any live plants to, that would be great so they can still get light. leave on the blanket a few days after the algae has cleared up because its not necessarily gone just because the water is clear. If the algae keeps coming back, get your hands on some Algaefix, the BEST algae clearing solution on the planet, I swear by it. within a minute the tank is 100% crystal clear. you can usually get it at petsmart, or petco. however don't listen to the employees there because they usually don't know what their talking about. make sure u remove any crustacean before using algaefix however, such as crabs, shrimp ect... because it will dry them out. Good luck!

ps. Don't change that much water so often, it will start your tank recycling

 

[Lillyan]

Notice: The green water issue has been solved a few days ago.

 

[plantbrain]

UV is the best, the second is micron filtration. Daphnia etc can do the job if the light intensity is low, if the light is high, UV/micron filters are about the only way.

I'd spend more effort/time there than testing/spending $ on a cheapy UV, after 3-4 days, it'll likely never come back.
Dose, water changes, add lots of plants, use lower, not higher light, focus on CO2 etc.

GW is not really much of an issue and many NEVER get it since they do the above routine, let alone have algae issues later that are problematic.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[ToeJam]

PH swings = bad

I seem to be missing an Angelfish, what kinds of fish will be affected by the high pH from a petstore?

It's the PH swings that will get them. It seems as you change water your PH dives....then as aeration and lighting is on PH rises up...

Fluxing PH is a killer for fish....gradual increases or decreases are not a big deal.

There are plenty of good buffers out there. Personally I don't know of what to recommend for fresh water cause i deal with 8.4 PH buffers.

You will have to do some browsing in the FW fish isles is all. Snag a bottled water on the way out and use that as mixing water vs the well water. It should dissolve better in a filtered water source.