My 3 gallon tank in my office at work has been doing great for a few months--water crystal clear, etc. I have one fish. Then last week the water started to get cloudy, and now it is getting greener by the hour, it seems. I know enough to know that it is an algae problem, but there is no visible algae in the tank. I put in some clear-up-the-water and anti-algae stuff, but neither worked. Help! My fish looks unhappy and I would feel terrible if I killed him. Thanks!
Green Water!
- Thread starter Karen
- Start date
We need to know more.
What is the fish?
How often do you change water? How much each time?
Light source and duration?
Filtration.
Let us know these, and we can start to diagnose your problem.
What is the fish?
How often do you change water? How much each time?
Light source and duration?
Filtration.
Let us know these, and we can start to diagnose your problem.
I don't know what type of fish he (or she) is, because I inherited him from a co-worker. He is little and orange with a floofy tail and long fins. I change the water at least every other week, usually about every 10 days. I am guilty of taking out more than 20% of the water--usually closer to 25% or 30%. I changed about 20% a few days ago but that didn't seem to help. The tank has a light in the lid (which I turn on during the day) and unfortunately is near a window. There is no undergravel filter; rather, a pump thing with a Bio Wheel. I change the blue sponge/charcoal filter cartridge about every 3 weeks. I haven't touched the Bio Wheel, although it looks ok to me. Sorry for the unsophisticated vocabulary. It is an Eclipse III tank that I inherited in the fall; the fish and equipment came with it. If I'd had problems all along it would make sense to me, but the green water happened practically overnight. I have the chemical testing kit which I have done several times and everything seemed normal; I was going to do it again today, though. My fish and I thank you for any help you can give.
A five day total blackout would probably get rid of the problem but it might come back if the underlying cause isn't identified. Is there any way to lower the amount of light that it gets?
There is no good way to change the light situation; the tank is in my office at work and there are windows. The whole windows-are-bad-for-fish thing stymies me a little--aren't practically all fishtanks (at home anyway) exposed to some sunlight? Unless you keep them in a basement or windowless room, but then it seems that you wouldn't really be able to enjoy them. I was thinking of taking the little plastic accessories and plants home with me this weekend and giving them a good scrub with some hot water and a toothbrush to get any algae off, but like I said there isn't any visible algae, so I'm not sure if that will help.
The "planktonic" algae you have are not the same as encrusting algae, so cleaning up the ornaments won't help.
Try leaving the light off for a few days. Put some black paper or something round the part of the tank exposed to the sunlight - the fish won't mind, honest!
This should clear up the algae, but you need to do a water change to get rid of the now dead algal cells.
Try leaving the light off for a few days. Put some black paper or something round the part of the tank exposed to the sunlight - the fish won't mind, honest!
This should clear up the algae, but you need to do a water change to get rid of the now dead algal cells.
The fish is a goldfish. or else a longfin Rosy Barb? You'd recognize a kind of goldfish.
Algicides are toxic in aquariums. Your water changes are excellent. The bio-wheel shouldn't be touched, except the endpins can be buffed from time to time to keep it free-turning.
Some plants would help with algae control. Try duckweed or floating Water Sprite.
Since it's an office, over the weekends you could cover the tank with a black garbage bag with a towel over it to it's completely dark til Monday. Try that a few weeks.
You really need to develop some microscopic freshwater plankton to graze on the free-floating algae cells. A gallon of water from a long-established densely-planted (fish-free?) tank would give you a founder population of these green-eating microcritters.
Algicides are toxic in aquariums. Your water changes are excellent. The bio-wheel shouldn't be touched, except the endpins can be buffed from time to time to keep it free-turning.
Some plants would help with algae control. Try duckweed or floating Water Sprite.
Since it's an office, over the weekends you could cover the tank with a black garbage bag with a towel over it to it's completely dark til Monday. Try that a few weeks.
You really need to develop some microscopic freshwater plankton to graze on the free-floating algae cells. A gallon of water from a long-established densely-planted (fish-free?) tank would give you a founder population of these green-eating microcritters.