green/yellowish water

psychadelicdrea

psychadelicdrea

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Oct 6, 2004
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Ok, i've posted about this before and was told to do a ammonia test on the water after i treated it with my declor......and it came out fine....and i also talked to my lfs and he said that independence the city i live in dosent add chlormine/chlorine in the water.......so the start right works great....which i figured pretty much that i did. and i teasted the nitrite and its 0.3 or less and tested the tank for ammonia and its 0.25 which is the lowest that the tester says ...so it could very well be none......but i get a darker yellow but not a green color so its right at less then 0.25 .......so i cant understand what is causing this discoloration of my tank water i've been fighting it for weeks/months with pleanty of water changes and i still can seem to get it kicked..........its a 125 gallon tank....im about to take out like 100 gallons of water and see what that does cause i just dont know what else to do ....any suggestions :huh:
 
What test kit are you using?

Is the green algae? goto plantgeek.net and click their algae link and it gives pic's and descriptions. If so, you aren't going to get rid of the problem with chems and water changes. If it is algae, you don't need the changes: a)it isn't dangerous to the fish. b)it isn't going to help.
You should figure why you have algae (build-up of ammonia- why your test doesn't go to 0 is beyond me, mineral imbalance, something else).

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50118
THere is the link to diagnose green water and also what to do.

You'll probably need to black out your tank and wrap it up for a few days. Unfortunately I have first hand experience with algae, but I have not done anything mentioned in the article becuase I switched my tank into a larger tank. (not recommending this as a solution, just saying I may have solved the problem that way ...I am not sure, it is a new move.)

Good luck!
Lisa
 
uhmm its the doc wellfish stuff from auarium pharmaceuticals,inc ....ammonia test kit....nh2 and nh4 but yah it goes to 0.....i just read it wrong.......but i went to the lfs and told them again about my situation and told them that the algae fix wasent working and the water changes wasent working.....and he said it was a differnt type of algae and algae fix wont cure it......so he gave me this stuff called i think clear water......it says it bonds to the algae spores i guess and makes them larger so the filter can pick them out of the water........but they also told me to take out my carbon....which are in my filter pads...so now theirs nothing in the filter so whats gonna filter out the newly larger algae spores?
 
I don't know about those chems they are selling you. I have never heard of any of them working. There is a process besides the one I mentioned above, but it costs over $100. I can look it up it you want, I can't remember it off-hand.

Ok so at one point did you have a bacteria bloom...white cloudy water? That is where the high ammo happened, that gave food to the algae. Now that you have the algae, there is a lot and it is a fast reproducer. If this chemical truely bonds to the spore, increaseing it's size, you'd hope it is going to be filtered out. I think they meant to put in a blank pad (make sense...pad, no carbon in it) I did this when I switched from using carbon, It forms a biological filter after time.

I HOPE YOU DIDN"T GET RID OF YOUR OLD FILTER YET! the thing is, if you put the new bag in, and ammonia is your problem for algae, you risk giving it more ammonia food and creating conditions for a new batch to grow (that is if this chem even works to get rid of the old).

If you go with the pet store's advice, I'd squeeze the old filter (shake out as much of the carbon as you can, rinse in used fish tank water) into the new filter so you have your bacteria colony still. Do you know why he told you to take the carbon out? Was it so it wouldn't get rid of the chemical right away that you're adding?

But again I would strongly recommend the black out for a few days-wrap it in a towel, no light even at feedings, you're fish won't be hurt. No light, no chlorophyll, algae dies. I'd give it a water change before and definately after. BUT you have to have fixed the problem that caused the algae in the first place or it will just start all over.

Do you have plants? THey provide competition for the algae, and there are some that require minimal care.

Good luck! Please post it that chemical works. I am interested to know.
Lisa
 
yah he said to take out the carbon just cause it will suck out the chemical....but i put some filter pads in the secondary filterbaskets on my emps so that it would have a filter to catch the stuff........i checked the pads after like 24 hrs and their a brown color now......and i think the water is lighting up a bit...but its still to early to tell.........if this dosent work im gonna check into a diatom filter......i really only need it to clear the algae i wish i could rent one that would be cool.....id hate to spend 60 on a filter to use once...and thats a cheap used one on ebay.....and its kinda tough to wrap a 125 gallon tank....it doesent get much light as it is....cept indirect room light :sad: and no i didnt throw away my old filters i got four of them and i just bought them less then a month ago...its not cheap for replacements on a emp 400 2 at that.....and no plants and the bio wheels have bacteria on it
 
I highly recommend the following, as opposed to a diatom filter.

Quick Filter

I use them continuously in my tanks. The filter elements can be boiled and reused. You just beat them in the sink after boiling to unclog them. They will remove water born algea. My daughter's ten gallon became infested with green water algea and this filter cleaned it up in about a week. When we took the filter out to clean it, it was covered in a thin bright green paste from the algea it trapped.

Just don't depend on them for biological filtration. They clog and require cleaning after about a week or two, tops. But they do keep a crystal clear tank.

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If you put a strong power head on it, it shouldn't take long to clean that algea out of your 125.
 
will it fit on any power head...and will it only fit a aqua clear power head?
 
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I really don't know because I only have AquaClear powerheads. The filter is made for aquaclear powerheads for sure. Most any fish store should carry the filter. You should be able to pull one out of the box and try to fit it to the powerhead of your choice, either by fiiting to a powerhead in the store or bringing one of your powerheads there. Just tell the sales clerk what you want to do. They should be helpful.

Another plus of the filter is that it is inexpensive. I see them between $7 and $9.
 
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i havent seen those around anywhere.....but i havent asked so ill look tomorow...and i was wondering if it would fit anouther powerhead cause aqua clear powerheads are way expensive.......like 49 for one strong enough for a 125 gallon tank.......when i can get a marineland powerhead for 19 and it will pump 320 gallons a hour.......thats why i wondered if it would fit any powerhead
 
If you find one and try to size it to your powerhead you should be aware that there is an adapter in the top of the filter. It pops out from inside so that it can fit both small and large powerheads.
 
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