okay guys, need your help

flutterbye75

flutterbye75

Friend, not Foe!!
Mar 17, 2005
130
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BC, Canada
I have had this ten gallon for about 6 months now. For the last 3 months, I have had a problem with cloudy water that has a green tint to it. I just tested the water and the parameters are as follows

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5.0
PH 6.8

I have only two gold gouramis in the tank. I have been doing about a 30% water change every two days and the water still goes cloudy. Any suggestions on how to get rid of it. I did read some other posts and came up with the possibility of an alge problem.

I only feed the fish once a day. And only a few flakes and a few betta pellets. They eat that up like crazy. No chance for the food to sit. When I do a gravel clean, I get this cloudy green particles that come from the gravel.

It looks so gross with the water so cloudy.

Help!!!
 
Were water changes done regularly before the incident?

If not, it could be a build up of waste which helped the algal bloom. Keep doing water changes and I would do a blackout to try and reduce the algea concentration.

Hope this helps and good luck!
 
Green water sounds like green algae, do you have live plants and are leaving the lights on for 8+ hrs?

Green algae exists because there are excess nutrients in the water or dissolved organic matter like fish waste. That, fueled with enough light will get you green water and water changes won't help long term.

Short term fixes are UV sterrilizers, diatom filters, and a blackout period where you completely block out all light from the tank.

Long term fix is to find out why you have excess nutrients. If its a planted tank, make sure there isn't alot of decaying plant matter and that your plants are healthy and growing. If its not, perhaps a more thorough gravel vac session is in order.
 
I have always kept up with the water changes. I have always had a problem with this tank. I have 4 others and have had no problems with those. What do I have to do to do a blackout? I have one live plant in the tank. I vac the gravel often. I clean about 2/3 of the gravel when I clean the gravel. How often do you suggest the gravel cleans, because I clean the gravel once a week. I do water changes every other day or every third day. Depends on how busy I am. I will try a blackout. See if that helps and I will do a thorough vac of the gravel before hand. Any other suggestions?
 
A blackout is basically covering your tank so that no light gets through for 3-4 days. Don't feed the fishes during this time and do a large water change afterwards.

How bright are your lights and how long do you leave them on? If you have bright enough light and are leaving them on for more than 8 hrs a day, perhaps getting more plants is a good option. The best way to combat algae is to have a large healthy plant load.
 
Okay, Im back and did the suggested treatments.....still no luck. I took some water out into a clear glass and it isnt green water, it is grey, almost thick water. It looks so murky.....what now? It will not go away, no matter what I do. The water parameters are still the same as what was posted before. I have no clue other than a chemical imbalance. But what would cause that?


HELP!!!
 
What kind of filtration are you using?

Peace...
 
Try activated carbon. You'd be surprised how wuick that stuff can clear the water.
Also, if it is floating algae, try a U.V. sterilizer. Keeps my water crystal clear and bacteria free. :)
 
I have been doing daily water changes until i can get to the store and get some active carbon. I am using just a hang on the back of the tank top fin filter. It looks much better, but I dont think that the problem is solved. I leave it for a couple of days and it goes cloudy again.
 
Test the water with your fingers. Rapidly move the water back and forth and see how long the bubbles take to pop. If they take longer than a second then your problem is dissolved organics. Also give the water a smell. It should smell musty almost like garden soil. If the water smells fishy then you have too much dissolved organics. What you want to do is get some activated carbon or Seachem's Purigen to help tackle the organics in addition to water changes.
 
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