Algae Problem And Slightly Cloudy Water

[Besty42]

I have been having some problems in my 240 gallon tank with algae issues. the tank is situated near a window, adding indirect light which may be a problem but it is almost always covered with a curtain. We do partial water change once every two weeks and change carbon on a steady basis, as well as other components less often. even after syphoning the tank and cleaning decorations the algae is soon to grow back in the next couple of days, covering the gravel, fake plants and the glass. it really seems to be an ongoing problem. 
 
This Saturday we cleaned the filter, changing the carbon and the pads (we didnt plan to change the pads but the old ones were useless in there, covered in green slime and flattened completely) and rinsed out all components inside with cold tap water. we had also purchased hagen green-x from our LFS and placed in the tank to hopefully help with the algae issue as well. 
 
On Sunday we did our routine syphon of the tank and cleaning of the decorations. after hours of scrubbing off the invinsible algae from the fake plants, we decided to keep them out of the tank until the problem was under control. We added our treated water, and then our nutrafin cycle to the tank to help calm the fish down. The tank looked empty but more healthy, with just the three fake logs and two moss balls to keep the fish company. 
 
Today I woke up to a slightly less active tank, with the fish mainly staying to the top of the tank (apart from our corydoras and rusty pleco). What made this even more worrying was the slightly misty water, the tank had a very small white haze to it. In the past, in a much smaller tank we had a similar issue, but instead of a haze it was full of white fog (bacteria bloom due to high amount of ammonia?), the whole tank looked like a cloud, and we nearlly lost all the fish, but a partial water change and addition of more aqua safe helped the issue. Now i am worried that this is what we are facing in this tank but on a much larger scale. I have taken the parameters with a strip test (i know these are not very reliable but when we went to buy a liquid test from our LFS recently they were all gone)
 
Here are the readings:
Cl2- 1.5 (use aqua safe? very vague, id probably do more harm than good without a specific amount)
pH- 6.8-7.2
KH- 10
GH- 16
NO2- 0
NO3- 0-10
 
These all seem right to me apart from the slightly high amount of chlorine, which may be due to the water change yesterday. the pH is a little higher than usual as well.
 
Can anyone help with either of these problems? Is there anything i should do? 
 
Thank you,
Besty42
 
 

 

[Mikey1]

when you changed all the filter media, you have removed all the bacteria from your filter (not a good thing)
 
your tank/filter needs to cycle again, that is why the water is cloudy, this could take 4-6 weeks,
 
during this time, the water conditions are very harmful for your fish, daily (and very large) water changes will be nessessary during this time, if you want your fish to survive

 

[Besty42]

I really hope not! we only changed the carbon and the small pads, not the bio max or the long bacteria colony sponges. The pads were due a change next week, just a week early and it is the same routine we do every time, rinsing everything gently.We are going on holiday soon, leaving the tank for family member to look after, if this is the case we are in trouble. I am going to see if the tank's condition has improved by tomorrow, and will prepare some water just in case  

 

[Mikey1]

oh, i thought you replaced all of the media, if some existing media was still left in the filter you might be okay,
 
keep testing your water, 2-3 times a day if possible,
 
what exactly do you mean by "rinsing"?
 
filter media should not be rinsed under your tap water, that can kill bacteria also,
 
your filter media should be rinsed in you tank water that has been removed from the tank,
 
rinsing filter media in extremely cold, or extremely hot water is alot more likely to kill bacteria also,

 

[Besty42]

Ok, ill test the water frequently, we've prepared some water just incase the tank does not improve. 'Rinsing' was using the water we used to wash the plants, from the cold tap, and just plunging them into it, and directly running water through the sponges. we don't use tank water as we dont change water and clean filter at the same time, on different weeks. This was done mainly to get rid of the green algae they were covered in (we rinse them all usually) Maybe the water being cool killed some of the good bacteria? we have added some nutrafin cycle which is apparently full of beneficial bacteria just to help. We are just praying that the tank will miraculously improve before we leave :s

 

[Mikey1]

Ok, ill test the water frequently, we've prepared some water just incase the tank does not improve. 'Rinsing' was using the water we used to wash the plants, from the cold tap, and just plunging them into it, and directly running water through the sponges. we don't use tank water as we dont change water and clean filter at the same time, on different weeks. This was done mainly to get rid of the green algae they were covered in (we rinse them all usually) Maybe the water being cool killed some of the good bacteria? we have added some nutrafin cycle which is apparently full of beneficial bacteria just to help. We are just praying that the tank will miraculously improve before we leave

 
 
cold tap water will kill your bacteria,
 
which brings me right back to my first opinion/conclusion,
 
your filter will need to be cycled again, your bacteria is gone/dead, that is why the water is cloudy

 

[This Old Spouse]

I have to agree with Mikey. Any washing/rinsing done to your tank should be done in used tank water, NEVER tap water. The same chlorine in the tap water that would kill your fish also kills all that good bacteria.

 

[Besty42]

thats really odd, as i have been doing this for half a year now and have never had this issue. I will change 25% of the water first thing tomorrow and hopefully first thing friday before we leave and will instruct family member to do the same if they can, but there is not much more i can do.......  i just hope i can resolve the problem so we don't have too many casualties 

 

[Besty42]

I woke up this morning to a clear tank with happy fish?! there is no cloudiness, maybe the water was unsettled from the water change the day before ( i meant tuesday not sunday, sorry confused from the bank holiday for easter!) however the platys are still stationed around the top of the tank, unlike the tetras and minnow which are happy as lary. i will keep you updated if anything new occurs
 
Thank you for your help, i now know to only ever use old tank water to clean the filter

 

[Mikey1]

I woke up this morning to a clear tank with happy fish?! there is no cloudiness, maybe the water was unsettled from the water change the day before ( i meant tuesday not sunday, sorry confused from the bank holiday for easter!) however the platys are still stationed around the top of the tank, unlike the tetras and minnow which are happy as lary. i will keep you updated if anything new occurs
 
Thank you for your help, i now know to only ever use old tank water to clean the filter

 
 
hopefully you did not kill all of the bacteria, maybe only 50%, or whatever the number may be it sounds like the bacteria is starting to rebuild, keep testing your water and do water changes if nessessary,

 

[Besty42]

Ok i am doing that, thank you 

 

[L&K]

I have been having some problems in my 240 gallon tank with algae issues. the tank is situated near a window, adding indirect light which may be a problem but it is almost always covered with a curtain. We do partial water change once every two weeks and change carbon on a steady basis, as well as other components less often. even after syphoning the tank and cleaning decorations the algae is soon to grow back in the next couple of days, covering the gravel, fake plants and the glass. it really seems to be an ongoing problem.

This Saturday we cleaned the filter, changing the carbon and the pads (we didnt plan to change the pads but the old ones were useless in there, covered in green slime and flattened completely) and rinsed out all components inside with cold tap water. we had also purchased hagen green-x from our LFS and placed in the tank to hopefully help with the algae issue as well.

On Sunday we did our routine syphon of the tank and cleaning of the decorations. after hours of scrubbing off the invinsible algae from the fake plants, we decided to keep them out of the tank until the problem was under control. We added our treated water, and then our nutrafin cycle to the tank to help calm the fish down. The tank looked empty but more healthy, with just the three fake logs and two moss balls to keep the fish company.

Today I woke up to a slightly less active tank, with the fish mainly staying to the top of the tank (apart from our corydoras and rusty pleco). What made this even more worrying was the slightly misty water, the tank had a very small white haze to it. In the past, in a much smaller tank we had a similar issue, but instead of a haze it was full of white fog (bacteria bloom due to high amount of ammonia?), the whole tank looked like a cloud, and we nearlly lost all the fish, but a partial water change and addition of more aqua safe helped the issue. Now i am worried that this is what we are facing in this tank but on a much larger scale. I have taken the parameters with a strip test (i know these are not very reliable but when we went to buy a liquid test from our LFS recently they were all gone)

Here are the readings:
Cl2- 1.5 (use aqua safe? very vague, id probably do more harm than good without a specific amount)
pH- 6.8-7.2
KH- 10
GH- 16
NO2- 0
NO3- 0-10

These all seem right to me apart from the slightly high amount of chlorine, which may be due to the water change yesterday. the pH is a little higher than usual as well.

Can anyone help with either of these problems? Is there anything i should do?

Thank you,
Besty42

We had algae problem for a week. We did a water change,cleaned the rocks, cleaned the sand. We even cut down of feed and light time. NOTHING WORKED.(watch YouTube all day trying to figure out fixing it) we finally went to one of out favorite fish store,showed him the pic of the tank and whaaalaaa. He gave us ALGAEFIX. i swear within minutes it cleared up!.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

This is an interesting old post, ones that precede yours. I have heard to rinse in old tank water, but not that tap water kills BB. Why not rinse in a bucket of newly conditioned water?