Green Water, in a new tank?

[Ldy-Icedragon]

Heyas everyone,

I have three tanks, a 30 gallon and a 15 that are established and never had any problems with. 2 Weeks ago I set up a 10 gallon to seperate a bully gourami, he's housed with 2 hatchet fish and 1 CAE. The tank was crystal clear for a week with just the algae eater so I added the 3 others, a day later the water turned extremely cloudy. I thought it was a nitrite spike so I cleaned the tank, it again turned crystal clear. 1 day later it returned to cloudy, since then I've done about 5 partial water changes with no success. I've also noticed that the water I take out seems greenish and there's red algae all over the glass. I've never had this problem before, I'm suspecting that the problem may be that the 10 uses a flourescent light, while my others use incandescent, could that be causing the algae problem? I;m not sure, I'm no lighting expert. Either way I hope someone can give me some good advice, I want a clear tank again!

~Danielle

 

[yvez9]

how strong is your florescent light? i'm guessing the standard 15 watts. if so, that is quite alot of light if there is not alot of plants. this might be turning youir water green

the cloudy water is a sign of bacterial bloom. did you use filter media from your estavlished tanks to start the 10 gallon or just new media?

finally, brown algea is normal in new tanks. the algea eater should take care of it. But you won't be able to keep him in there for long, nor will the hatchet fish. also, how big is your gourami?

 

[Ldy-Icedragon]

Nope I used new filter media but transfered some of the rocks from an established tank to the new one, I've heard that helps. The chinese lives in my 30 but he's in the 10 for now to help the algae problem, the gourami is a 4 inch gold gourami, yes he quite big for a 10 but he's proved himself too much of a bully to be in my other tanks. He'll only be in the 10 until he's rehomed. Also shouldn't the hatchet be fine in a 10? He's a marbled and he's only 1.5 inches, he hardly ever even moves. His buddy unfortunately jumped out last night, i didn't find him until this morning (He somehow fit out the tiniest hole)

P.S. What wattage would you suggest to keep the algae under control, or should I turn off the light at night?

 

[sinistral]

In addition to what yves wrote, green water (and in fact most algae outbreaks) usually signify that there are 1. excess nutrients in the tank and 2. good light. Excess nutrients can come from a variety of sources, chiefly from overfeeding, adding fertilizers (if you have plants and are in fact adding them), and possibly from nitrates or phosphates already present in your tap water.

From your second post it seemed you were implying that you don't turn your aquarium tanks off at night. If this is true I would recommend keeping the lights on for only about 8-10 hours a day. This is beneficial for both plants and fish as it simulates a normal day/night cycle. Excess light will contribute to algae. Now that you have an algae outbreak you might want to limit that even further (4-6 hours per day). Some people recommend keeping lights on all day but having a 2 or 3 hour break in the middle.

You might also evaluate your tank placement. If the tank is exposed to any natural sunlight (from a window), you will find it exceedingly difficult to regulate your light exposure even in the absence of fluorescent lights.

If you believe you may be overfeeding, cutting down on frequency of feedings to once every other day might be helpful. Or, you might look at the quantity of food you are feeding. Even the most expert fishkeepers over time can begin to lose track of how much is a reasonable amount.

You might also consider adding fast growing plants to outcompete the algae for nutrients.

Otherwise, keeping up with daily water changes and tank maintenance is the way to go. In this month's (October 2005) Tropical Fish Hobbyist, there is a suggestion that sometimes water changes can worsen green water, because tapwater may contain nutrients that the algae is rapidly consuming. If this is the case, you might want to bring a sample to your LFS to see if they test the water and offer suggestions.

The article in TFH is quite good anyways; I'd recommend looking at it for other ideas. HTH~