Can anybody give me some advice? I recently got an old settled tank from a friend. After I replaced all the water and washed the gravel the water turned a bright green colour . The only other thing I did was installing a box filter and sponge filter. The tank did not previously had any filters. I would appreciate help thanx
Green Water
- Thread starter Mutley1
- Start date
What size is the tank and how long since you did the water change?
Sounds like an algae bloom, not uncommon in a new set-up. Should settle itself as the tank matures.
Are you going to fishless cycle or does the tank have a mature filter as well as the ones you put in?
Sounds like an algae bloom, not uncommon in a new set-up. Should settle itself as the tank matures.
Are you going to fishless cycle or does the tank have a mature filter as well as the ones you put in?
Welcome to the forum Mutley.
The pea soup water, maybe not yet but it can get that way, is called green water algae. It is small individual algae plants floating in the water column. That particular algae doesn't settle on glass and ornaments but floats around in the water. It is not a problem for the fish but can make them almost impossible to see. If the tank is fairly mature so that life can survive in it, you could add a starter sample of daphnia to that water and end up with a very nice collection of live fish food. Daphnia will reproduce to many times their original number in just a few days in water like that and make excellent live fish food. I have tried many times to raise my own daphnia and could never keep enough green water going to keep them well fed. Green water needs a source of nitrogen and lots of light to grow. In a fish tank, nitrogen is a waste product of the fish so I had that covered. I never seemed able to supply enough light. If you have sunlight hitting your tank, it is the reason that you have green water.
The pea soup water, maybe not yet but it can get that way, is called green water algae. It is small individual algae plants floating in the water column. That particular algae doesn't settle on glass and ornaments but floats around in the water. It is not a problem for the fish but can make them almost impossible to see. If the tank is fairly mature so that life can survive in it, you could add a starter sample of daphnia to that water and end up with a very nice collection of live fish food. Daphnia will reproduce to many times their original number in just a few days in water like that and make excellent live fish food. I have tried many times to raise my own daphnia and could never keep enough green water going to keep them well fed. Green water needs a source of nitrogen and lots of light to grow. In a fish tank, nitrogen is a waste product of the fish so I had that covered. I never seemed able to supply enough light. If you have sunlight hitting your tank, it is the reason that you have green water.
Thanx guys!
Unfortunately I cannot do a fishlesscycle because of the fish I got it with. The tank doesn't get direct sunlight but is in a room that allows for a good amount of light to enter the room but not directly on the tank. I am trying to compensate for the amount of light it gets by turning off the fluorescent during the day.
I'm also not sure about the size of the tank( in litres) but metric sizes are 1200 x 460 x 460. Is there a way that I can convert this to litres?The green water also started a day after the waterchange.
Oldman- I've never heard of Daphnia and have no clue what you are talking about. I'm not even sure it's availeble in South Africa. Should I be able to get it in a normal pet store?
The filters are also running only for 5 days now from new and there is no mature filter in the tank.
Unfortunately I cannot do a fishlesscycle because of the fish I got it with. The tank doesn't get direct sunlight but is in a room that allows for a good amount of light to enter the room but not directly on the tank. I am trying to compensate for the amount of light it gets by turning off the fluorescent during the day.
I'm also not sure about the size of the tank( in litres) but metric sizes are 1200 x 460 x 460. Is there a way that I can convert this to litres?The green water also started a day after the waterchange.
Oldman- I've never heard of Daphnia and have no clue what you are talking about. I'm not even sure it's availeble in South Africa. Should I be able to get it in a normal pet store?
The filters are also running only for 5 days now from new and there is no mature filter in the tank.
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
So maybe the guys can help me here, does this sound like a 60 US gallon or so tank?
Mutley1, what are the other filters besides what you added? Do you know your total flow rate? It would be good to know the amount of "turnover" (eg. filter that goes 50gallons/hour would have 5x turnover on a 10gallon tank).
You sound to be definately in a "Fish-In" cycling situation and we don't yet know the types and sizes of fish in there (ie. the fish load) and we don't know how much, if any, mature media is in there for them. When OM47 commented about the green water I don't think you'd yet made the statement that there's no mature filter in the tank.
So I'm going to take a guess here and say we should be performing large water changes (hope the previous owner was doing water changes!) until we know the water chem situation further. I'd say unless you have reason to believe the water was not changed (that could create a situation where the fish are used to high trace substances) then start changing 50% per day and discuss here your water testing. The water changing will be good for the green water too but won't solve it as it can come back quickly (I believe multi-day tank blackouts are one of the solutions, although it will be interesting to hear more about the daphnia (I thought that was usually an "out-of-tank" operation?) But the main thing is that we want to keep ammonia and nitrite(NO2) below 0.25ppm if we've had a big filter change and lost our "biofilter."
~~waterdrop~~
Mutley1, what are the other filters besides what you added? Do you know your total flow rate? It would be good to know the amount of "turnover" (eg. filter that goes 50gallons/hour would have 5x turnover on a 10gallon tank).
You sound to be definately in a "Fish-In" cycling situation and we don't yet know the types and sizes of fish in there (ie. the fish load) and we don't know how much, if any, mature media is in there for them. When OM47 commented about the green water I don't think you'd yet made the statement that there's no mature filter in the tank.
So I'm going to take a guess here and say we should be performing large water changes (hope the previous owner was doing water changes!) until we know the water chem situation further. I'd say unless you have reason to believe the water was not changed (that could create a situation where the fish are used to high trace substances) then start changing 50% per day and discuss here your water testing. The water changing will be good for the green water too but won't solve it as it can come back quickly (I believe multi-day tank blackouts are one of the solutions, although it will be interesting to hear more about the daphnia (I thought that was usually an "out-of-tank" operation?) But the main thing is that we want to keep ammonia and nitrite(NO2) below 0.25ppm if we've had a big filter change and lost our "biofilter."
~~waterdrop~~
Hi there Waterdrop.
I've managed to measure the tank today and it appears to be a 250 L tank( not sure how much gallons that is) and did a 50% waterchange as well as a light blackout and I must admit that the tank is responding very well.
The previous owner did not have any filters at all, only a circulation pump and did not cleaned or changed water for at least 8 months. When I took over the tank I drained it completely, risk losing the fish yet all but 1 survived.
At the moment the tank contains 5 neons, 2 silvertip tetras, what look like 2 rosy barbs, 1 barb-like fish(I'm not sure what it is), 1 common algea-eater and an eel like fish I also can't find the name of.
Watercirculation is also good 'cause I installed 2 pumps but I'm not certain of the specs. There is a lot of things I still would like to do ( waterplants and stuff) and I would like to keep mainly tetras and if possible breed with them as well.
I've managed to measure the tank today and it appears to be a 250 L tank( not sure how much gallons that is) and did a 50% waterchange as well as a light blackout and I must admit that the tank is responding very well.
The previous owner did not have any filters at all, only a circulation pump and did not cleaned or changed water for at least 8 months. When I took over the tank I drained it completely, risk losing the fish yet all but 1 survived.
At the moment the tank contains 5 neons, 2 silvertip tetras, what look like 2 rosy barbs, 1 barb-like fish(I'm not sure what it is), 1 common algea-eater and an eel like fish I also can't find the name of.
Watercirculation is also good 'cause I installed 2 pumps but I'm not certain of the specs. There is a lot of things I still would like to do ( waterplants and stuff) and I would like to keep mainly tetras and if possible breed with them as well.
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
That's 66 US gallons, lucky man, lucky man! Wouldn't I love to have 66 gallons worth of plants and tetras!... shoals and shoals, sigh.
Since you started with the complete water change and only lost one, you've already proven they can take it or you've already started what's going to happen.. lets put it that way. So I'd say.. go for it! Keep doing some really large, really frequent water changes, with good technique and it'll help with the green water situation even more. Meanwhile, try to keep the blackout thing going for 3 full days..I think I remember the plant guys saying that's the trick.
Be getting a good liquid-reagent based test kit so that you can have good feedback on your fish-in cycle and not have to change more water than you really need to!
~~waterdrop~~
Since you started with the complete water change and only lost one, you've already proven they can take it or you've already started what's going to happen.. lets put it that way. So I'd say.. go for it! Keep doing some really large, really frequent water changes, with good technique and it'll help with the green water situation even more. Meanwhile, try to keep the blackout thing going for 3 full days..I think I remember the plant guys saying that's the trick.
Be getting a good liquid-reagent based test kit so that you can have good feedback on your fish-in cycle and not have to change more water than you really need to!
~~waterdrop~~
Daphnia is usually an out of tank option but they can be raised in tank by confining them to a breeding net and just scooping them out to feed the fish. The green water will circulate through the net so the daphnia will feed on it in there. Daphnia do probably exist in South Africa but may not be sold as fish food in your fish stores. They exist almost everywhere in the world in one form or another in relatively still water environments. Several different species of daphnia are used in the aquarium hobby. There are some interesting facts about them here.
drobbyb
Bowhead
This is what I usually reccomend. First I do an 80% waterchange to get rid of the bulk of the algae. After that I leave the lights off, wrapping the tank with a blanket to make sure no light can get in. Don't feed for the 3 day blackout, worry not the fish can take it! Wait 3 days and do another 80% waterchange to remove the now dead/dying algae.
I have personally used this method in the past with great success. Another option is getting a UV sterilizer unit. This will kill the algae as the water circulates through the unit.
This method is the most expensive, so I wouldn't advise getting one just for getting rid of greenwater. Especially when the other methods work just as well.
Thank you guys for all the good advice, I really appreciate it!
Oldman ,great thanx to that usefull piece of info on Daphnia, now I now where to look.(I live in an area with lots of wild rivers ,dams,ponds and streams-lucky me!)
And the rest of you guys, great thanks!!I think most importanedly which I realised is the fact that one should consentrate on getting your tank in the right condition before you rush off to populate it with all the most beautifull fishes you see. I've managed to obtain lots of usefull literature on the subject as well and really tries to take baby step in astabelishing the right enviroment for my fishes, ( which I would be prefer to be mainly tetras)hopefully not at the cost of anymore fishlives.
Many thanx again- always good to know that there is people who is willing to help!!
Oldman ,great thanx to that usefull piece of info on Daphnia, now I now where to look.(I live in an area with lots of wild rivers ,dams,ponds and streams-lucky me!)
And the rest of you guys, great thanks!!I think most importanedly which I realised is the fact that one should consentrate on getting your tank in the right condition before you rush off to populate it with all the most beautifull fishes you see. I've managed to obtain lots of usefull literature on the subject as well and really tries to take baby step in astabelishing the right enviroment for my fishes, ( which I would be prefer to be mainly tetras)hopefully not at the cost of anymore fishlives.
Many thanx again- always good to know that there is people who is willing to help!!
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