# Cloudy Green Water Not Going Away



## beastin

I've had cloudy green water in my tank for about 3 weeks now. The first week I was told to add some organic algae control powder in my water, and not do another water change. The days prior to the green water, I had done about a 20% water change, then 3 days later another 20%. I was trying to get the gravel really clean, and also change the water. I had planned on not vacuuming again for a couple weeks to give them time to makes nests, as the 2 are seeming to breed.

Well screwed that up, because my water is slime green. Did a water change yesterday.. about 25% and its still green. This really sucks. I noticed some green algae growing on my tank lid's plastic. Looks like water reached it and started dripping it into the tank. I cleaned that part of the lid 2 weeks ago. Its still clean, but the water is green.

Is this harmful to my fish? I have two rbps. One is 11", the other 9" female.

What is this, and how can I fix this? WhenI changed the water and emptied it into the toilet, it was green. lol. >:|


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## Ægir

You could try a UV sterilizer.

What size tank and what filtration are you running?

Is the tank in direct sunlight? If not what lights are you using?


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## beastin

Ægir said:


> You could try a UV sterilizer.
> 
> What size tank and what filtration are you running?
> 
> Is the tank in direct sunlight? If not what lights are you using?


29 Gallon, running the 90 gallon marineland filter on it (400 gph). Light is just a common bulb not sure what kelvin. I have the timer set for 8 hours on a day. Implemented that about 1.5 weeks ago. Tank is not in direct sunlight. Farthest wall away from window.


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## beastin

i do have a fluval 305 filter but it was ran on saltwater and hasnt been cleaned. is that a much better filter?


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## Ægir

Do you have a test kit?

How often do you clean the filter pad out? next time you do a water change, shake it around in a bucket of tank water (NOT TAP WATER because it will kill the bacteria). Odds its a temporary algae bloom but, increasing your water volume and filtration would help if your fish are 11" and 9"

For fish that big, a 29 gal is really small. That is a contributing factor to your problem, because it takes a small amount of their sized waste to pollute the water... quickly. If there is any way you could upgrade to a 55 gal, and add another one of those filters you would most likely eliminate the problem. RBS are messy fish, and in smaller tanks they can easily "poo" more than your filters can handle.



beastin said:


> i do have a fluval 305 filter but it was ran on saltwater and hasnt been cleaned. is that a much better filter?


Rinse it in hot water and white vinegar, it wont hurt your tank to add a small amount of salt. You will want to change some of the media prob.

I would run them both


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## beastin

i have a fluval osaka 320 tank (70ish gal) and that came with the 305 fluval. however i would need to put it in the basement to use, because my father thinks it is way too much weight for upstairs. if i do that, water changes would be horrible. walking up and down 15 stairs with a bucket full of water


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## Ægir

beastin said:


> i have a fluval osaka 320 tank (70ish gal) and that came with the 305 fluval. however i would need to put it in the basement to use, because my father thinks it is way too much weight for upstairs. if i do that, water changes would be horrible. walking up and down 15 stairs with a bucket full of water


water weighs 8.33lbs per gallon, = 583lbs

I can assure you it will be NO problems on the main floor, or even second story. If you are worried, put the stand on a piece of plywood to distribute the load.

I did water changes in the basement on 6 or 7 tanks, so i know the feeling! Your fish would appreciate the extra room for sure


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## beastin

Also, I dont think its being underfiltered. The tank has been decently clear for about 8 months without a problem. It wasnt until the last 3 weeks that the green algae bloom took over.

Ill have to run it by the landlord again (my dad lol), he says it will mess up the floor. lol.

are there any good rebuttals to this? I'd love to have my tank setup in my room. Im sure they would love the 70 gal. IT comes with a stand that is a few inches wider on every side than the tank


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## Ægir

beastin said:


> Also, I dont think its being underfiltered. The tank has been decently clear for about 8 months without a problem. It wasnt until the last 3 weeks that the green algae bloom took over.
> 
> Ill have to run it by the landlord again (my dad lol), he says it will mess up the floor. lol.
> 
> are there any good rebuttals to this? I'd love to have my tank setup in my room. Im sure they would love the 70 gal. IT comes with a stand that is a few inches wider on every side than the tank


I would guess that waste has been building up slowly for some time, and finally caused another mini cycle or ammonia, p04 spike... either from cleaning the tank too much and removing some bacteria, or simply over loaded filter/media. Putting that fluval on the tank cant hurt anything, and might be a temporary fix until you can convince him.

Well, I build houses and I know some members are engineers... so if you can get some basic info about your house to us, I am sure we could provide some hard evidence!

Do you know how old the house is? Are there any areas of the house you can see the floor joists (like in the basement ceiling somewhere prob?) Can you take some pictures?


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## 1rhom

beastin said:


> i have a fluval osaka 320 tank (70ish gal) and that came with the 305 fluval. however i would need to put it in the basement to use, because my father thinks it is way too much weight for upstairs. if i do that, water changes would be horrible. walking up and down 15 stairs with a bucket full of water


Haha,that's what i do for my 75g!! Thinking of getting a plumber to come and install hot water and a slop sink in the garage.


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## beastin

How well do I have to clean the fluval 305?

I bought it probably 3 months ago, the guy said the power went out. He lost all of his fish, then took the tank out. It has some prickly ball saltwater something that is stuck to the side. lol.. What could I clean the aquarium with? I don't know how long it was sitting before he sold it to me. I know Ægir said hot water and white vinegar for the fluval 305... but could some residue harm my fish? Ill be replacing all the guts (media, cartridges).. I'm just worried about waking up to dead p's They seem to be fine, because the female is blowing into the rocks as I type this..

The tank was probably low 5 gallons, so I drained another 5 gallons. I filled it with 10 gal of fresh water, added some aquasafe water treatment/conditioner, and its now just a lighter green. Will another 10 gal water change help? How often can I do water changes safely? It seems the large amount of fresh water is really starting their breeding cycle again.

Sorry for the book I just wrote lmao.


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## Guest

The tank is way to small for your current fish, but you already know that. To combat an algae bloom, the best thing is to turn off all lights and wrap the tank in a black garbage bag. Green algae needs light, no light, no algae. Wrap it for 7 days, do a water change with the wrapping still on and keep it wrapped for another 7 days. I had an algae bloom in my tank a couple years ago and it was a pain in the ass to get rid of. If even one algae spore is present your tank will get a bloom again. I kept my tank completely wrapped for about 2 months.


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## Ægir

beastin said:


> How well do I have to clean the fluval 305?
> 
> I bought it probably 3 months ago, the guy said the power went out. He lost all of his fish, then took the tank out. It has some prickly ball saltwater something that is stuck to the side. lol.. What could I clean the aquarium with? I don't know how long it was sitting before he sold it to me. I know Ægir said hot water and white vinegar for the fluval 305... but could some residue harm my fish? Ill be replacing all the guts (media, cartridges).. I'm just worried about waking up to dead p's They seem to be fine, because the female is blowing into the rocks as I type this..
> 
> The tank was probably low 5 gallons, so I drained another 5 gallons. I filled it with 10 gal of fresh water, added some aquasafe water treatment/conditioner, and its now just a lighter green. Will another 10 gal water change help? How often can I do water changes safely? It seems the large amount of fresh water is really starting their breeding cycle again.
> 
> Sorry for the book I just wrote lmao.


white vinegar and hot water is great... it will eat the salt debris up pretty well and, after you rinse it out there will really be no residue.

If there is any residue, it wont harm anything in small amounts. Typically I just set things out on a towel for a few hours, and then re assemble. Even some chunks of salt arent going to hurt your fish. You may want to just get 2 5 gal buckets, and run the canister intake from one with hot water and vinegar, and the output to the empty bucket and plug er in.

Like KSLS said, they are a pain and LIGHT and FOOD are the 2 things it needs... take away one and it cant survive.

If they do breed, it would be a good time to move the parents to the new tank and keep the fry protected in the 20 gal.


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## FishermanCanada

Ægir said:


> You could try a UV sterilizer.
> 
> What size tank and what filtration are you running?
> 
> Is the tank in direct sunlight? If not what lights are you using?


x2 uv sterilizer.


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## beastin

Ok, so do I wrap it or use a UV sterilizer? Seem to be getting mixed reviews. I'd just like the algae gone. This has been an established tank for quite some time.. 6 months or so. I did remove some ornaments, like this piece of driftwod I had in there. I may replace it if this can somehow help. My tank looks wack, and I can't set the 70 gal tank up. I wouldn't think their waste would do this, as they have been this size for a while. Can I do frequent water changes? It seemed to have thinned the green from 100% opacity to 70%. lol

I'm going to remove about 5 gallons, and add 10 tonight. The water is low about 4-5 inches from rim.


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## Ægir

I would try the UV first, and then a blackout if that doesnt fix it...


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## beastin

how much are those UV sterilizers? Is it a bulb, or a clamp on "powerhead" kind of thing??

and is this harming my fish? I really love them and I dont want them to be hurt.

I changed my water and added 5 gal (was about 5 gal low) probably 4 days ago.. and am thinking about doing it again tomorrow.


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## Ægir

No, Its not going to harm your fish at all... especially compared to "algae control powder"

I would use a smaller in tank model, something like the JBJ Submariner would be great! they are 80-99$ depending on the model, and the 9w is worth the 18$ upgrade from the 5w

They can be found Here


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## Piranha-Freak101

does your water stink also?


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## Kpd11

Hey you try to fix your algae problem yet? I just used this one from petcos website, http://www.petco.com/product/114522/Green-Killing-Machine-Internal-UV-Sterilizer-with-Power-Head.aspx?CoreCat=MM_FishSupplies_UVClarifiersSterilizers and it worked like a dream! heres some pictures after only a few days-


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## beastin

went to petsmart and paid maybe $30. green water is gone and its the most clear the water has ever been.


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