Please help! my new fish tank has gone a green tea colour

[Biggles]

hi we have recently set up a 6ft tank with 1 x Jardini saratoga,3 x barramundi fingerlings,and 5 redclaw crayfish,We had lots of plants but the redclaw have pruned,uprooted and eaten them all.We are feeding them all twice a day,a diet of barra pellets,small raw prawn pieces and cockroaches,also the occasional feeder fish,The tank is about 6weeks old and was going well until the water turned green tea coloured a week ago.I have cleaned the glass and done a 20% water change but still horrible looking

 

[PaulandKeri]

Is your aquarium is sunlight? I have heard that your water can turn green from algae that produced in sunlight. If so then try to move it.

 

[PaulandKeri]

Is your aquarium is sunlight? I have heard that your water can turn green from algae that produced in sunlight. If so then try to move it.

 

[DeFeKt]

how long do you have your light on?
for example.. I have a 120gallon with only a 48w fluro tube on it, if i run it for more then 12 hours a day the water turns green.
The tank was in no direct sunlight whatsoever.
Now, after moving, i have my tank in pretty much, direct sunlight for around 6 hours, and the light on for 2 in the evening and my water stays crystal clear.24/7
HTH

 

[DeFeKt]

btw which state is ravenshoe in?
i got a good perth forum that i participate in.

 

[Biggles]

the tank was getting direct sunlight for about an hour a day,but I don't have a light on it at the moment so I thought the sunlight would be good for it?we have reduced the amount of sunlight that hits it but it is still getting some.Is the algae dangerous to the fish?I would put some snails and algea eaters in the tank but I think the redclaw would have them for lunch

 

[Biggles]

Ravenshoe is in Far North Queensland ,in the mountains.I don't have a light on the tank at all at present ,but it is in my shed (aussies love their sheds!) and the wall directly behind the tank has a piece of clear corrugated roofing normally used in roofing,it actually intensifies the light,but although it lets alot of light in it doesn't get direct light actually on that side pannel at this time of year.The tank was getting some direct sunlight from the other side but I fixed that problem.The fish all seem happy enough but do you think I should feed them less until it clears up?or do more frequent water changes?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The snails would eat the algae. With crayfish you have to be careful what you put in the tank because they will nip at their fins. How long has the tank been setup? The green coloration is free floating algae. This can be caused by overfeeding, poor water quality, excess phosphate, or a cycling tank. How often do you do water changes?

 

[tkos]

Sunlight and light does not in and of itself cause algae blooms (which is what you have). It is harmless to the fish but unsightly. What you have is too much nutrients and the algae is flourishing. The standard treatment for algae blooms is to cover your tank completely for a blackout period of 4 days and don't feed the fish. Of course it might be tricky with those crayfish as they mauy eat the others, or at least try to.

Test your water and I bet you will have very high levels of nitrate and maybe phosphate as well. If this is the case then at the very least stop or reduce feeding the fish for a few dyas, do massive water changes until the nitrate levels are less than 10ppm. And if you are feeding a meaty diet to the tank then only feed every other day. Feedign a meaty diet everyday is not needed, protein is slow to digest and fouls up the tank quickly.

Also try and remove any sourceof nitrates from the tank. Get rid of what remains of the old plants (replace with fake if you want the look of a planted tank at this point) and use a gravel vacuum during water changes.