Very green water

[leonclaro]

Dear Friends'

Once again i am hear trying to look for your assistance.

As some of you know, i have been having trouble with water changes and with cloudy water. My last water change was last week, so i am not planning in doing another one till next week.

I have been advised that i should solve one problem before i try to solve the other one. I thank that advise and think is very sound. However, i need some reassuring.

in the last two days the water has increasingly become very green and you can even see a green film layering the top of the tank. For what i have learn here, the green cloudiness is due to a bloom of bacteria or allgy and that it is not completly harmfull.

My husband wakes up every morning and through out the day repetedly advises me that i should put the fish in a bucket and clean the tank inside out, and put new water in, and then put the fish back in. He belives that the fish will die if i do not act as he recomends.

:? what i am asking is for your reassurance that my problem is not terminal and could wait to be fixed till after i manage to not kill any fish at water change.

thanks, I really apreciate your help.

Leonclaro

 

[kribbz]

If your water is green it could be becasue the tank sits to close to a window. i know i set one up to close to a window once and the sunlight caused the water to have a green tint. i recomend that if it is next to a window move it, because you will NEVER get the green out. i tried for months. oh yeah and to answer you question it shouldn't kill the fish you just won't be able to see them as well.

 

[Bearfan]

1. Please do not listen to your husband. Don't put fish in buckets. Don't change 100% of the water unless the Exxon Valdez crashed into your tank.

2. Odds are that you have one of three conditions. The first would be the natural sunlight. I had it bad in my planted tank and couldn't figure out why until I was home one day and realized my wife would open the blinds when she got up, and close them when she got home from work (I work a lot longer days). The second would be excessive nutrients (phosphates especially). If you are adding nutrients, cut back, if you are not you may want to get Proper Ph7.0 (assuming your tank is at 6.8-7.2) which is a phosphate buffer. Use 1/4 dose if your tank is planted and it will help. Finally your light cycle could be excessive. It would have to be around 14 hours or so and high Wattage.

3.I would reccomend a 10% water change for three days in a row, then wait three and do a regular water change. This should reduce the amount of nutrients in your tank and reduce algae.

 

[leonclaro]

Dear Friends,

Thanks for your usefuls answer, I been trying to do everything that you suggested.

I was overfeeding my fishes, but I considerable reduced the amount of food one week before that my tank become complete green. That is what I think that as you mentioned my problem with the green water is the light cycle, I use to have the light turn up more than 14 hours. I change last saturday, because of your suggestion and today three days after the water is a little bit less green.


I have been trying to made the 10% water change, but because every time I change the water my fish die, I have been follows the suggestion that the friend gave me in other page and I am preparing the water before to made the change.

And there is when I testing, with my own kit, the water that I have prepared 12 hours before, I found that this water has around 7.6 PH or higher, and my tank water was 7.0. Because of that I was afraid to change the water.

What I did was increase the detoxifier that I put in the water that I was preparing, but after other 12 hours nothing happens everything was the same. And the same happens 12 hours after.

I was in the LFS for their testing of water and also advised, they found that the water of my tank has 7.0 PH and also a little bit of nitrite, but all the other measures are ok. The same happen with the water that I have prepared with the difference that the PH was 8.2 or something like that, I also ask to testing the tapwater and they found that the PH is too hight more than 8.8.

They have also informed that the Detoxifier that they sold me was not for the control of the "PH, they said that this product is more for the control of the ammonia than the PH. They suggest to buy other product that was gone for today, maybe they have tomorrow.

However, I would your help on this one also, would you recommend me a product or what can I do for reduce the tapwater PH to 7.0 or 7.2?

Your comments will be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Leonclaro

 

[Bearfan]

Do you have well water? 8.8 is very basic for city water.

There is a product that is called Proper PH 7.0 http://www.aquariumpharm.com/articles/propPH.html

These products should not be used in planted tanks.

What Detoxifier are you using. I don't use a detoxifier, but a tap water conditioner. I do not know the chemical properties of the ammonia lock agent in a detoxifier, but adding lots of chemcials to my tank makes me nervous.

What size is your tank? What inhabits your tank now? What has died after a water change?

Just some questions to get to the heart of the problem.

 

[Zic]

They sell Ph up and Ph down anywhere they sell water test kits. This way you can use a little bit of the Ph down to lower your PH before you add it to your tank. You say that EVERY time you change your water it kills your fish? This should not be happening. Awnser bearfans questions about the inhabitants of your tank, and maybe we can help better.

PS I hope you get this all figured out! Fish are supposed to be relaxing, not stressful. It sounds like you are trying to figure out your problem, but I hope you don't get discouraged in the process.

 

[angelstiger]

I had this problem in an uncycled tank a while back. I increased the filtration and it cured the problem. I dont understand your fish dying with a water change. I change 50% every two weeks and have never lost a fish from it. As a matter of fact my fish seem to love the clean water. I use stress coat at water changes. I don't even check PH anymore. I found that the up and down changes were more stressful on the fish that the high PH. Most fish can aclimate to nominally high or low PH.