yellow water = algae?

[kelly77143]

so i ***think*** my yellow water problem may be attributed to an algae bloom caused by our breeder box being next to the lamp and it was growing algae... i think it got into the water and started multiplying. IF that is the case how do i get rid of it? I have 4 mystery/apple snails so i cant put your typical algae fix chemical in there. We did a pwc and that clears a little bit out. how often should we do the change without it hurting the fish? we have a 36 gallon tank with mollies, guppies and lots of molly fry. we have the original HOB filter on the tank along with a 60 gallon canister filter with carbon added. New to this kind of problem. ANY advice appreciated.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Can you dip some water out in a white cup (plastic, foam, etc) and shine a bright light in it. That will give you a true idea what color it is. usually, I associate yellow/brown water with driftwood tannins, or just plain dirty. Green would be algae, but that may be what you're seeing. The cup will tell.

 

[kelly77143]

See pictures before and after

 

[kelly77143]

Yea I can try that to see what color it is.

 

[Somethingclever]

My tank does the same thing. I thought it was aglea but from what i have been told my tank just isn't cycled

 

[kelly77143]

so its a super light color yellow-green. very faint. any idea on how i can get rid of it without harming the snails?

 

[kelly77143]

My tank does the same thing. I thought it was aglea but from what i have been told my tank just isn't cycled

mmm. i dont think its bc of it not being cycled. had the tank up since march. took about a month for it to cycle then and it was a white cloud. this is more of a different color. :/

i dont know what else to do...

 

[Somethingclever]

Can you see algae growing on the sides of tank or your decor?

 

[kelly77143]

It was growing on the breeder net hanging in the tank. I took the net out and let the fry swim freely. The source is gone but the water is still colored. Wondering will the filter take care of the rest or will pwc help

 

[mfdrookie516]

PWC's will help, but the source of the algae needs to be figured out. It's most likely a combination of feeding, lighting, and/or tank maintenance. What is your normal weekly water change routine? How often do you feed? What's your nitrate reading? How long are your lights on daily? Are there any windows or sky lights that would let light in?

 

[Somethingclever]

What kind of filter do you use? Mine uses a bio bag and was doin pretty well, then the water turned green. I took the bio bag out of the filter and the whole thing was a dark green color. I rinsed it till all the green was gone and the water is starting to clear up. Maybe try that? Hope it helps.

 

[kelly77143]

PWC's will help, but the source of the algae needs to be figured out. It's most likely a combination of feeding, lighting, and/or tank maintenance. What is your normal weekly water change routine? How often do you feed? What's your nitrate reading? How long are your lights on daily? Are there any windows or sky lights that would let light in?

The source was the breeder box being close to the lamp. I've removed it. Nitrate at 20 ppm. Ammonia 0 nitrite 0.02. Lights on about 10 hours.

 

[athena2703]

I am having the same yellow/light green water issue.

There is algae that grows on the glass and on the rocks. I took out the large rocks, did a 1/2 tank water change, did a substrate vacuum and rinsed the filter media about 1.5 weeks ago, and now it's back to yellow.

I think the yellow/green water issue started a few months after I put my current light on the tank and took the glass off of the top of the tank.

My tank:
55 gallon; 48x12x18 in tank
Eheim 2215 canister filter (rated for about 90 gallons)
TrueLumen Pro LED Strip Light - 12000K Diamond Wht (on a timer that's on about 16 hrs a day)
lots of guppies
1 pleco
2 corey cats
2 yellow algae eaters
3 snails
4 water wisteria

I bought the water wysteria and the snails to help with the yellowish water, but they haven't really helped yet.

Does anyone have any ideas that won't kill my plants/snails? My fish look happy, but I don't particularly care for yellow water.

Thank you!

 

[kelly77143]

I can't say what was the initial cause of the yellow water. We ended up doing a 75% water change (I know it was a lot). And then about a week later we did another 50% change. It still had a tinge of yellow but over time it leveled out. It has not happened again since then. I didn't have any fish die/get sick from it. It was just a crazy yellow color that we couldn't figure out from what.