Hellpppppppppp!! Tank was green when i picked it up!!

[missyanne280]

HEELLPPP!! I went to pick up the fish tank that I was given and when I got there, there were green algae EVERYWHERE!!! What it a brown/green color.. I was told by the LFS that I have to do a partial water change... How do I get rid of the green!! and the water color??? Please hurry!! Wanna save my fish!! (Pleco, dworf frog, neons) BTW the congo was gone!! Sooo mad at this lady!!!

 

[tyspot1000]

Are you meaning as in the water is green in color? If so, Dont worry, it will not kill your fish.

My best suggestion is to do a partial water change once a day (I will tell you something though after this paragraph), get a UV sterilizer (Cost money though), or do a black out (Turning out all lights. Covering up any source of light will something like towels.)

Before you start to do water changes to get the green algae bloom down (That is if you are going to do this method), test your water source. If it is high in phosphates, you should consider using phosphate removers or find another water source. It's wise to also test for nitrates, as some water sources have elevated nitrates. It doesn't do much good to change the water if you are adding nutrients!

 

[mfdrookie516]

Just don't turn on the lights for about a week, make sure there's no direct light hitting the tank. If you want to go all out, you can wrap the tank with a blanket to block all light. Feed minimal amounts. Do lots of water changes. Without light and nutrients, the algae will go away. Most likely whoever had the tank before left the lights on for ridiculous amounts of time and overfed. Tap water rarely causes algae problems if you're doing everything else right. It can, however fuel them more if you give it a reason to.

 

[Dylan5359]

yes but not to long or you'll develop brown algae.

-Dylan

 

[missyanne280]

Are you meaning as in the water is green in color? If so, Dont worry, it will not kill your fish.

My best suggestion is to do a partial water change once a day (I will tell you something though after this paragraph), get a UV sterilizer (Cost money though), or do a black out (Turning out all lights. Covering up any source of light will something like towels.)

Before you start to do water changes to get the green algae bloom down (That is if you are going to do this method), test your water source. If it is high in phosphates, you should consider using phosphate removers or find another water source. It's wise to also test for nitrates, as some water sources have elevated nitrates. It doesn't do much good to change the water if you are adding nutrients!

Yes the water as well as the sides of the tank and the light undercover had algae all over it. at the LFS I bought Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Stress Coat Aquarium Water Conditioner- What else to I need to do? This is my first tank ever so I dont know anything about checking levels etc.

The lady gave me a few things (sodium biphosphate, and a dropper, a rectangle vile thing, ick meds, ph down, ammonia indicator, mid range ph indicator ph freshwater indicator solution.) OMG just read all the dates and they are ALL EXPIRED!!!! a couple of them was dated 1998! & the rest 2001. What a shame!!! Ugghhhh!!

 

[mfdrookie516]

The lady gave me a few things (sodium biphosphate, and a dropper, a rectangle vile thing, ick meds, ph down, ammonia indicator, mid range ph indicator ph freshwater indicator solution.) OMG just read all the dates and they are ALL EXPIRED!!!! a couple of them was dated 1998! & the rest 2001. What a shame!!! Ugghhhh!!

Throw out all that stuff. Aside from the ammonia and pH tests, all the other stuff is useless junk that would end up causing you problems anyways.

Get yourself a good liquid reagent test kit. The most commonly available kit that I've seen is the API Master Fw Test Kit. Not only is it relatively inexpensive (anywhere from $20-30), it's pretty accurate too.

If you do what I suggested and keep an eye on your parameters, you'll be just fine. In about 2 weeks, all signs of algae should be gone.

 

[andreahp]

Yes the water as well as the sides of the tank and the light undercover had algae all over it. at the LFS I bought Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Stress Coat Aquarium Water Conditioner- What else to I need to do? This is my first tank ever so I dont know anything about checking levels etc.

The lady gave me a few things (sodium biphosphate, and a dropper, a rectangle vile thing, ick meds, ph down, ammonia indicator, mid range ph indicator ph freshwater indicator solution.) OMG just read all the dates and they are ALL EXPIRED!!!! a couple of them was dated 1998! & the rest 2001. What a shame!!! Ugghhhh!!

I agree with mfdrookie about returning all the stuff you got for this tank except the Stress Coat - you'll need that for water changes - and get the API freshwater test kit so you can test for ammonia/nitrites/nitrates and make sure ammonia & nitrites are at 0 and nitrates at 20ppm or less (called water parameters). You don't need ich meds at this point - your problem is algae. Cleaning algae is not a problem - it's preventing more of it so keeping the tank away from light is the way to go.

 

[Dylan5359]

Keep the ick med though! Never know when you'll need it.

-Dylan

 

[andreahp]

Keep the ick med though! Never know when you'll need it.

-Dylan

Correct - good advice.