Cloudy fish tank- ran out of ideas

[100570876]

I have a 40gal gold fish tank- with 2 fancy goldfish and 2 small asian algea eaters.

I noticed about a month ago my goldfish tank was getting cloudy and when I do water changes- up to every 2-3 days right now, the water is a cloudy green color.

I went to several lfs and was told:1) you filter is broken-so I bought new filter and it is working well- Wisper 40i- and am almost thinking to put another wisper 40i in it if it would help, 2) that I needed to add have an algea eater in the tank- well I previously had a pluco but it decided my goldfish tasted better, so I got to small asian algae eaters instead and so far they are keeping the algae under control but the water is still green, 3) I was told that its an algae bloom and I need to increase my water changes and it will clear up in a month- well im doing changes ever 2-3 days and its almost been a month and no change, and 3) Lastly, I was told I need to change my florescent light- the lfs said they only last about a year and then as it gets older the light frequency changes or something and it helps build algae in the water.

So, by now I am soo tired and worn out- all my water levels are normal and running stable. If I do an 70% water change the water is pretty clear for a night then gets cloudy over a day or two so Im kinda at my wits end....

can anyone provide some ideas? is it really the light? or is it something else. I really dont want to use more chemicals- I already use a water conditioner, easy balance, aquarium salts, a biochemical or whatever it is.

 

[54seaweed]

I had almost the same issue in my 30 gal

funny almost same stock except I have 2 khoulie loaches instead of algae eaters
and a sail fin pleco

I got so fed up I ripped it apart literally

replaced filter with a canister and did away with under gravel filters totally
replaced the gravel and gave tank a good scrub

I also replaced the lighting
so far so good everything is still crystal clear 3 weeks later

I should have done this months ago

 

[foster53]

A UV sterilizer would help your situation greatly. They make in tank UV units, so you don't have to plumb anything. You can also try not feeding your fish for a few days, and black out the tank for several days. Might work to reduce the algae bloom. You probably have an overload of nitrate, and phosphate, causing the bloom.