Green Algae taking over tank!

[klj_current]

Hello All,

I have a 55 gal tank with a variety of rainbows and some cories. I had a Chinese algae eater that was VERY territorial. So, I gave him to a friend and a few days later replaced him with two ottos.

Within the few days of no CAE, algae took over my tank!

The ottos have done a good job with algae on the glass, but now my water is green and I can't seem to get rid of it.

Any suggestions?

 

[Purrbox]

If the water is actually green, then you are dealing with Green Water. This is generally caused by a spike in Ammonia. To get rid of it your first bet is to try a 3-4 day blackout. Do a large water change to get rid of as much as possible. Turn off the aquarium light and completely cover the aquarium so that no light gets in. Leave it covered for 3-4 days with absolutely no peaking, not even to feed the fish (they'll be fine for a few days without food). Then uncover it and do another large water change. Hopefully you'll have complete killed it off and it won't come back.

Some other methods for fighting Green Water include diatom filters or UV filters.