Help! Why is my water so cloudy?

[Ilovecichlids]

For the past couple weeks my tank has been this cloudy green color, I've been doing water changes like crazy, in fact I just did a 40% water change yesterday and it looks like this. I tested my water and everything tests perfect. My plants are growing like crazy the leaves on my banana plants have never been that big since I've have themi did clean my fluval canister filter the oth

 

[Ilovecichlids]

For the past couple weeks my tank has been this cloudy green color, I've been doing water changes like crazy, in fact I just did a 40% water change yesterday and it looks like this. I tested my water and everything tests perfect. My plants are growing like crazy the leaves on my banana plants have never been that big since I've have themi did clean my fluval canister filter the oth

Last water change and changed a couple floss pads and used a different brand of peat then I usually use... The peat has always made the tank a little cloudy but never this bad. It's so thick it's hard to see through it. Can anyone tell me how to get my tank back to normal again?

 

[phishfriend]

What are your lvl's? From the pics looks like algae bloom. How long do you have your lights on per day?

 

[nereksnad]

greetings.

what you have seen to be green water algae, a distinctive green algae that floats in the water. you can remove it by darkening the aquarium completely for many days, or by adding a UV filter that will kill the algae.
you sould also look into what recent changes you have made that might have caused this boom of algae, to prevent it from occuring again.

 

[creic38]

greetings.

what you have seen to be green water algae, a distinctive green algae that floats in the water. you can remove it by darkening the aquarium completely for many days, or by adding a UV filter that will kill the algae.
you sould also look into what recent changes you have made that might have caused this boom of algae, to prevent it from occuring again.

This. How long has your tank been set up, and what changes have you made recently? How long are your lights on? Did you accidentally over fertilize?

 

[Ilovecichlids]

I have my lights on for about 12 hours a day... Is that sufficient? I recently added a third 32 watt light I only had 2 before. My tank is 55 gallons. If I keep all my lights off for a couple of days will it harm my plants or fish? I fertilize with flourish products once a week but I skipped it this week to see what happens. I also inject with pressurized co2 (1 bubble per second.)

 

[Ilovecichlids]

Oh and my tank has been set up for about 3 months now

 

[nereksnad]

between 8 and 10 hours of light sould be plenty, the addition of the other bulb is probably what caused the problem. i'd recommend using times on both the 2 bulb fixture and the 1 bulb you added, and running the 2 bulbs for the entire time you wish to have the lights on during the day, and then having the additional bulb only run 60% or less of that time.

i.e. the 2 bulbs run from 10-20, and the new bulb you added runs from 12-18.

 

[blert]

+1 to above statements.

1bps is probably doing a lot of nothing as far as your CO2 injection goes. Do you have a drop checker?

 

[Rivercats]

In order for a black out to work on an algae bloom you have to totally black the tank out. I mean not one ounce of light can get in and no peeking. But I will telll you often times once you let light back into the tank the bloom will return. In a planted tank with your lighting you only need to run them about 8 hours a day. Plus you added another light but how heavily is your tank planted? When you have a very heavily planted tank and you run high lights and CO2 you also need to be on a good fert regiment. I have about 90% plant coverage if you look at the tank from above, I run very high lights (T5HO's and Metal Halides), use liquid carbon (not CO2), and dose PPS-Pro for my ferts. I run my T5HO's for 10 hours ONLY because they produce very low light over my 220g tank. But my metal halides (3-150w) are only on for 6 hours for a mid-day burst.

Your first order of business it to stop the algae bloom. My best suggestion and the easiest on you and your tank would be to get a UV sterilizer. There is one that several people on here have used that is inexpensive and all have had excellent results (I have never used it as I have a UV hooked into my filtration system). Here is a link to it...
http://www.petco.com/product/114522...e-Internal-UV-Sterilizer-with-Power-Head.aspx. After the bloom is cleared you need to reduce your light, be sure your CO2 is adding the proper amount, and get on a regular fertilizing routine. And if you don't have alot of plants, then add them. Fast growing stem plants plus plants like water sprite and wisteria are all good choice for your tank and lighting. You just need to get your tank balanced between your light, ferts, and CO2 and you won't have problems like algae blooms.

 

[Ilovecichlids]

In order for a black out to work on an algae bloom you have to totally black the tank out. I mean not one ounce of light can get in and no peeking. But I will telll you often times once you let light back into the tank the bloom will return. In a planted tank with your lighting you only need to run them about 8 hours a day. Plus you added another light but how heavily is your tank planted? When you have a very heavily planted tank and you run high lights and CO2 you also need to be on a good fert regiment. I have about 90% plant coverage if you look at the tank from above, I run very high lights (T5HO's and Metal Halides), use liquid carbon (not CO2), and dose PPS-Pro for my ferts. I run my T5HO's for 10 hours ONLY because they produce very low light over my 220g tank. But my metal halides (3-150w) are only on for 6 hours for a mid-day burst.

Your first order of business it to stop the algae bloom. My best suggestion and the easiest on you and your tank would be to get a UV sterilizer. There is one that several people on here have used that is inexpensive and all have had excellent results (I have never used it as I have a UV hooked into my filtration system). Here is a link to it...
http://www.petco.com/product/114522/Green-Killing-Machine-Internal-UV-Sterilizer-with-Power-Head.aspx. After the bloom is cleared you need to reduce your light, be sure your CO2 is adding the proper amount, and get on a regular fertilizing routine. And if you don't have alot of plants, then add them. Fast growing stem plants plus plants like water sprite and wisteria are all good choice for your tank and lighting. You just need to get your tank balanced between your light, ferts, and CO2 and you won't have problems like algae blooms.

Thanks so much! My tank is 80% planted. Is liquid co2 better? I was using flourish excel before I started using pressurized co2 a while ago. Right now my plants are; staurogyne repens, ophiopogon japonica grass, cabomba, ederia densa, anubias barteri nana golden, El Niño fern, ludwigia repens x arcuata , amazon swords, peacock moss, marchantia, staurogyne repens, duckweed. What fertilizers do you recommend? Thanks so much for your input! This is my first planted tank and I'm obsessed! It doesn't seem like pet stores know as much as you guys! I set my timer on my lights to go on at 12-8pm. I will try to purchase a uv sterilizer as soon as possible.

 

[Rivercats]

I'm surprized the Excel didn't melt your elodia! I only use Glutaraldehyde, generic Excel, because I just can't bring myself to trying to add CO2. If you have CO2 by all means use it! Just be sure to talk to those who have them to be sure your doing things correctly.

Sounds like you have a nice variety of plants. Post a picture if you can as I'd love to see it.... well once we can see it lol. Here's my tank if you want to see mine... http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f70/220g-planted-newly-rescaped-231568.html

As for ferts I get mine from Greenleaf Aquariums. This is the mix I buy and use... Micro & Macro | Aquarium Fertilizer | Green Leaf Aquariums. It has both your macro and micro ferts you need.

I use these dosing bottles... Fertilizer Dispenser | 1000 mL (32 oz) | Green Leaf Aquariums. I buy 3, one for micro ferts, 1 for nitrates, 1 for phosphate and potassium. Normally people mix the three macro ferts together but found by mixing just nitrates and then the P&P in seperate dosing bottles I have more flexibilitiy of adjusting their dosing amounts. I run a low nitrate tank so by it being in a seperate bottle I can dose less of it but the regular amount of potassium and phosphates. Also you want to add 5ml of Excel or Glut to every 250ml of micro and macro solution to keep the solutions from getting moldy.

I dose PPS-Pro system. Here is a link with a good reading but only read the part about the dosing, you don't need to read the posts after... Newbie Guide to PPS-Pro - PPS Analysis and Feedback - Aquatic Plant Central

One last note... you will notice the macro fert mix on the post includes MgSO4 which you don't need to have. Most all tap water unless you have very soft water has plenty of magnesium MgSO4 in it so we don't want to add it to our macro mix.

 

[blert]

RiverCats... You dose Glut into a 220? You will save a fortune if you setup a CO2 system. It is really easy.

 

[Rivercats]

RiverCats... You dose Glut into a 220? You will save a fortune if you setup a CO2 system. It is really easy.

Yep, I only dose Glut and it's pretty cheap at $27 for 2-1/2 gallons. My tank is so balanced part of me is afraid of messing that up. I've looked into CO2 but in the 30+ years I've been in the hobby I just never messed with it. Now I'm alittle intimidated by it and worried something would go wrong since I have no clue as to how to get it all put together and up and running.

 

[Ilovecichlids]

Wow your tank is awesome! Actually it did melt my plant, it was almost dead then grew like crazy when I changed to co2. I started with excel, then started making my own co2 with yeast, then I started using pressurized... And boy dose it make a difference in plant growth.
Thanks so much for the links, I will have to check those ferts out. I bought a UV sterilizer today and the tank already looks better!
Here are some pictures of my tank (before green algae)
I do filter with peat so the water is a little dark.

 

[Ilovecichlids]

Look how much my banana plants have grown since the algae bloom... Crazy!

 

[Ilovecichlids]

+1 to above statements.

1bps is probably doing a lot of nothing as far as your CO2 injection goes. Do you have a drop checker?

I don't have a drop checker I will get one of those soon, just a bubble counter.

 

[blert]

I don't have a drop checker I will get one of those soon, just a bubble counter.

Don't forget the 4dKH solution.

 

[Rivercats]

Wow your tank is awesome! Actually it did melt my plant, it was almost dead then grew like crazy when I changed to co2. I started with excel, then started making my own co2 with yeast, then I started using pressurized... And boy dose it make a difference in plant growth.
Thanks so much for the links, I will have to check those ferts out. I bought a UV sterilizer today and the tank already looks better!
Here are some pictures of my tank (before green algae)
I do filter with peat so the water is a little dark.

I like the tank alot. There are a few plants and mosses that are sensitive to Excel & Glut. The UV should clear up the tank within about 24 hours and then you'll have it for back up if needed, they work great on bacterial blooms too. I have organic soil under my Eco-complete so my tank has alot of peat in it but I also use Indian Almond leaves. The tannins are good for the fish as they not only help soften water but the tannins have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.

 

[Ilovecichlids]

I like the tank alot. There are a few plants and mosses that are sensitive to Excel & Glut. The UV should clear up the tank within about 24 hours and then you'll have it for back up if needed, they work great on bacterial blooms too. I have organic soil under my Eco-complete so my tank has alot of peat in it but I also use Indian Almond leaves. The tannins are good for the fish as they not only help soften water but the tannins have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.

I'm looking on eBay now for Indian almond leaves but they come in different grades, does the grade matter? How much do you put in your filter and how often do you change it? Thanks so much for your help!