Yellow cloudy water

[ace1uno_00]

Here's the set up.
30 gallon tall tank. freshwater.
eclipse 3 filter (250 gph)
100 wat heater.
substrate: play sand.
and a piece of malaysian driftwood.

I cannot get my water clear at all. It's not the drifwood because i boiled it until it didnt release any more tannins and i placed it in the tank while it was cycling and the water stayed clear. The tanks occupants are 6 takifugu puffers and a pleco. The water stayed clear for about 2 weeks then it started to get cloudy so i used to accuclear, that didnt help. so then i changed the filter. Used some algae destroyer, nothin....... that didnt help. so i did a major water change that did nothing.
All my water parameters are fine. Now the water is turning yellow/cloudy green. what could this be?
some type of crazy algae?
I have never had a problem with cloudy/yellow/green water before.

Any suggestions?

 

[greenmaji]

What color is the water? it has a green tent to it..?
Do you have a PO4 testkit?
If so do you have a PO4 reading?

 

[ace1uno_00]

Yes, the water is greenish. smells like and looks like liquid algae.
What would it mean if my phosphate is too high or too low?

 

[jrp1588]

I think algae love phosphates.

 

[greenmaji]

If you can get rid of the phospahtes your greenwater will go away.. Take a shot at searching for greenwater here on the forum.. this is a common problem.. HTH ace!

 

[mollielover]

how long are you leaving your lights on for?

 

[ace1uno_00]

I leave the light on for like 9 hrs of the day for the last month. but im starting to cut that down.
So algae loves phosphate? what can i used to decrease phosphate?
and BTW welcome to AA mollielover!

 

[jrp1588]

Umm, I bought this.

http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...older_id=2534374302030041&bmUID=1122339146801

Greenmaji will tell you to feed less and turn off the filter during feeding. It worked for me, I came here with an algae problem and followed his advice, and my algae is in its dying gasps.

 

[ace1uno_00]

stuff looks good. thanks jrp. i'll have to try that.
jrp did you have to do alot of major water changes to get it clear also?

 

[megladonsharky]

I bought a new food semi soft and it dyed all my tanks a blue green color..

 

[jrp1588]

I had a different kind of algae. So it wasn't clouding up the water, just covering the decorations and plants.

 

[greenmaji]

chemicals are a bad way to go to get rid of green water.. if you would have done a search for greenwater hear on AA I have listed off the ways of reducing PO4 the natural ways...
water changes(big ones)
reduce feedings to what the fish can eat in 40-60seconds once a day
turn off the filter while feeding
make sure to gravel vac. under all decorations (deep gravel vac)
make sure the intake to your filter is clean and the inside of the housing is clean..
just to name a few off the top of my head.. decaying food is a high contributor to PO4...

 

[greenmaji]

and get a PO4 testkit to make sure there isnt any PO4 coming from your tapwater...
that and so you can monitor the PO4 in the tank...

 

[ace1uno_00]

thanks greenmagi. Well the problem is over. I tore the tank apart and washed EVERYTHING in hot water and a mild soap. i placed all of the puffers in a 12 Gal eclipse tank for overnight im going to use that instant cycle stuff. its worked before... but the tank is clear now. lol It stained my airline hose yellow. looks gross. so i replaced it. but if this comes back i wont know what to do.
i have done and will repeat your advice. thanks....

 

[greenmaji]

If it comes back youll need to find the cause.. like the tapwater or the feeding.. there is a chance that if it was overfeeding or something was just dirty with leftover food that your cleaning will have done the trick.. otherwise it might come back.. sorry about the good then bad news..

 

[ace1uno_00]

lol
thanks.
I feed the puffers freeze dried plankton. its never caused a problem before. but i have been turning off the filter when feeding and feeding them less. Hopefully that green water will not reoccur.