I am a newbie here, and have a question. Set my 20 gallon tank up 2 months ago, and have been struggling to get my water under control. Had a high nitrite problem, so I rigged up my HOB filter with matrix and filter floss, tossing the carbon filter and the plastic blue bio filter. Brown algae started appearing, and after a few weeks went away- but now water is cloudy with a tinge of green. Been doing weekly water changes -treating with stress coat. Nitrates finally coming down, but now the greenish water problem. Any advice on how to clear this up? Got 4 fish in the tank. 2 mollies and 2 Colombian red blue tetras. Thanks
Help! Green Water
- Thread starter Darkwing
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Green water is usually algae. How long are the lights on for? Is the tank sat in direct sunlight.
If it looks more tea like colouration, that could be tannins. Do you have any driftwood in your aquascape? A clue here could be removing the carbon from the filter which will absorb them.
Try putting some new carbon back in your filter.
If it looks more tea like colouration, that could be tannins. Do you have any driftwood in your aquascape? A clue here could be removing the carbon from the filter which will absorb them.
Try putting some new carbon back in your filter.
I will cut back on the light, it’s usually on from 7am to 10 pm. Tank is not in direct sunlight. Can you give me a heads up on how to put carbon back in the filter? Right now it’s filled with a bag of matrix and filter floss. Don’t know how I would make everything fit , it’s a top fin 20 gallon HOB filter. Thanks for your help
15 hours for the lights is way too much. If you have plants in the tank you should be looking for 6 to 8 hours of lights on for their benefit. Anything beyond that is likely to promote algae growth and green water.
I would say thats your culprit. Dont expect a quick fix by cutting your light, it could take a while for you to see noticable change (unless you are able to go for a complete blackout). Excess nutrients could also be feeding algae. Get your tank cycled and make sure you arent overfeeding.
I would say thats your culprit. Dont expect a quick fix by cutting your light, it could take a while for you to see noticable change (unless you are able to go for a complete blackout). Excess nutrients could also be feeding algae. Get your tank cycled and make sure you arent overfeeding.
You can buy loose carbon that goes in media bags similar to how i think you have your biomax. Or you can buy it pre-bagged. One good reason to have an oversized filter so you have room to put some chemical media when needed.
