I screwed up!

[russianaquarium]

I need some serious help from you guys. My water turned green/cloudy for no reason, it started off a little until it got so deep cloudy that you barely can see the fish. Its a 60 gallon aquarium, with 2 48 inch 6500K t8's and 2 13'' led strips. I only added API Co2 into it, its a new set up but I stocked it really fast, because of an emergency. I had all the fish in the 30 gallon which went streight into the 60 and there was about 15 fish, then my friend was leaving to Colorado and he dumped about 10 more fish in in like 3 weeks. I don;t overfeed and the water parameters are normal. What is wrong and what can I do. The actual problem is that 5 fish already died. I think that was because I dumped too many algae chemicals at once (My Big Mistake). I added algae control, no more algae, and algae tablets all at the same time haha OOOPS Never do that guys very bad idea. I did this because we were expecting company and aquarium looked so ugly that i tried fixing it quick. 2 fish jumped out of the tank, a guirami and a danio. And 3 died in the tank. What is wrong and how do I fix this? I can't buy those UV sterilizers because I don't have the money right now. Whats an easy way to fix this? Thanks sorry for long post.
Parameters:
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
PH: 7.5
KH: 120
Gh: 120
Filtration:
7x tank amount.

 

[TMaier]

There is always a reason.

Too many nutrients and too much light.

Reduce both and invest in a UV sterilizer to clear up the green water.

 

[Ketso]

I'd do a water change and cover it for a few days. On the plus side, that snail is thinking he is at a grand buffet.

 

[russianaquarium]

Is it algae or bacteria boom? What do I do? Will it hurt my fish? Will it go away by itself? And Ketso do you mean turn off the light? Would a UV reptile light help the same as uv sterilizer?

 

[Barliman]

It's just "green water" -- a bloom of free floating algae. There's a good section on it at this page:

http://www.bubblesaquarium.com/images/home mid_photo/Article on Algae/freshwater_algae.htm

It's annoying, but not hard to treat.

 

[milliemouse]

Do a 50% water change and then keep the lights off for a couple days, I would also recommend fasting your fish for a couple of days too so that the water pollution is kept to a minimum!

 

[Kaneu]

There is always a reason.

Too many nutrients and too much light.

Reduce both and invest in a UV sterilizer to clear up the green water.

I second this.
Buy a large uv sterilizer. And let it run 24/7. Shut your lights off for several days and if it is in an area where lots of light from house or windows is present, cover it with a towel or blanket. I would only turn them on for about 30 mins a day when you feed your fish and that's it.

This happened to my 150g tank when I first started it up. I did the same thing, transfer about 25 fish from a 55g tank to the new tank and added bacteria to help avoid an ammonia spike and that happened.

Once you reduce light and get a uv sterilizer in place, you just got to play the waiting game.

 

[russianaquarium]

I don't have the money right now for a sterilizer this tank already costed me 500$ im sick of dumping money into it. Would a UV light work? Thanks guys for all the replies

 

[Kaneu]

I don't have the money right now for a sterilizer this tank already costed me 500$ im sick of dumping money into it. Would a UV light work? Thanks guys for all the replies

A uv light would do more harm than good by just placing it on the top. Also the bacteria(algae) needs to spend a certain amount of time within a close proximity of the uv in order to kill it. There are some that are on the cheaper side. Dr. Foster and Smith website sales them at a decent price. But if this is not an option at all right now, just leave the lights off and cover the tank with a blanket or towels for several days/weeks. This method alone will just take longer.

As for the money thing, that is what aquariums do. It is an expensive hobby. I have 3 tanks and I dump alot of money and time into them. A lot of trial and error. The only thing that can justify why I do it is because I love it so much. Being able to have a well established tank and watching the fish grow and thrive is very rewarding to me. But definitely is a long and frustrating road to get there.
Patience is key

Good luck

 

[Brookster123]

You need a uv sterilizer. You could try a couple huge wcs followed by a 6 day blackout but it's a gamble. Call your lfs and see if they rent them. Mine does.

 

[TMaier]

Too long of a blackout and your plants are at risk.

 

[flchamp89]

Try daily wc worked before there was uv.

 

[Ketso]

Try daily wc worked before there was uv.

I agree. Nobody "needs" a uv sterilizer. Other methods worked just fine before the uv sterilizer was invented.

 

[kashif314]

I am in favor of UV Sterilizer. Shutting down lights for long have other side effects. A UV sterilizer will take like five days to turn this water crystal clear.

 

[russianaquarium]

Alright im going to try daily water changes with lights out. See what happens, what you guys think about algae killers? Liquid ones that are safe for fish and plants. Thanks

 

[nirbhao]

No algae killers!

I'm curious about your nitrates. Was your 30 gallon cycled? Did you move any of that filter media? You could have both a bacterial bloom and algae bloom going on at the same time.

 

[flchamp89]

Ammonia and high light are two triggers id look at

 

[Kaneu]

No algae killers!

I second this! They are liquid dead the aquariums

 

[Delapool]

Ammonia and high light are two triggers id look at

Agree. Although I haven't tested it much on ammonia, I've found a stable tank may be ok (eg add root tabs and get a small ammonia spike), in an immature tank I've found ammonia seems to help algae along (although this doesn't explain cycling tanks as many don't get green water algae blooms).

 

[Scottishscales]

I had this problem frequently and had to deal with it often.

I tried liquid algae killers, don't bother they don't touch it and are a waste of money

tried less light meh didn't really help,

nitrates were a problem in my tank but I couldn't reduce them without water changes frequently so I gave up on that lol

Last thing I tried worked like a charm and I think it cost me a dollar at the local dollar store....

Black trash bags. Cover your tank with them and leave the light off for a week. Your plants will be fine, mine were and your fish don't really care as long as they get fed. I made sure the tank was completely blacked out with a way to feed the fish and I left it like that. After the week you starve the algae of light and it dies. Your filter cleans it out of the water and you can use settling drops made by a company called accurelf to get the dead stuff to clump together. Haven't had a single issue with green water since.

Good luck