AHHH!! need help! my water turned green!?

[95accord]

my water turned green 2 days ago. at first i thgouht it might be a bacterial bloom butit hasnt gone away.
what can i do to rectify this?

i did a water change a couple days earlier and tested the params. here's what i had;

PH 8.0
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
amonia 0.10
PO4 0.10
salinity 1.025
temp 27C

fish are in qt with some good water.


any tips/advise? should i just do water changes and wait it out?

[Vinnie71975]

Originally posted by 95accord
my water turned green 2 days ago. at first i thgouht it might be a bacterial bloom butit hasnt gone away.
what can i do to rectify this?

i did a water change a couple days earlier and tested the params. here's what i had;

PH 8.0
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
amonia 0.10
PO4 0.10
salinity 1.025
temp 27C

fish are in qt with some good water.


any tips/advise? should i just do water changes and wait it out?

Any Foul or Off Smells? Is it a Clear with a greenish tint or Solid cant see in the tank green? could it be some sort of algae bloom?

[95accord]

clear with a greenish tint. no smell.

algae bloom in the water? how to i get get rid of it? will it eventualy dicipate like a bacterial bloom in water?

[BangkokMatt]

Its either an algae or phyto bloom. Do a series of water changes (25%) and run carbon, change every 5 days). Its not a major problem so no panics. Run a UV if you have one.

[95accord]

no UV...but its on the list for after xmas.

water changes galor it is.

is it safe for the fish or should they stay in QT?

[BangkokMatt]

If they are in qt already I would leave them there until its cleared.

[Sk8r]

If you own a cannister filter, insert a 1 micron filter or use a 1 micron filter sock. If you have a diatom filter, use that: it'll be clean in half an hour.

[Myrddraal]

Now would be a good time to start a green water culture too. Your tank has thoughtfully provided the beginning of it for you.

[pvtschultz]

LOL ^^^

I cleared mine up by running a UV sterilizer. It only took about two days to clear up. Water changes didn't do anything for me but I wasn't using RO/DI water either. If you aren't using RO/DI, water changes are probably going to be a waste of time IMO. Maybe move Christmas up a couple weeks. Oh, leave the tank lights off and prevent natural sunlight from entering the tank. Skimmer will help once everything starts dying, but a good 1 micron filter will help to strain everything out.

[95accord]

Originally posted by Myrddraal
Now would be a good time to start a green water culture too. Your tank has thoughtfully provided the beginning of it for you.

??? hun?? whats a green water culture?

[pvtschultz]

You grow phyto (green water) to feed to rotifers to feed to your tank. Some dose the greens directly, some just use it to raise the rotifers. The phyto is a good food for filter feeders (clams, and some corals as well as pods).

[Myrddraal]

Here's a good link from Melev on green water (Phyto). If you're raising fish larva you'll want it, or to feed to some corals.

http://www.melevsreef.com/phytoplankton.html

[95accord]

i might set a bucket aside.


is this water "safe" for my fish/inverts in the mean time?

[seapug]

Something is way off if you are showing 0 trates/trites but ammonia of .10

Sounds like your tank hasn't even begun to cycle. If those readings are right I'd try to get the fish out.

[95accord]

i think the algae might be eating all of them up affecting my readings tho.
but the tank has cycled and has been running for a few months now.

[95accord]

just purchased a 9w UV sterilizer this morning. ive been doing about 10% water changes every other day. Replaced all carbons and filters. ill be keeping up with the water changes and see how it turns out if it rectifies the problem.
thanks for the advise

[pvtschultz]

I'm not sure how big your tank is, but I used a very small PH to pump water through the UV sterilizer. I think it was rated at like 250 gph which was significantly reduced trying to pump water through there. What are you using for water? If you are using tap water, you are only prolonging this dilemma and you'd be better off not changing water until this is cleared up. Most tap water contains nitrates and phosphates which are both fertilizers. Water districts add phosphate to the water to precipitate out some of the calcium dissolved in the water to line the water pipes. This prevents the leaded joints in the plumbing from leaching lead into your drinking water. It also wrecks havoc on aquarists who use tap water.

Go through my gallery and you'll see what my tank looked like during the phyto bloom and shortly after it so you'll know if you are making progress.

[95accord]

i started up with treated tap water a few months back....had my algae blooms...learned my lesson.......weekly 10% water changes ever since have been with RO water only.


went through your gallery, and yep my tank looks almost identical. hopefully by the end of the week end it should have cleared up.
had the lights off until i got the UV, started looking slightly lighter green.


PS; tank is a 55gal FOWLR...very basic set-up.

[pvtschultz]

Good. Phyto is a single celled alga so it is pretty easy to kill with UV radiation. SHOULD clear up pretty quick.

[95accord]

update; tank has cleared up nicely now. doing a few extra water changes to help ensure less dead algae matter in the tank water.

thanks for all the help

[pvtschultz]

Just about right. A few days of UV and the phyto subsides. Congrats.