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	Cloudy Water...
General Hague Enthusiast Posts: 182 Kudos: 81 Votes: 3 Registered: 29-Jun-2007	I have my 20 Gallon H tank at college now. There is plants and fish in there. Unfortunately now the water has gone cloudy with a greenish tinge to it. So I did a 25% water change and scraped the alage off the sides of the tank with a scraper, and also changed the filter cartiage for the power filter. So is this something I should be concerned with? I don't like it since my tank doesn't look as nice now and it's harder to see the fish. Also got a 130 watt light, it has 2 bulbs at 65 watts each.
Posted 29-Aug-2007 04:42
longhairedgit Fish Guru Lord of the Beasts Posts: 2502 Kudos: 1778 Votes: 29 Registered: 21-Aug-2005	Edited by longhairedgit Thats a 20 gallon with 130 watts in it...6.5 wpg jeez. I can grow plants perfecty well on less than half that That cloudiness would be green algae in the water.If the tank is still in overstock you have your explanation, nitrate takeup, failing that its all down to macronutrients, phosphates etc. Presumably a plant guru will explain that much better than me. Iiiiinnnngggooooo!
Posted 29-Aug-2007 05:13
superlion Mega Fish Posts: 1246 Kudos: 673 Votes: 339 Registered: 27-Sep-2003	Unless you have live plants, just don't light it for a while and that should take care of the algae... Green water is caused by any of many kinds of planktonic algae. ><>
Posted 29-Aug-2007 05:45
eat_ham222 Banned Posts: 97 Kudos: 72 Votes: 16 Registered: 20-Jul-2007	Super lights! O.o With wattages like that..... It's probably gain that algea back really fast. Try seeing if the LFS has any tablets for that, and for green water. This is no help sorry
Posted 29-Aug-2007 05:59
keithgh Ultimate Fish Guru Posts: 6371 Kudos: 6918 Votes: 1542 Registered: 26-Apr-2003	To start off with turn the lights off for at least 48hrs then try with one bulb only. If that does not work you will have to change your lighting system. Plants live or fake. Fish what is in the tank size etc. *Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info* Look here for my Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos Keith Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do. I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT? VOTE NOW VOTE NOW
Posted 29-Aug-2007 06:42
General Hague Enthusiast Posts: 182 Kudos: 81 Votes: 3 Registered: 29-Jun-2007	I bought some alage killer chemical thing a couple of days ago before this thing happened. I haven't used it yet since I have crustacions in the tank, and it said not to use it with crustacions. I could take them out temporarily though and put them in my brother's tank at my house. Should I use that stuff? Also if I left the lights off for 48 hours, wouldn't that kill my plants?
Posted 29-Aug-2007 07:34
Joe Potato Fish Addict Kind of a Big Deal Posts: 869 Votes: 309 Registered: 09-Jan-2001	If it says to not use it with inverts, it is probably copper based. It should say on the label. If it is copper based, I wouldn't use it at all. Even if you use carbon after you're done treating the tank, sometimes it can be really hard to remove all the copper from a tank and when you put the inverts back in, they might still die anyway. As far as turning off your lights, your plants will be fine for 2 days. They all have big sugar storage reserves, so they can just feed themselves off those. Once you turn the lights back on, they'll just replenish their supply.
Posted 29-Aug-2007 11:25
catdancer Big Fish Mad Scientist Posts: 471 Kudos: 138 Votes: 13 Registered: 15-Apr-2007	Edited by catdancer Do 'siesta' lighting: two lighting blocks of 5 hours each interrupted by 2 to 3 hours with lighting turned off. Works miracles and is based on plant physiology: algae need need more than 5 hours of lighting to perform photosynthesis, while higher developed plants get by easily with 5 hour blocks. My tank is practically algae free and I have to feed my algae eaters to prevent starving.
Posted 29-Aug-2007 15:09
Carissa Hobbyist Posts: 73 Kudos: 37 Votes: 0 Registered: 10-Aug-2007	Removing or killing the algae with anything is only a quick fix that won't last if you don't address the problem. You should probably reduce your lighting to about 2 - 3 wpg, whether you replace or remove bulbs to do this, with all that light you will only have problems. Are you doing co2/fertilizers?
Posted 29-Aug-2007 17:37
kantankerousmind Hobbyist Posts: 57 Kudos: 34 Votes: 9 Registered: 11-May-2006	dont forget to factor in temp.. if you keep your tank on the higher end of temp range while your siesta lighting your plants will phosythesize better.. cooler tank will not so as well if the tank is meant to be warm.
Posted 30-Aug-2007 15:42
friedrice Hobbyist Posts: 87 Kudos: 72 Votes: 3 Registered: 14-Aug-2004	Edited by friedrice If you got money then go for a uv sterilizer, otherwise just lower your lighting levels. It might been because you overfeed or overstock...all a balancing act really. Heaps of web articles out there that you can google. Had this problem and it drove me crazy. Cheers, friedrice
Posted 31-Aug-2007 08:40
General Hague Enthusiast Posts: 182 Kudos: 81 Votes: 3 Registered: 29-Jun-2007	The reasons why the water got cloudy are: 1. Powerful lights 2. PH level different at college vs at house So I removed all crustaceans from the tank and they are back in my brother's tank at my house. Unfortunately I don't have my shrimp in my tank any more, but I care more about the fish though. so I added algae killing treatment to the water. The water crystal clear. It says to continue dosage every 3 days to keep algae down. The product I used was so successful that in a matter of hours, the water was clear.
Posted 06-Sep-2007 17:44
sham Ultimate Fish Guru Posts: 3369 Kudos: 2782 Votes: 98 Registered: 21-Apr-2004	First ph has not a single thing to do with your cloudy water or algae growth. Second algae killers are very very bad. They have a chance of killing your fish, if they are copper based you may never be allowed to put the inverts back in without killing them, and they don't work. Sure the algae might die for today but if you don't fix the cause of the algae it'll be back next week and you'll definitely kill the fish if you dump algae killers in every few weeks. To fix the problem you need to balance the tank better. Either increase the number of plants and the number of fast growing plants while adding co2 or lower the light to around 2wpg. The plants are not outcompeting the algae meaning there either isn't enough of them or they can't grow fast enough. Lack of co2 may be the cause of them not growing fast enough or you just don't have enough fast growing plants. If you don't want to go all out with tons of plants and co2 injection then I suggest you keep your lighting lower. Otherwise you will see the algae again and it will get worse.
Posted 06-Sep-2007 18:35


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