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I have a 40L tank housing 2 veiltail goldfish and a bristlenose, and a 20L housing 10 small, mixed livebearers. Parameters are fine in both tanks. Everything was perfect until our water pump burnt out and had to be replaced. (We have well water) A week or two later the 40gal. developed an algae bloom. I blackened it out for 3 days and it cleared up but within a week it came back. Now the 20gal. is starting to show slightly green water. Can anyone shed any light on why this is happening? The Nitrate in the 40 is 20ppm and in the 20 it's between 5 and 10 so I don't think it's a nutrient problem. Neither tank gets excessive outside light. Thanks for any help.

Hi,
Algae is the result of an abundance of nutrients available
along with light.

The inference, is that with the demise of your pump, the
tanks went without regular water changes for a while and
from that, the nutrients have built up within each tank.

Depending upon the size of the goldfish and the catfish,
that 40G tank could be "filled" with fish. The ones that
are in there are classed as "messy eaters" and leave
fragments of food laying about on the bottom of the tank.

A similar situation in the smaller tank (cessation of water
changes for a while) combined with sunlight would give
green water a chance to start up.

I suspect that with the pump replaced, a good
vacuum cleaning of the substrate in the 40,
and some "good" water changes of, say, 50% at least weekly,
you should see a return to normal. Likewise, with the
smaller tank, water changes and some light cleaning should
reduce the nutrients to the point where the green water
goes away naturally.

When we installed our well (752 feet deep) I installed a
four wire, 220VAC, horse and a half, pump. I also included
a 50 gallon pressure tank. I could have used a smaller
pressure tank, but with a small tank, the pump turns on and
off more frequently. Some pressure tanks are so small that
just running enough water for boiling potatoes causes the
pressure to drop and the pump to come on. With the larger
pressure tank, our pump turns on about half way through a
shower (for instance) and that lengthens the life of the
pump.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Frank, I age my water regardless of having well water so the tanks get a regular weekly water change. The well pump was replaced the following day. My tanks are plantless so I just use regular flourescent lights from the hardware store and neither are subjected to outside light. The 3 fish in the 40 gal. measure together about 7 inches, minus their tails. If the nutrients were high wouldn't I show higher nitrates? I have cut back to once daily feedings on both tanks and limit the light to 8 hours a day.

Hi,
Actually nitrate is the end result of the Nitrogen Cycle.
That cycle is the result of bacterial action which changes
fish urea (ammonia) to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate.
Plants do get some of their nitrogen from the nitrate.
If the tank does not get sufficient water changes or
gravel vacuuming, Yes, the nitrate levels will increase.
Yours, with a reading of 5, does not indicate that is the
case. However, you should note that in a fish only
tank, you should keep the Nitrate at "0" as there
is nothing in the tank (plants) to use that "5"
degree reading of nitrate up. That makes it "extra"
and food for algae.

The term "nutrients" also refers to the various
elements and compounds that the plants need for growth.
These nutrients come from water changes, introducing
all sorts of elements such as iron, Potassium,
magnesium, calcium, and compounds such as phosphates.

Your fish foods also introduce these nutrients as well.

Algae is an opportunistic critter. By that I mean that
there is a variety of algae to take advantage of darned
near any "variety" of water conditions. Too much iron,
not enough, too much phosphorous, not enough, too much
nitrate, not enough, too much light, not enough, too hot,
too cold, and so on.

Because you don't have live plants in your tank, you would
need to take more precautions to be sure that the
nutrient level in the tanks are kept low.
One of the sources of nutrients could be your own well
water. Depending upon where the well is located
(in farm land?) or the quality of the aquifer you
are pumping out of, and the amount of rain or snow at
the head of the aquifer, your water could contain
varying amounts of nitrate, iron, Calcium,
Magnesium, etc.
If your source of excess nutrients is the well water,
then large water changes won't help. You would have
to install a water treatment system to remove the
nutrients. Perhaps a small R/O system would be an idea.
Keep in mind that the quality of the water in your
well may vary depending upon the season, and amount
of rain or the depth of the snow pack and how fast it
melts off. Also, the various fertilizers used by
farmers or cattle ranchers can work their way into the
well too. This would give you the increase in nutrients
that would tip the scales in favor of algae growth.

If your source is the particular type of food you are
using then lighter feedings, combined with substantial
water changes and gravel vacuuming might be necessary.
You might change the food brand or type.

I doubt that the demise of the water pump is/was the cause
of the appearance of algae. It could simply be a change
of season and the amount of sunlight getting into the room.
Or it could be that the amount of detritus in the
two aquariums has accumulated a point where algae is able
to thrive.

Presuming that the well water is not the problem (the tanks
were fine earlier) substantial water changes are generally
the ideal method of treatment. This dilutes the "soup" and
starves the algae.

Lacking a specific cause, green water is most easily
defeated by the use of a UV light system. Designed to run
24/7 this system will cycle the tank water through the
UV light and that will kill off the algae.

In the long run you have to determine the cause of the
nutrient surplus and resolve it. Blacking out a tank will
kill the current crop of algae, but the spores are every
where and as soon as you open the tank up, the conditions
for algae to blossom are still there, and the algae will
return.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Wow, Frank! That's a lot of information! I thought I was doing really well keeping the nitrates in the 40gal at 20 for dirty goldfish and at 5 in the 20gal. I gravel vac every weekly water change and rinse the filter media in tank water. I totally clean the filter cases monthly.(except for the bio-wheels which I just rinse in tank water) I'm running a Marineland 400 and a Marineland 360 0n the 40 gal. The 20 gal has a Marineland 350 on it. I feed alternately flakes, pellets occasionally, and green veggies when I think of it. I use Hikari and HBH brands. I also use a bite of algae wafers nightly for the bristlenose. Would he get enough to eat if I didn't feed the wafers? My tanks are pretty clean. I tested the well water with my test kit, and there were no nutrients showing. When it was tested by my Culligan dealer it tested for iron and magnesium. (the reason for the water softener). I just did another 50% water change so I'll hope for the best. I think it's an eco thing going on. The 20 is clear as of the moment. I'll keep you posted. Thanks so much for all your help!

Hi,
I'm glad I could help some.
With your feeding routine, you might consider a couple
of things.
The Hikari and HBH brands are considered by many to be
top shelf but take a look at the containers and see
how much protein and fish oil they contain, compared
to other brands.
In a sense, its kind of like a dog food, you want some
of that so they have good, shiny, smooth, coats, and with
fish you want them to have a healthy mucus coat and nice
coloration. But, you can overdo what is necessary.

With the pellets, feed sparingly, and don't leave them
in the tank more than 12 hours. With your goldfish and
the BN their diets parallel each other with the exception
of the BN needing some driftwood to gnaw on.
The difference is when they feed. The goldfish will feed
every time food hits the surface (and below) while the
BN's generally feed (roam) at night in the dark. Dumping
enough food to last the 24 hour period will contaminate
the tank with dissolving and later decaying fish food.
Feed the gold fish a couple of times a day, and only as
much as they eat in a couple of minutes (they will get
enough, they are orange vacuum cleaners ) When feeding
vegetables, rubber band the blanched zucchini to a small
flat rock and plop it in the tank at night, remove what is
left of it the next day.
Blanched peas are another good food.
Feed them the "meat of the pea. After blanching, "pop"
the meat out of the pea and discard the "shell."

Never allow food to stay in the tank longer than 12-24
hours, max - and, if you do, I would immediately do a 50% water change.

Lastly, I would start saving my $$. Those fish are going
to really grow...large. Eventually they will need a much
larger tank. Not only for size and swimming room, but also
because you could be hard pressed to keep the water
conditions optimum with that much body mass of fish in the
tank.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

If I understand correctly, lowering the Ph would essentially kill the Kh, leaving me volnerable to a ph crash??, so I buffer the KH with what ever means, then I am unlikely to get my Ph down??


faris

Hi Faris,
Welcome to Fish Profiles.
Very generally speaking, KH (Carbonate Hardness) is a measure of the water's buffering ability. With everyday life in the aquarium, water has the tendenancy for the pH to increase. Leftover fish food, and waste products from the fish create organic acids. The KH will buffer that and slow the tendency for the pH to increase. We compensate for that by performing regular water changes. The amount and frequency of the periodic water changes depends upon the bioload of the tank (how many fish,snails, and plants, are in the aquarium), and especially, the size of the tank. The more crowded the tank is, the more often, and the larger the quantity of water must be changed. Other variables include the amount and type of fish food, and
"life" if you or someone decides that you have to take a
vacation or spend a weekend somewhere, upsetting your schedule.

As you can see, I'm not talking too specifically as I don't know the reason (cause, or problem) involved in your situation.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--