Green Water in 155 Gallon Aquarium

[skeetw]

I have a 155 Gallon Saltwater Aquarium with Green Water and Alage. I do water changes and keep my filters clean do all of the Maintanance on my Aquarium everthing I have done hasn't worked I was told to add Coralife Marine Clarifier to help on the Alage in the Aquarium but my water went from light Green to Dark Green. I was told ALGONE would make water clear again can someone tell if this is TRUE. I have done everything but I don't want to do a 155 Gallon water change. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME WILL ALGONE HELP CLEAR THE WATER IN MY AQUARIUM ???????????
Thanks
Skeetw

 

[fishman88]

i am sortof a newbe so dont listen to me but i say that if it is not realy dark and the water is fine keep it like that it sould put a kind of oceany spin on yr tank cuz the atlantic is sortof green. i say keep it
mike

 

[krunk]

what kind of lighting do you have?

 

[logan15]

look I had the same prob for 2 weeks in my tank and yes I dont recommend it but I used a micron filter and this pond algae remover that bulks up the suspended algae in the water also it got clear but not crystal so I burrowed my dads 8watt uv light and dang now my tank is crystal clear its amazing
Hope this helps,
I feel your pain
Logan

 

[thomas712]

Skeetw - I believe that putting additives in you water will not solve the problem, we need to find out what is causing the green water in the first place.
What is your water source?
Please post your water paramiters!
What are your means of filtration?
What are your lighting specs? Watts, age of bulbs, spectrum?
How long are the lights on?
Are they standard, VHO, PC, MH?
Are you running carbon? if not do so.
Do you have a protien skimmer?
What and how often do you feed?
Give us all you can about your tank, INCLUDING the water paramiters. ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, phosphates anything that you or your LFS can test for.
Thomas

 

[skeetw]

I have a 155 Gallon Bow Front Aquarium with 2 Emperor 400's and a large Whisper on the back of the Aquarium. I also have a Magnum 350 under the Cabinet with plenty of Carbon in the Magnum. On the left side of the Aquarium I have a Powerhead and a Skimmer plus a Heater. The Aquarium was setup by the Manager at Pets America who maintained the Aquarium every month until last month when Pets America closed. All of my Test are at Zero and the water is 1.023. The tank as been setup for 6 months and for the Lighting is ( 4 ) 30 Watt Blubs that came with the Aquarium and they are on a Timer and stay on 8 Hours a day.
My E-Mail Address is Skeetw@mindspring.com if you would like to send me a E-mail. I had a 50 Gallon Aquarium for several Years but I never had a problem like this that Aquarium.
I need some help I have do everything I know to do. The only oher thing I didn't say was I do water changes with Tap Water but I used tap water in the 50 Gallon Aquarium with no problems.
PLEASE HELP

 

[skeetw]

I have been using Tap Water for years now the water in the 155 Gallon Aquarium is Green. Everything in the water checks good.
Skeetw

 

[thomas712]

We need to work on a process of elimination of things to find the problem, it could also be a combination of things.
The first impulse of experienced marine aquarium keepers is to say that tap water is bad. Depending on your municipal water treatment plant your water can contain many things that are bad for your tank like, Nitrates, phosphates, heavy metals, chlorine, chloramine...just to name a few. Nitrates and Phosphates are the major food for algea that can turn your water green, grow hair algea the list goes on. If you have either the Nitrates or Phosphates then you need to do water changes combined with a phosphate remover in the canister filter, as well as running fresh carbon.
The best way to help prevent unwanted compounds in your water is to do waterchanges and top off's with RO/DI water.
Mix your waterchange water for at least 24 hours, with powerhead,heater, and aeriate it, before use. Match the temp and salinity before adding to the main tank.
Lighting - if your bulbs spectrum goes below 5000k you are giving the algea a perfect enviroment to grow. If your bulbs are old then it may be the cause of your green algea and it may be time to replace them.
Good to see you have a skimmer. could you tell me what kind it is and how well it is working? The skimmer will help oxygenate the water and remove DOC's. The DOC's can also be used by algea as food.
Overfeeding can cause problems as well, any uneaten food can decay and windup sending the nitrates up giving the algea something to feed on.
Questions for you: Please answer them
What type of substrate do you have?
Once again exactly what did you test for? I'm going to be point blank here as you did not answer the question. Stating that your tests are fine or at 0 does not say what you tested for, nor does it give us any clues to help you.
If you have green water than I can tell you for a fact there is something wrong with your chemistry. Now it may be that your reading for Nitrates are at 0, however the algea present in your tank may be using the nitrates as fast as they are produced as well as feeding off of the phosphates. It could be that your test is wrong and the test kit is outdated. They do go bad.
So please give us the tests that you can test for and tell me what type of test kit you are using. We will go from there.
Thomas

 

[skeetw]

I do water changes at 25% of the 155 Gallon Aquarium. The Lights are 6 Months old they are GE Aqua Rays Fresh & Saltwater 30 Watt bulbs 2 Bulbs on each side on the Aquarium for a total of 120 Watts. The Bulbs came with the Aquarium when I purchased the Aquarium 6 Months Ago. I'm using a Visi Jet Skimmer that is new and does a good job. No I'm not overfeeding my fish. The P.H is 8.2 the Ammonia is 0 the Nitrite is 0 the Nitrate is 0 and I have Bio Wheels on the 2 Emperor 400's . I have as much Carbon in the Magnum 350 as I can put plus all of th other Filter have Carbon in them.
Do I need to turn the lights off on the Aquarium for a FEW DAYS ??????????
Thanks For Your Help
SkeetW

 

[thomas712]

OK if it were me at this point I would:
Take a clean glass and fill it with water from your tank. Take it to where you have good light and examin it to see if it is green even is the good light or even sunlight. If it is clear we will have to do some rethinking.
If your tank has a glass cover under the lights then check to see if it needs cleaning.
If all that is cool then I would.
Test my own tap water.
Buy new lights bulbs.
Most definatly, most infatically, do a water change using RO Water. Look at Meijer or Wallmart for the RO veniding machiens. or get an RO unit yourself.
Change the carbon every week for a few weeks, and run a phosphate sponge/ remover.
Thats were I would start.
You may also try cutting the photo period down and see if that helps.
Let me know what you decide as a course of action.
Thomas
PS what is your substrate. Crushed coral or Sand?

 

[skeetw]

I have sand in my 155 Gallon Aquarium. Can I get water to do water changes .
Skeetw

 

[thomas712]

Places like Meijers or Walmart may carry RO water machines, another alternative is to look in the phone book under water for places that sell just water or other water solutions and see if they can sell you some of the used 5 gallon water bottles that they use for the water coolers at offices. I've even seen those bottles for sale at K-Mart. Those 5 gallon jugs are great for transporting the water. So yes you can get water for a water change.
Did you take a sample of your water out and look at it to see if it was still green?
Thomas

 

[hairtrigger]

One important, possibly easy fix I don't believe anyone has asked is:
Is your tank near a window?
Eg, does sunlight, at anytime throughout the day, penetrate directly, or strongly into the tank?
If so:
MOVE IT.

 

[hairtrigger]

PS--- Or just close the window blinds. Because I know about moving a tank that big, especially when established as a reef.
IT BITES.

 

[skeetw]

My Aquarium water is Green and I have done everything I know to do if I add a Hamlimeda Plant or a Shaving Bush Plant would this help me with my problem with Green water ???????
I have a 155 Gallon in my Living room that was Pretty as a Picture and now all I see is Green Water. I need some help should I turn the lights off that are staying on for 8 hours a Day ??????????
Skeetw

 

[timo]

I know this is the lamest question and it hinges on Thomases' suggestion of looking at a sample of your water in a seperate container, but is your glass clean?
(sorry, had to)

 

[melissa v.]

Don't apologize tim, a friend of my brother's kept saying his water was green and hazy and my brother just said in jest well clean the glass, well you guessed it he cleaned the glass (on the inside) and his water was crystal clear.
Now can we all hear a DUH!!!!!!!!(SORRY I COULDN'T RESIST)
Melissa V.

 

[skeetw]

My 155 Gallon Aquarium is 14 FT from the window and the 55 Gallon Aquarium that I had sit about 7 FT from the window. What do I do 50 % water change with water from Walmart because I don't have R/O water ??????????????
Skeetw

 

[timo]

OK, but did you check the glass?
Oh, no water...buy some at WalMart.

 

[thomas712]

50% water changes are a bit drastic. At the most I would only do 30% if things are in poor condition but since you say that your test scores are good then I would go with some weekly 10% to 20% water changes using RO water and a good salt mix.
Repeat 10% to 20% weekly water changes until you have replaced all of the water in your system, or the green is gone.
Thomas