water is turning green

tommykylie

tommykylie

New Member
Hi All!
I am new to this list and pretty new to SW fish. I have had my tank up and running for a year in March. I haven't had any problems with my tank until this past week, all the sudden my water has turned green and cloudy looking. I have done multiple water changes (of about 20-30%ea. time) and it's not helping at all!! I have also changed and cleaned the filters on the tank thinking this may help (it didn't). I also have a cannister filter but I don't know how to clean that. I also took apart the protein skimmer and cleaned it. I have turned down the lighting ( I have a power compact w?10k? and blue acintinic and also a reg. flourescent light w/ reef lights), right now I am only using the flourescent lights and keeping the power compacts off. It looks like the water is full of algae, although I didn't have excessive algae in the tank before the water turned. I haven't done anything different to the tank. I did top the tank off a couple of days before this happened with treated water (about 6gal. of water). The only other thing I can think of is I added a new fish that disappeared after a day (I think it may have jumped out of the tank). i don't know what else to do to clear the water up. I do have water clarifiers but the container says for FW tanks only so I haven't used it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!:cheer:
 
arkey.d

arkey.d

Member
Measure your phosphates. You want them to be zero. High phosphates can cause algea blooms. If they are high, you can get Phosphate Out or similar product to eliminate the phosphates.... You can also get media to put into your canister filter to eliminate phosphate...
 
vinoreefer

vinoreefer

New Member
I would find out how to clean the cannister filter and the fish,whats left of it, is prob still in your tank.
 
reefraff

reefraff

Active Member
You don't by chance have macro algae (plants) do you? Some species go sexual and will turn the water green in an effort to propagate..
 
alohami

alohami

Member
Could be that your bulbs need to be replaced. I have heard of them causing algae problems when they are getting old. That probably isn't all that's causing your problem, but it could be contributing to it.
 
scubadoo

scubadoo

Active Member
You probably have filter pads in the cannister filter. Those need to be cleaned weekly. You need to find out how to do that. It will cause high nitrates if left uncleaned. ....and assist with algae growth and/or red slime.
 
tommykylie

tommykylie

New Member
Hi Everyone!:D Thanks for the help. I'm going to check the phospates now and also try and take apart the cannister filter to see if it has foam pads in it. I thought it just had sand in it but I don't really know for sure since I've never taken it apart before!!:confused: I am pretty sure I don't have any macro algae although I'm not too sure what it is. The only algae I had was the red velvety looking one on the sand and alittle bit of green on the glass and rocks. My lite bulbs were replaced in Sept. so I think they're still good. My fish don't look like they are in distress except for the fact that they want more food (I cut back on feedings hoping that might help). I was wondering how often can I change the water without hurting the fish? Also how much water can I safely change at a time? Thanks again for all the replies!!:cheer: I'm going to go work on the tank a now!!:happyfish
 
scubadoo

scubadoo

Active Member
The red algae is red slime...really not algae and caused by high nitrates and nutrients in the water. Do a search here on red slime for possible action to take.
As for water changes, I like making smaller weekly water changes of 5%.
 
tommykylie

tommykylie

New Member
Hi, Well I tested my phospates and they are ok I think (.05). My nitrates weren't so good though!! help: They were .08 which is high according to my instructions!! I tested all my levels last on Jan.12 and everything was where they should be. What could have caused this spike?confused: Right before I tested I did take apart the cannister filter and clean it and replace the cartridge. ( It was really dirty and stinky, I will definately be cleaning this more often!!), could this have caused the spike? I did a partial water change and pulled out as much of the red algae as I could get. BTW, that was a great article on red slime!! Any other suggestions on lowering the nitrate level? My fish are still acting fine. I think I may be over feeding them though, I've been feeding twice a day which is probally what caused the red slime to form!! My tank is slightly clearer but still green and cloudy looking. I'm afraid all the water changes will hurt the fish. What else can I do to get it clear again??? Thanks again!! Shelley
 
arkey.d

arkey.d

Member
Well, certainly with the canister filter being so dirty that probably was the culprit in the nitrate spike. They need to be cleaned monthly so they don't become nitrate factories.
I would give it a couple of days now that ya got everything clean, see if it clears up some.
 
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