why is my water green?

minitrucke

minitrucke

Member
Hey guys, I got this tank from a friend in a trade and it has a boatload of polyps and cabbage in it. He said that he did something and the overflow floded his tank. "I took it all apart and set it up in my room but I used the same water because I didnt have any extra water sitting around and it was about 10:30 at night. Anyways, Why is this water green and why is it staying like this? I tested the water and it is perfect. Will I have to do a total water change or what can I do?
Thanks
 
minitrucke

minitrucke

Member
lol, yea its kinda bad but the picture looks worse than when just looking at it.
I dont know what size it is but my friend says it may be a 47?
its 3 ft long, 16 inches tall and 15 inches from front to back
 
farslayer

farslayer

Active Member
I've had this problem in freshwater before, I believe it is algae in the water. A UV sterilzer will wipe it out, that's what worked for me. I've never had this problem in a saltwater tank though.
 
minitrucke

minitrucke

Member
Is this what you are talking about? I have 2 of them and I was told that they are sterilizers. Have you seen these before? What fitting is the intake and whats the exit?
 
robchuck

robchuck

Active Member

Originally posted by minitrucke
lol, yea its kinda bad but the picture looks worse than when just looking at it.
I dont know what size it is but my friend says it may be a 47?
its 3 ft long, 16 inches tall and 15 inches from front to back
Using the formula of (LxWxH)/231 (where L, W, and H are expressed in inches), I came up with a volume of 37.4 gallons.
 
minitrucke

minitrucke

Member
What should I put the carbon in? The tank has a built in overflow. Do I put it in there with my other filter media? If I just empty the tank half way or 3/4's then fill it up with new water will it cause a spike?
 
minitrucke

minitrucke

Member
I have a crappy air stone powered one but thats it. there really inst a place to mount one like that on my tank though. If I could mount it do you think that would help?
 
tony detroit

tony detroit

Active Member
I would put a good skimmer on it before a UV any day. UV's don't remove waste like a skimmer does. Figure out a way to get a good skimmer on there and start running carbon.
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Ozone baby, Ozone.
I'd get some kind of sump going and load it with carbon and filter floss for a while just to clean that up.
Water changes, using only RO/DI water.
Check the lights for age and replace if necessary.
Hook an ozonizer up to a powerfull skimmer and your water will be clean.
Why is your water green? nutrient problems thats why.
Thomas
 
clarkiiclo

clarkiiclo

Active Member
A UV will work too and is cheaper than alot of ozonizers. At least for us poor people:)
I had one tank break out like that and nothing I did would get rid ot it- water changes, carbon, poly filter.... NOTHIN except for the UV.
Once its there you have to kill it not dilute it.
 
minitrucke

minitrucke

Member
all sound like good ideas but Im one of those poor reefers. Back to my question about the 3/4th water change. Will it cause a spike? I do have another tank to move all the live stuff to if needed
Thanks guys
 
beckzilla

beckzilla

Member
What you have is a large algae bloom. I got one in my FW tank once and got an add on Diatemecous Earth filter and got rid of it in half an hour with no water changes.
 
J

jbk65

Guest
Question about the UV. Everything I have seen on these boards say that UV will kill important organisms in the water that filter feeders rely on to eat along with some other key components.
If this is true, won't the UV do damage to the good things in the water?
JBK65
 
beckzilla

beckzilla

Member

Originally posted by jbk65
Question about the UV. Everything I have seen on these boards say that UV will kill important organisms in the water that filter feeders rely on to eat along with some other key components.
If this is true, won't the UV do damage to the good things in the water?
JBK65
Yes, this is true. When i first setup my tank i wanted to run UV but alot of people said it is too harmful to the beneficial elements in the tank, hence i dont run one.:yes:
 
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