Jump to content

Aquarium water is so green and foggy


Recommended Posts

This problem has been going on for a long time, around 1-2 months, and it’s green water. The aquarium is so foggy, I can’t do anything about it.

I’ve tried various things, like cleaning gravel, changing water more often, dimming lights, I’ve even deep cleaned the gravel, taking it out and rinsing it with warm water. It’s still so foggy, I can’t even see the back of the tank at this point. If you have any advice, please let me know.

A12CE8E9-6DA9-415D-AE2D-422B1DE1ECE0.jpeg

D735F7AD-08BA-4CD9-AC15-956EFCB38763.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The more you clean, the worse it will get, sadly.

Guppysnail found that covering the blue LED lights helps reduce algae. 

Before I offer any more advice:

How long has the tank been set up?

Filtration?

Plants?

Water parameters? (Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH, GH, kH of your tank, and also your tap water if you fill the tank with tap water)

Do you use API, or SeaChem, or some other water conditioner?

What ferts do you use?

What is your stocking?

Each variable interacts with every other variable, and there's no one way that works for everyone because I just listed 18 different variables and left out another dozen.

No criticism, most of us honestly don't realize how many variables are at play when we bring our little bits of nature inside. I just gave you the most common, which comes out to (18)¹⁸ potential reasons for cloudy, green water in your tank.

I'm willing to bet you would prefer a slightly more targeted answer, specific to your tank😅

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Torrey will give you great detailed advice about the BEST and most long term sustainable  way to remedy your issue. For a quick start to a fix (not great long term health and balance solution). Green killing machine makes internal mid price range UV sterilizers and a more affordable clip on for hob filters. This will quickly clear your water (the symptom of the imbalance) but not fix the root cause of the unhealthy imbalance just give you clarity until you make the needed adjustments Torrey can give you. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sponge filter, tank was set up on march 2020, api, easy green ferts, and parameters are all normal. I have two Kuhli loaches, 5 Pygmy cories, and 1 snail, and a baby snail. This is a 5.5g

On 2/12/2022 at 12:24 PM, Torrey said:

The more you clean, the worse it will get, sadly.

Guppysnail found that covering the blue LED lights helps reduce algae. 

Before I offer any more advice:

How long has the tank been set up?

Filtration?

Plants?

Water parameters? (Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH, GH, kH of your tank, and also your tap water if you fill the tank with tap water)

Do you use API, or SeaChem, or some other water conditioner?

What ferts do you use?

What is your stocking?

Each variable interacts with every other variable, and there's no one way that works for everyone because I just listed 18 different variables and left out another dozen.

No criticism, most of us honestly don't realize how many variables are at play when we bring our little bits of nature inside. I just gave you the most common, which comes out to (18)¹⁸ potential reasons for cloudy, green water in your tank.

I'm willing to bet you would prefer a slightly more targeted answer, specific to your tank😅

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/12/2022 at 2:02 PM, Just a Pygmy Corydora said:

Sponge filter, tank was set up on march 2020, api, easy green ferts, and parameters are all normal. I have two Kuhli loaches, 5 Pygmy cories, and 1 snail, and a baby snail. This is a 5.5g

 

My 'normal' parameters are 8.2 pH in 5 tanks. 7.8 pH in a few tanks, and 6.4 pH in my Walstad inspired tank. Which means 1 of my dozen plus tanks isn't toxic if a little ammonia shows up and I miss it.

 

I'm not trying to be difficult by asking for parameters, I have learned that what will fix something in one set of parameters can make it worse in another. 

What parameters are normal for your tank?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a green water problem, heres how I fixed it:

I turned off the light on my aquarium and covered the aquarium in a blanket/ towel to block all lightining. I did this for about 7 days, about a week. The green water had completely dissapeared. This will fix your problem temporarily. One thing to note is that it may take longer then 7 days looking at the state of the water, simply keep the towel on till its clear.

To fix your problem long term you have to balance your aquarium. Theres an inbalance of nutrients which is causing the green water. Theres an exellent video cory made on this I would reccemend that has helped me in all of my algae outbreaks:

Also a video of @Irene:

 Start limiting the lighting, dim the light, and limit the hours its on for in a day. 

Stop dosing as much fertilizer. If I remember correctly @Just a Pygmy Corydora you have fairly easy low tech plants like anubias and moss. I find these plants actuallly dont necesarilly need fertilizer. Only start dosing small amounts when you start seeing the plants could use some fertilizer.

Hope this helps, I know this helped for me!

Edited by FrozenFins
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/12/2022 at 7:57 PM, Just a Pygmy Corydora said:

My PH is 7.5 No ammonia, or nirate or nitrites. Plants are Anubias nana, Italian vallisneria, Marimo moss ball.
My parameters are as normal.

How is your vallisneria growing? The others are slow growers, but appear nice and healthy green in the photos.

Easy Green ferts typically raise nitrates, which can easily spawn a green water bloom in a 5.5 tank. All the water changes and washing the gravel will reduce the beneficial bacteria that breaks down the ammonia and nitrites, but you said the water went green before that started...

Can you remember anything different in the week before the water got green and cloudy?

Did a snail possibly die, or extra food, or perhaps a full squirt of Easy Green instead of the half for the smaller tank?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, at least in my experience covering the tank to completely darken for at least a week (as well as turning off the tank light) seems to work to treat the algae, although there is a root cause (in my case it was too much light I think) that should be addressed. The blackout did mess with some of my plants I believe (although that may have been because I had gone for a bit longer than recommended). I haven't tried a UV sterilizer, so I can't comment too much on them, but I've heard them recommended positively. Best of luck! 

Edited by FlyingFishKeeper
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I do when I get a tank with green water is ...nothing. I recently had this issue with my ten-gallon. (You can see the green water in the Bottom of the Tank Matten Filter thread photos.) I just ignored it. It went away. The reality is it's hard to maintain green water when you're trying to grow green water. Most people trying to grow it ultimately fail. Tanks need to settle in and green water sometimes becomes an issue until they do. I've never had it last forever. If you do anything to kill it all at once, you can overwhelm your cycle and crash the tank with all of the dead decaying algae. I used to use a diatom filter to filter it out and that works, but these days I just ignore it. It's good for the fish. It's just unsightly. I'm pretty good at ignoring stuff, so I ignore it and it goes away on its own, given enough time. My ten-gallon tank is now perfectly clear and I did nothing to get rid of the algae. It just faded away on its own. I changed nothing. I just waited and it's gone.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/13/2022 at 7:16 AM, gardenman said:

What I do when I get a tank with green water is ...nothing. I recently had this issue with my ten-gallon. (You can see the green water in the Bottom of the Tank Matten Filter thread photos.) I just ignored it. It went away. The reality is it's hard to maintain green water when you're trying to grow green water. Most people trying to grow it ultimately fail. Tanks need to settle in and green water sometimes becomes an issue until they do. I've never had it last forever. 

So how long ( give or take) are you meaning? I currently have a bloom my self🤢

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No fry yet! I do have a VERY pregnant endler…but would have to move the betta out of the green water

hmm my quarantine tank is empity so if I put the baby endlers in the green water and betta into the quarentine…

My local fish store guy seemed indicate that if I moved them out of the green water it could contaminate where it ever they go into?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Green water is frequently maligned by people who don't understand what it is. Your green water is microflora and microfauna. The best, natural food you can get. 

People's daphnia colonies crash, because the daphnia eat the greenwater, reproduce exponentially, then eat the greenwater faster than *it* reproduces and you have no more greenwater, and no more daphnia because they starved.

Dean (Master Breeder, Dean) grows greenwater on purpose.

In his bathroom window.

There are literally multiple forum posts asking *how* to create greenwater. 

If it were as easy as catching a fish and moving tanks, we would all have plenty of it....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/25/2022 at 12:17 PM, Just a Pygmy Corydora said:

The green water in my tank is so far lasting 2 months. I have turned the light on the tank off completely for around 2 weeks. It seems that the green water has worsened. It may or may not be a good thing for the fish and plants, but my parents certainly say it's an eyesore.

What fish do you have in the tank, and have you introduced any microfauna to eat the greenwater?

The fish will eat the microfauna. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...