Green Water?

[destinyschock]

Okay, so my tank has turned completely green within about a day or two. I am COMPLETELY aware that it is currently overstocked, but I have never had a problem with algae like this before. I currently have 3 longfin zebra danios, 1 swordtail, & 2 ghost shrimp in a 5.5 Gallon tank (I am saving up the money for a 29 gallon tank, as my other tank I had cracked), as well as a small live plant and 2 plastic plants. I've been doing regular water changes and using dechlorinators and conditioner and changing the filter, but no matter what I do, the water stays green! I am completely out of ideas! The tank is usally crystal clear, then it started out cloudy and next thing I know it's green. The light is usually on all day, but I turn it off when I go to bed, if that matters. Here is a picture:

In the picture, it seems look clearer than it actually is.

Thanks,

[HEINEKEN357]

Well the best way to kill the green water is black out for a few days. Put a dark towel over the tank take off the light do a water change and by day 2-3 your tank should be good. If you had a Uv light it would make things go a lot faster good luck on your Green Water.

[fshfanatic]

I diatom filter would have that filtered out in a matter of minutes.

[accordztech]

i vote blackout for 3 days no feeding.

The blackout could work for you. This is what I do when green water rears its ugly head.
Reduce amount of time the light is on by a few hours.
Reduce fish feedings to once a day.
Do not disturb the substrate for any reason.
No water changes.
Add hornwort.
In less than a week it is gone. Do you know what type of plant you have?
Hope that helps.

[destinyschock]

Originally Posted by sandie

The blackout could work for you. This is what I do when green water rears its ugly head.
Reduce amount of time the light is on by a few hours.
Reduce fish feedings to once a day.
Do not disturb the substrate for any reason.
No water changes.
Add hornwort.
In less than a week it is gone. Do you know what type of plant you have?
Hope that helps.

I just did a little research and found out the plant is Dracena sanderana.

[sparkysko]

I had greenwater for months in one of my tanks. Blackouts, water changes, clams, bamboo shrimp, no feedings, CO2, etc, all didn't help. I dosed hydrogen peroxide and it cured up my problem.

Add 2.5 ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide to your 5.5 gallon tank. I overdid the peroxide in my tank, and it nuked some plants, the snails and a few of the fish. You might be alright with such a low amount in your tank however, although it would help to add aeration until things settle, or to remove the fish.

My big tank that I just setup looks like it's going greenwater, if it does, I'm going to do the same thing.

[fshfanatic]

I got green water once in my 46 gallon tank soon after removing and replacing my substrate. Nothing I did worked.

I went out and bought a Magnum HOT filter, used the Micron filter and it was crystal clear in a matter of a couple hours. I then did a 50% water change and cleaned the magnum and let it run on the tank for 24 hours. The green water never returned.

[liljmn]

Reduce the lighting period to less than 10 hours a day. If you only turn the lights off when you go to bed, it must be on for about 16 hours a day. Your live plant (Dracena sanderana) is a lucky bamboo plant. It will probably not survive long underwater. It grows above water and roots underwater. It also doesn't need too much light, so reducing the lighting period won't affect it. Try the blackout for a couple days and do a water change.

[DavidZ]

Reduce the lighting period, get some willow tree branches stick them in the tank.
This is how it was done in the old days, UV filter will take care of it in a day or 2.
Check how much you are feeding, how old is the tank.
Make sure it is green water and not bacteria bloom.

[EdTheEdge]

One tank I had the only thing that ever worked for me was a complete water change and substrate rinse.

In my 25 I get a bit of green water when it get too much sunlight. On that tank I block out the sun and it goes away.

I have seen good results with both UV and diatom filtration.

Originally Posted by destinyschock

I just did a little research and found out the plant is Dracena sanderana.

Hi,
This isn't a true aquatic plant. Since that is all you have in the way of plants I would remove it. Do a good size water change and then black out the tank for a few days. Feed fish once a day. If you can get some hornwort it is known for being a nutrient hog and will help be a redundant filter for as long as you need to house your fish in that tank. Give it a try before trying H2O2. H2O2 can be harmful to aquatic life if overdone. Hope that helps...

[destinyschock]

Originally Posted by sandie

Hi,
This isn't a true aquatic plant. Since that is all you have in the way of plants I would remove it. Do a good size water change and then black out the tank for a few days. Feed fish once a day. If you can get some hornwort it is known for being a nutrient hog and will help be a redundant filter for as long as you need to house your fish in that tank. Give it a try before trying H2O2. H2O2 can be harmful to aquatic life if overdone. Hope that helps...

Thanks, I did 2 (about)45% water changes over 2 days & blacked it out, the waters pretty good now, just a little cloudy.