[4motion]

HI Im new to owning a canister filter. I just bought an Eheim G160 or the pro 3. Anyways only have it for less than a week on 75g with some koi in it and the water never seem clear even if 99% new water in tank. I changed the water again and filled it back up. One week now and the water turned GREEN!! What is going on guys?

I know that koi makes alot of mess but prior to putting this eheim 160 on, I just have 2 55/75 aqueon hanging filters on the tank and it stays clear (not green) up to 2 months.

Help with any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Nlewis]

HI Im new to owning a canister filter. I just bought an Eheim G160 or the pro 3. Anyways only have it for less than a week on 75g with some koi in it and the water never seem clear even if 99% new water in tank. I changed the water again and filled it back up. One week now and the water turned GREEN!! What is going on guys?

I know that koi makes alot of mess but prior to putting this eheim 160 on, I just have 2 55/75 aqueon hanging filters on the tank and it stays clear (not green) up to 2 months.

Help with any advice is greatly appreciated.

Is your tank near a window and getting light throughout the day? If so close the blinds. You can also invest in a uv sterilizer.

 

[Diana]

Did you save the media from the old filters?

What are the current test results, especially for ammonia?

 

[4motion]

Is your tank near a window and getting light throughout the day? If so close the blinds. You can also invest in a uv sterilizer.

Its not near window at all. But it does have a light on top of tank. I just don't get why all of sudden I have to worry about algae. It had never happened like this before the canister.

Bump:

Did you save the media from the old filters?

What are the current test results, especially for ammonia?[/QUOT

This filter was brandnew and I just did the first water change after a week of installing the new canister. All the media were still there new and didn't need to change anything. I just poured out the extra water in the canister and rinse out the soft foam and put back on.

I didnt test anything either.

Like I said before, when I used to have the cheapo aqueon filters (2) I didn't have this problem at all.

Bump:

Is your tank near a window and getting light throughout the day? If so close the blinds. You can also invest in a uv sterilizer.

Its not near window at all. But it does have a light on top of tank. I just don't get why all of sudden I have to worry about algae. It had never happened like this before the canister.

Bump:

Is your tank near a window and getting light throughout the day? If so close the blinds. You can also invest in a uv sterilizer.

Its not near window at all. But it does have a light on top of tank. I just don't get why all of sudden I have to worry about algae. It had never happened like this before the canister.

Its not near window at all. But it does have a light on top of tank. I just don't get why all of sudden I have to worry about algae. It had never happened like this before the canister.

Bump:

Did you save the media from the old filters?

What are the current test results, especially for ammonia?[/QUOT

This filter was brandnew and I just did the first water change after a week of installing the new canister. All the media were still there new and didn't need to change anything. I just poured out the extra water in the canister and rinse out the soft foam and put back on.

I didnt test anything either.

Like I said before, when I used to have the cheapo aqueon filters (2) I didn't have this problem at all.

Bump:

Its not near window at all. But it does have a light on top of tank. I just don't get why all of sudden I have to worry about algae. It had never happened like this before the canister.

Bump:

Its not near window at all. But it does have a light on top of tank. I just don't get why all of sudden I have to worry about algae. It had never happened like this before the canister.

 

[Drunhellar]

From what I've read the Aqeons where moving 400 gph each and the Eheim is only moving 330. Also I would think that the Eheim would not have the surface area that the 2 hanging ones did, so my guess would be that the canister is getting somewhat plugged sooner and not allowing as much flow through so you are not removing as much of the waste from the water which will give the algae more to feed on.

 

[sushant]

By removing the old filters you have also removed the good bacteria that was established in them. So now the tank has to undergo mini nitrogen cycle until the new filter has adequate bacteria to take care of the bioload. Don't wash/rinse the filter for some time and do regular water changes to take care of built nitrogenous waste.

 

[devilduck]

I agree with sushant, by tossing the old filter media you've caused a mini cycle which is causing the algae bloom in your tank. You'll have to reduce your dosing and do regular water changes for a few weeks until the tank completes it's cycle again.

 

[4motion]

By removing the old filters you have also removed the good bacteria that was established in them. So now the tank has to undergo mini nitrogen cycle until the new filter has adequate bacteria to take care of the bioload. Don't wash/rinse the filter for some time and do regular water changes to take care of built nitrogenous waste.

I fully understand what you are saying. However, the reason why I washed/rinsed the white soft pad was per instructions. It said to toss it but i didn't have the new ones yet so I just rinsed and reuse. I changed the water it because the tank was filthy after a week of installing the canister, that's why i had to do it.

Bump: But the eheim g160 was rated for up to 160 gallons. the cheapo aqueons were only for 75 gallons and loud.

Bump: I didn't toss the media, just rinsed the top soft pad (which were supposed to be tossed). all the media where bacteria was supposed to be are still on the bottom of the canister. I didn't toss those.

 

[PlantedRich]

I don't see this as a filter problem as the canister will be a much better filter but there is a problem with the WAY it may have been changed. Changing filters is a major change for the way the tank works and needs to be done with some care to make certain the good bacteria is not disrupted too much. Depending on how old and well established the tank, there will be more or less of the bacteria in the filter and on everything else in the tank. In this case, might guess that there was a large percentage of the bacteria in the filters and lower percentage on everything else. When the old filters were removed there was a large loss of bacteria and that has caused a cycle. Without measurements of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, this is only a guess that would explain the tank. There is often a chance of some other circumstance making the green water at the same time as the filter change. A safer move would to have moved the new filter onto the tank, let is run for several weeks or a month while bacteria grew in it and then moved the old filters off one at a time. This would have kept bacteria levels as stable as possible. Also cleaning a new filter is not something I rush into when dealing with a new tank. If the new filter is struggling to maintain the tank water, cleaning it will not help in many cases. When we clean the filter, even if done carefully and with old tank water, we do disrupt some of the bacteria. Not all that "dirt" looking stuff is dirt. Some of what we clean out is also bacteria and we wind up with less filter bacteria than when the filter was slightly dirty.
At this point, I would test for ammonia and deal with it using products designed for ammonia removal. I like to use Ammo-carb as it is designed to remove ammonia and has carbon to help with clearing the tank. Very cheap product that can be renewed and reused many times so I keep it on the shelf as a backup for any potential messes I might create.

Looking back, water changes are often good and very good as they remove the stuff you see as well as dilute any ammonia, reusing the floss is really a good idea as there is bacteria still in it and there is no need to pitch the floss until it gets too ragged to use. Old is good as long as not falling apart.