green water

Kim · 06-10-2002, 07:30 PM

I am hoping that somebody can help me out. I have a 55 gal aquarium. Everything was going great with it until I went on vacation leaving my mother to feed and care for my tank. Upon my return I found that the water was so green from over feeding that the only way to even see my fish was if they came right up to the glass and the live rock is completely invisable. I immediately tested the water and found the the phosphates were high so I added phosphate sponge to the filter and did a water change. Two days later the water tested perfect but it was just as green so I cleaned the filters and left the lights out and cut out every other feeding. It has been almost two weeks with the lights out and the lowered feeding and I have also done two more water changes and added additional filtering media and a new air stone. The water is just as bad if not worse and I am getting very frustrated. Does anyone know how I can clear this up? I would love to be able to see my fish again soon.

***Reefland*** · 06-10-2002, 10:47 PM

Welcome to Reefland!

Tell us a little more about your system. What kind of filtration do you normally use and what kind of livestock do you have? Do you have any caulerpa in the system? Is the water just green or is there unwanted algaes starting to grow?

Eager to help,
Scott Z.

**scubadude** · 06-11-2002, 06:25 AM

Hi Kim,

Sounds to me like maybe your tank has turned into one big phytoplankton culture

When you say you have done water changes, how much of the water are you changing? If it has then I Would do probably 2 w/c's each of them equaling 50-75% of system volume and doing these w/c's no more than 12 hrs apart from each other. What have you/or whoever overfed been feeding the tank? I agree w/Scott we need a bit more info about your system before analyzing it.

Kim · 06-11-2002, 08:08 AM

The aquarium is a 55 gal, I have quite a bit of live rock and sand but no corals. The filtration consists of 2 emperors, I with a single bio-wheel and the second with a double bio-wheel. I haven't been happy with these filters and do plan on an upgrade on Friday. Any suggestions? There is no caulerpa and absolutely no unwanted algaes one the rocks with only a slight bit getting on the glass from time to time which gets scraped off with the magnet. This is the first problem that I have ever had with this tank, from set up on it has always been perfect although the water from the long side view has always been a little foggy and white. As for livestock I have a porcupine puffer, a snowflake eel, a yellow Tang and a blue damsal. They seem to be totally unaffected by all this so far. The puffer and eel eat silversides and krill on the end of a feeding stick. The tang and damsal eat a different thing everyday although since this problem they are only being fed every other day. They eat nori, brine, prime reef, and a variety pack called aqua yums. I try to give them something different every day. The puffer also eats the nori. He seems to be eternally hungry and begs jumping right out of the water and spitting little streams of water and I believe his guilt trip works on my mother while I was away for the week.

Kim · 06-11-2002, 03:39 PM

The aquarium is a 55 gal, I have quite a bit of live rock and sand but no corals. The filtration consists of 2 emperors, I with a single bio-wheel and the second with a double bio-wheel. I haven't been happy with these filters and do plan on an upgrade on Friday. Any suggestions? There is no caulerpa and absolutely no unwanted algaes one the rocks with only a slight bit getting on the glass from time to time which gets scraped off with the magnet. This is the first problem that I have ever had with this tank, from set up on it has always been perfect although the water from the long side view has always been a little foggy and white. As for livestock I have a porcupine puffer, a snowflake eel, a yellow Tang and a blue damsal. They seem to be totally unaffected by all this so far. The puffer and eel eat silversides and krill on the end of a feeding stick. The tang and damsal eat a different thing everyday although since this problem they are only being fed every other day. They eat nori, brine, prime reef, and a variety pack called aqua yums. I try to give them something different every day. The puffer also eats the nori. He seems to be eternally hungry and begs jumping right out of the water and spitting little streams of water and I believe his guilt trip works on my mother while I was away for the week.

Iron Crab · 06-14-2002, 09:15 PM

Hi Kim,
I just got back from out of town or I would have came in sooner on this. I just beat green water in my 180. I don't know what caused it but it wasn't over feeding. I think it was a temp spike which is the only thing that happened that was different in the last 8 months.
I did the water changes- all with RO and distilled water. I think I replaced all the water in the tank at least twice but it would go back to green.

I have a Lifereef VS24 skimmer with it's own pump and it stopped skimming as soon as the water started to go green. So I figured the algae bloom in the water was using up the organics before the skimmer could pull them out.
I stopped the water changes and messing with the filtering system and bought a UV sterilizer and in three days my water was crystal clear and my skimmer was working overtime. I set the UV outlet up so it went into the skimmer. The first full day with the UV running I emptied my collection cup on the skimmer three times.
I have now shut the UV down and my tank has never looked better. My crown coral took my breath away when I came home today and looking thru 6 feet of water I can see the print on the wall across the room

.
I hope this helps in some way- sometimes what works for one doesn't work for someone else. Good luck.

Kim · 06-14-2002, 09:48 PM

What does something like that cost? I think that may be my only option as well. I too think I have changed out all the water atleast several times and still it isn't clear although it isn't as bad as before but sadly I lost all my fish to a bacterial infection brought on by all this and I have to clean up the water before I even attempt restocking. The strange part is that the water tests out perfect, I couldn't believe it so I took it to the LPS and they too said that the water is good...go figure....
You said that you turned yours back off, is it something that you only use when you need it? or all the time?

Iron Crab · 06-16-2002, 01:49 PM

I think the UV was the cheapest and the easiest way to go. After I figured in all the time and salt on top of getting a couple large rubbermaid tubs and a small sump pump to move all this water. Plus I think with all the water changes that stressed my live stock I wish I would have just started with the UV. I ran the UV for about a month after my water cleared up then shut 'er down.
You also have to consider I'm running a 180 with only a Tang, Foxface, a Blenny, and a tomato Clown so my fish load is small.

I went thru the same thing with the water tests. They always show my water was great. (but green!!) Some of my polyps looked like they loved it. Go figure.

I got my UV from www.premiumaquatics.com

For a 55 you will be looking at around $110 for a 8w
a 100 gal will be about $140 for a 15w.

I would also look into getting a good protein skimmer. Do some research on line and check to see what everyone is using. With a skimmer everyone has their own favorite. I'm using the Lifereef which I like but now there are a lot of nice skimmers out there with good prices.

Kim · 06-16-2002, 04:49 PM

Thank you so much, I am definately picking up a skimmer on Friday which gives me some time to research all of them and I will also look into the UV. Thanks for all your help

How long do you think I should wait to restock? I miss them terribly.

Iron Crab · 06-16-2002, 08:07 PM

Can't really say when to start restocking. don't really know what kind of bacterial infection that got your fish if that was it.

I would do your tests after you've got your water under control and just start over. Go slow with your stocking to make sure your tank is cycled.

When I was doing all the water changes during my green water fight I notice my nitrites went up a little so I had to watch my fish for any stress brought on by this. After a few days when I stopped the changes my water came back in line. The only thing I lost was one polyp coral and a sallylightfoot crab so I felt a little lucky but not happy.

killian · 06-17-2002, 10:09 PM

Sorry to get in this so late but I haven't been on the board in awhile. Our 55 gallon had that same problem about this time last year. It just turned green all of a sudden as well. Did the water changes, did the phosphate sponges. Finally had to break done and by a sterilizer. One thing we also noticed was that one of our power heads was actually pointing toward the sand and stirring things up. When we corrected that the tank cleared up in matter of days. We never figured out what happened but it has not happened again. Good luck with it. Let us know if things get better after your purchases.

saltjunkie · 06-18-2002, 12:33 AM

Hey Kim,,,,

Glad you made it to my board.... This is Rick from Pet Mart.
When ya need that skimmer , let me know. And please, do reaserch on the message boards and get a good skimmer, wheather or not from me, just get a quality skimmer.....
Good luck, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Rick

saltjunkie · 06-18-2002, 12:45 AM

Damn,

Kim, I missed some of the posts, but I am sorry to hear about the lose of livestock!
The water had a lil amonia and some nitrites, maybe when we tested it, it was the beginning of going bad...
Not sure, lets hope you get this straight though. Like I said though, Its not about the money at this point, but trying to keep a succesful system, without wasting money.
I hope I can help you out!
Also keep your nose to the messege boards, they are the best source of unbiased info that you can get!
Rick

saltjunkie · 06-18-2002, 12:54 AM

Damn,

Kim, I missed some of the posts, but I am sorry to hear about the lose of livestock!
The water had a lil amonia and some nitrites, maybe when we tested it, it was the beginning of going bad...
Not sure, lets hope you get this straight though. Like I said though, Its not about the money at this point, but trying to keep a succesful system, without wasting money.
I hope I can help you out!
Also keep your nose to the messege boards, they are the best source of unbiased info that you can get!
Rick

Kim · 06-18-2002, 09:44 AM

actually, it hasn't had any amonia at all and still all is registering correctly but I am definately getting the skimmer on Friday and looking into the UV.

Does anyone have any recomendations on a good skimmer for messy fish?

06-10-2002, 07:30 PM	#1
Kim Just Moved In Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: South Florida Posts: 7	green water I am hoping that somebody can help me out. I have a 55 gal aquarium. Everything was going great with it until I went on vacation leaving my mother to feed and care for my tank. Upon my return I found that the water was so green from over feeding that the only way to even see my fish was if they came right up to the glass and the live rock is completely invisable. I immediately tested the water and found the the phosphates were high so I added phosphate sponge to the filter and did a water change. Two days later the water tested perfect but it was just as green so I cleaned the filters and left the lights out and cut out every other feeding. It has been almost two weeks with the lights out and the lowered feeding and I have also done two more water changes and added additional filtering media and a new air stone. The water is just as bad if not worse and I am getting very frustrated. Does anyone know how I can clear this up? I would love to be able to see my fish again soon.

06-10-2002, 10:47 PM	#2
*Reefland* Owner Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Bardstown, KY Posts: 13,030	Hi Kim! Welcome to Reefland! Tell us a little more about your system. What kind of filtration do you normally use and what kind of livestock do you have? Do you have any caulerpa in the system? Is the water just green or is there unwanted algaes starting to grow? Eager to help, Scott Z.

06-11-2002, 06:25 AM	#3
scubadude Moderator Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Wichita, Kansas Posts: 5,291	Hi Kim, Sounds to me like maybe your tank has turned into one big phytoplankton culture When you say you have done water changes, how much of the water are you changing? If it has then I Would do probably 2 w/c's each of them equaling 50-75% of system volume and doing these w/c's no more than 12 hrs apart from each other. What have you/or whoever overfed been feeding the tank? I agree w/Scott we need a bit more info about your system before analyzing it. __________________ Rocky

06-18-2002, 12:33 AM	#12
saltjunkie Governor Join Date: May 2000 Location: Lakeland, Fl. Posts: 1,781	Hey Kim,,,, Glad you made it to my board.... This is Rick from Pet Mart. When ya need that skimmer , let me know. And please, do reaserch on the message boards and get a good skimmer, wheather or not from me, just get a quality skimmer..... Good luck, and I look forward to hearing from you. Rick __________________ I am not a failure! I have just found 10,000 ways to do it wrong! rlowride@hotmail.com http://www.danasoft.com/vipersig.jpg

06-18-2002, 12:45 AM	#13
saltjunkie Governor Join Date: May 2000 Location: Lakeland, Fl. Posts: 1,781	Damn, Kim, I missed some of the posts, but I am sorry to hear about the lose of livestock! The water had a lil amonia and some nitrites, maybe when we tested it, it was the beginning of going bad... Not sure, lets hope you get this straight though. Like I said though, Its not about the money at this point, but trying to keep a succesful system, without wasting money. I hope I can help you out! Also keep your nose to the messege boards, they are the best source of unbiased info that you can get! Rick __________________ I am not a failure! I have just found 10,000 ways to do it wrong! rlowride@hotmail.com http://www.danasoft.com/vipersig.jpg

06-11-2002, 08:08 AM	#4
Kim Just Moved In Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: South Florida Posts: 7	The aquarium is a 55 gal, I have quite a bit of live rock and sand but no corals. The filtration consists of 2 emperors, I with a single bio-wheel and the second with a double bio-wheel. I haven't been happy with these filters and do plan on an upgrade on Friday. Any suggestions? There is no caulerpa and absolutely no unwanted algaes one the rocks with only a slight bit getting on the glass from time to time which gets scraped off with the magnet. This is the first problem that I have ever had with this tank, from set up on it has always been perfect although the water from the long side view has always been a little foggy and white. As for livestock I have a porcupine puffer, a snowflake eel, a yellow Tang and a blue damsal. They seem to be totally unaffected by all this so far. The puffer and eel eat silversides and krill on the end of a feeding stick. The tang and damsal eat a different thing everyday although since this problem they are only being fed every other day. They eat nori, brine, prime reef, and a variety pack called aqua yums. I try to give them something different every day. The puffer also eats the nori. He seems to be eternally hungry and begs jumping right out of the water and spitting little streams of water and I believe his guilt trip works on my mother while I was away for the week.

06-11-2002, 03:39 PM	#5
Kim Just Moved In Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: South Florida Posts: 7	The aquarium is a 55 gal, I have quite a bit of live rock and sand but no corals. The filtration consists of 2 emperors, I with a single bio-wheel and the second with a double bio-wheel. I haven't been happy with these filters and do plan on an upgrade on Friday. Any suggestions? There is no caulerpa and absolutely no unwanted algaes one the rocks with only a slight bit getting on the glass from time to time which gets scraped off with the magnet. This is the first problem that I have ever had with this tank, from set up on it has always been perfect although the water from the long side view has always been a little foggy and white. As for livestock I have a porcupine puffer, a snowflake eel, a yellow Tang and a blue damsal. They seem to be totally unaffected by all this so far. The puffer and eel eat silversides and krill on the end of a feeding stick. The tang and damsal eat a different thing everyday although since this problem they are only being fed every other day. They eat nori, brine, prime reef, and a variety pack called aqua yums. I try to give them something different every day. The puffer also eats the nori. He seems to be eternally hungry and begs jumping right out of the water and spitting little streams of water and I believe his guilt trip works on my mother while I was away for the week.

06-14-2002, 09:15 PM	#6
Iron Crab Council Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: N.W. Pennsylvania, USA Posts: 434	Hi Kim, I just got back from out of town or I would have came in sooner on this. I just beat green water in my 180. I don't know what caused it but it wasn't over feeding. I think it was a temp spike which is the only thing that happened that was different in the last 8 months. I did the water changes- all with RO and distilled water. I think I replaced all the water in the tank at least twice but it would go back to green. I have a Lifereef VS24 skimmer with it's own pump and it stopped skimming as soon as the water started to go green. So I figured the algae bloom in the water was using up the organics before the skimmer could pull them out. I stopped the water changes and messing with the filtering system and bought a UV sterilizer and in three days my water was crystal clear and my skimmer was working overtime. I set the UV outlet up so it went into the skimmer. The first full day with the UV running I emptied my collection cup on the skimmer three times. I have now shut the UV down and my tank has never looked better. My crown coral took my breath away when I came home today and looking thru 6 feet of water I can see the print on the wall across the room . I hope this helps in some way- sometimes what works for one doesn't work for someone else. Good luck.

06-14-2002, 09:48 PM	#7
Kim Just Moved In Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: South Florida Posts: 7	What does something like that cost? I think that may be my only option as well. I too think I have changed out all the water atleast several times and still it isn't clear although it isn't as bad as before but sadly I lost all my fish to a bacterial infection brought on by all this and I have to clean up the water before I even attempt restocking. The strange part is that the water tests out perfect, I couldn't believe it so I took it to the LPS and they too said that the water is good...go figure.... You said that you turned yours back off, is it something that you only use when you need it? or all the time?

06-16-2002, 01:49 PM	#8
Iron Crab Council Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: N.W. Pennsylvania, USA Posts: 434	I think the UV was the cheapest and the easiest way to go. After I figured in all the time and salt on top of getting a couple large rubbermaid tubs and a small sump pump to move all this water. Plus I think with all the water changes that stressed my live stock I wish I would have just started with the UV. I ran the UV for about a month after my water cleared up then shut 'er down. You also have to consider I'm running a 180 with only a Tang, Foxface, a Blenny, and a tomato Clown so my fish load is small. I went thru the same thing with the water tests. They always show my water was great. (but green!!) Some of my polyps looked like they loved it. Go figure. I got my UV from www.premiumaquatics.com For a 55 you will be looking at around $110 for a 8w a 100 gal will be about $140 for a 15w. I would also look into getting a good protein skimmer. Do some research on line and check to see what everyone is using. With a skimmer everyone has their own favorite. I'm using the Lifereef which I like but now there are a lot of nice skimmers out there with good prices.

06-16-2002, 04:49 PM	#9
Kim Just Moved In Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: South Florida Posts: 7	Thank you so much, I am definately picking up a skimmer on Friday which gives me some time to research all of them and I will also look into the UV. Thanks for all your help How long do you think I should wait to restock? I miss them terribly.

06-16-2002, 08:07 PM	#10
Iron Crab Council Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: N.W. Pennsylvania, USA Posts: 434	Can't really say when to start restocking. don't really know what kind of bacterial infection that got your fish if that was it. I would do your tests after you've got your water under control and just start over. Go slow with your stocking to make sure your tank is cycled. When I was doing all the water changes during my green water fight I notice my nitrites went up a little so I had to watch my fish for any stress brought on by this. After a few days when I stopped the changes my water came back in line. The only thing I lost was one polyp coral and a sallylightfoot crab so I felt a little lucky but not happy.

06-17-2002, 10:09 PM	#11
killian Citizen Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: M'ville Georgia Posts: 144	Sorry to get in this so late but I haven't been on the board in awhile. Our 55 gallon had that same problem about this time last year. It just turned green all of a sudden as well. Did the water changes, did the phosphate sponges. Finally had to break done and by a sterilizer. One thing we also noticed was that one of our power heads was actually pointing toward the sand and stirring things up. When we corrected that the tank cleared up in matter of days. We never figured out what happened but it has not happened again. Good luck with it. Let us know if things get better after your purchases.

06-18-2002, 12:54 AM	#14
saltjunkie Governor Join Date: May 2000 Location: Lakeland, Fl. Posts: 1,781	Damn, Kim, I missed some of the posts, but I am sorry to hear about the lose of livestock! The water had a lil amonia and some nitrites, maybe when we tested it, it was the beginning of going bad... Not sure, lets hope you get this straight though. Like I said though, Its not about the money at this point, but trying to keep a succesful system, without wasting money. I hope I can help you out! Also keep your nose to the messege boards, they are the best source of unbiased info that you can get! Rick __________________ I am not a failure! I have just found 10,000 ways to do it wrong! rlowride@hotmail.com http://www.danasoft.com/vipersig.jpg

06-18-2002, 09:44 AM	#15
Kim Just Moved In Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: South Florida Posts: 7	actually, it hasn't had any amonia at all and still all is registering correctly but I am definately getting the skimmer on Friday and looking into the UV. Does anyone have any recomendations on a good skimmer for messy fish?

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