Green water and greenish yellowish algee! help?

[CDM&CDMJR]

i have a sorta new 75g tank and it has bad yellowish greenish algee and the water is green also even after water changes! can some one tell me whats causing this i know all the water levels are fine but salinity was a bit to high for a day or two!!

 

[cdrewferd]

Run some Carbon and it'll help clean up the water for you. Once it's clear, take the carbon off-line and see if it comes back.

 

[CDM&CDMJR]

ok thanks man

 

[daverf]

yep he hit the nail on the head, carbon is your best friend here.

what else is going on in the tank? when did you start/cycle, what are your levels, what livestock are in there, what filtration are you using, what is your feeding regimen, are you using RO/DI source water, etc? could be other things going on maybe?

I would try to identify the algae if the tank water is discolored, see if it isn't a nuisance growth that needs action. check out www.wetwebmedia.com

 

[Cake_Boss]

What is your source water?

 

[jda123]

Is this a new tank?

If it comes back after a time or two of carbon, then UV sterilizer might be in your future.

 

[CDM&CDMJR]

so the tank has been up 4 weeks and i have a pair of clowns and a yellow tang, i get salt and RO water from my LFS, i feed them every night and its the ammount they can consume in 3 minutes. my filtration is just a trickle sump, bio balls, carbon bags, and live rock/sand. and for coral i just have some zoas, hammers, xenia, toad stool, and a frog spawn. in the past few days ive been taking a gallon of the water in the tank and replacing it with RO water.the water has cleared up a lot but i have also left the lights off for a few days!

 

[cdrewferd]

Don't do that. Replacing saltwater with RO will drop your salinity. The fish won't care but you could kill all the coral in the tank. Who's your LFS? Did you get the water tested yet?

 

[303travism]

Green water and greenish yellowish algee! help?

Don't do that. Replacing saltwater with RO will drop your salinity. The fish won't care but you could kill all the coral in the tank. Who's your LFS? Did you get the water tested yet?

+1

 

[CDM&CDMJR]

ok well its keys island and yeah it was tested and the salinity was at a 1.031 so thats why im replacing it with RO untill i can get in down

 

[jda123]

Just let the green water be. New tanks have periods of algae bloom. If you still have this issue in a month, then do something about it.

I am assuming that your ammonia and nitrite are OK.

 

[CDM&CDMJR]

yeah they are ok and the algae has seem to subsided and the water is now taking a turn for the good but i just turned the lights on today and havent seen algae today so im thinking its done

 

[daverf]

+1. If the tank is only 4 weeks old, you're bound to see lots of other nuisance growth come and go until it matures a bit. Just keep the fish comfortable and levels good, and you should be OK. I would research phosphates, get a good kit (Red Sea or Seachem NOT the others) and test your tank water for that as well, it is good to figure out if that is a factor in your tank (causes bad growth). Also, I would get the salinity down as quick as you can, no need to pace the drop at all (especially when you're dropping salinity). If you do it quick, you'll probably notice a very quick response in your fish. In salinity that high they are working very hard to breathe (which will cause other stressors)...on top of changing the light cycles and being in the tank near term...

Sounds like a nice system - congrats on getting it going!

 

[cdrewferd]

ok well its keys island and yeah it was tested and the salinity was at a 1.031 so thats why im replacing it with RO untill i can get in down

Ahh, ok.