Tank went green

[mom_of_3]

So the water in my tank went green... The tank has been set up and running for about a month and a half and all of the spikes have occurred as expected but the levels had been great for about 2 weeks then over night the whole thing went green. The only thing can think of is that I used tap when doing a water change and top off. All of my levels are still spot on but wondering if anyone had any suggestions for me. I have already looked into getting an rodi and am using distilled water to do water changes until I get the rodi. I have killed all lighting to the tank including the lighting in my sump...any other suggestions?

 

[ninjafish]

Sounds like a water born algae bloom.

I would get some carbon going , continue with water changes 9the larger the better) , and just be patient.

 

[mom_of_3]

ninja, so about a 10% water change a day until it clears up should be good? I forgot to mention that we put carbon in Sunday afternoon...Oops. :oops:

 

[ninjafish]

I would say 10% would be a good place to start , but if it appears to be getting darker over time then you might have to get more aggressive with them - maybe 20% or more. is there anything in the tank right now ? If not then I would just do one really large change 50% or more to get as much out as possible. Also, lights out is a good thing to try , but it may not really help. If the bloom is fueled by light then it will obviously weaken the longer your lights are out , only to return once you return to your regular lighting schedule. I would keep them off for a few days, and really be aggressive with the water changes . You might need to replace your carbon very frequently as well to keep it fresh. Once things look to be under control (not gone, but getting better) turn your lights back on for a couple of hours per day , slowly increasing them back to a normal schedule.

Another thing that MIGHT help would be a small UV sterilizer , something like this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-9W-UV-S...626?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35cae87502

There are plenty of other sizes out there if that isn't big enough for your tank.


Good Luck

 

[mom_of_3]

I currently have fish in the tank with the rocks...that's why I'm not doing a massive water change... once I have the rodi I can bump to a 20% water change... I'll have it on Friday morning.

 

[ninjafish]

Nice, which one did you get ?

 

[kylemack87]

What are your parameters atm? PO4 included.