Tank suddenly turned green & murky

[TheDiplomat]

Hi all, I recently bought a Juwel Rio 300 tank from a fellow forum member. I populated it with plants & used river sand as the substrate. While waiting for a component to complete the built-in filter, I ran a HOB filer as well as an internal unit to filter the water. I got the tank with blue and white florescent lights - the tank was a marine tank previously. I ran this for about 1 week and it ran beautifully (see my pictures). I then introduced fish into the equation, after the tank stabilized.

A few days ago, I got the missing component for the built-in filter and put it in. I bought some filter material from the local, cut it to size and put it in the filter. This was the ONLY change I made. The next thing I see, the water starts going murky and I cannot see the back of the tank. It also has a green tinge to it.

This past weekend, I drained half the water (150 liters) and replaced it with fresh water. I added a little flourish XL and two days later, the tank was right back to the same.

I am pulling out my hair as I don't know what is causing this AND I don't know what to do. A friend has recommended that it may be the blue florescent lights so I am going to try powering them down to see if it makes a difference. He also mentioned I should try to get some Daphnia and keep them in the tank.

Any other ideas? :idea:
Please help....!

[Sean J]

Those will work... Daphnia will eat the green water, but the fish will eat the daphnia as well... What you should try is adding more plants. The plants will use up the nutrients in the tank and will starve the algae in the water column. But you should try doing a 80% water change, and the next day do another 50% water change and a week later do another 50% water change.

Add the plants, remove the blue lights and do big water changes. Should clear up quickly.

[scotty]

What you need to do is add in some bacteria. Do a 50% water change and then add in some new bacteria. I would suggest you look at Organic Aqua B-Bac and GT1. Cut back on the feeding for a couple of days. Try the AquaMaster product for removing green water. Settles it all then you can vacuum it out.

[Henk Hugo]

Mike - come past here - i still have 2 sample bottles of our new product called GelFilter Inoculant. go look at www.microbelift.com (http://www.microbelift.com) for more info.

Drop me a line on msn to arrange a pick up

[TheDiplomat]

Thanks for your responses! Henk, we will be in touch soon. Would I need to remove my fish first, before adding bacteria? I am in the process of buying a Eheim Professional II Canister Filter and want to get rid of the HBO and Internal Filter systems on my tank. Good idea? Bad idea? What do you think?