Help wanted with a green problem

Ok, so I wasn't going to post this thread, because I don't actually know if anyone can assist in the matter!

As many of you have read before, I landed up with a few problems in my tank, which resulted in me loosing my entire filter bachteria, all my snails, and a lot of damage to the plants.

Since then I have managed to re-instate my filter... I have been through the necessary ammonia and nitrite spikes, and carry out a 50% water change every Friday/Saturday.

Here are my tank specs

Volume: 285litres
Temp: 27-28 deg (Depending on ambient temp)
Light: 3 x 10000k 33w tubes.
Filter: Jebo internal corner filter (1100litres per hour) comprising of plastic bio-balls, ceramic chips, charcoal, sponges. (In reverse order)
Substrate: Ultra fine (like sea sand) silica sand capped with midnight black aquarium gravel. (Also very fine)

My chemical properties are
Ammonia and Nitrites @ 0 ppm
Nitrates seldom reach 5-10ppm before water changing.

Inhabitants are
6 X Guppies
3 x Angels
4 x Pristella Tetras
3 x Black widow Tetras
4 x Bronze Cory catfish
5 x Ancistrus
5 x Apistogramma Cacatoiuds.

I have a variety of plants (unknown names) all from Solex69 and Fish Fantasy World. A piece of wood that I have had in water for over a year, and rocks that have also been in the water for over a year. (Passed the acid test too.)A few terracotta pots.

Since the problem I noted earlier where I mixed the meds, I have noticed my tank gets a very greenish/yellowish haze over the 7 days. On about day 5 I cannot see from one side of the tank through to the other (Length ways).

I have tried a product called Nutrifin Clear Fast... which clears the tank about 65%, and then the process starts again. Last weekend I did a very thorough clean of my filter, as a lot of dead plant matter and dead bacteria had accumilated inside, resulting is a rather fowl smell. I kept 30% of the filter medium uncleaned so as not to completely destroy the filter again.

I am reaching the point where I actually do not know what to do anymore, or what could be causing the problem? I don't particularily want to use a chemical filter aid (purigen) right now, because that just deals with the visibility, and not necessarily the root cause of the problem.

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

Tank blackout for a couple of days. Does the Jebo come with other tubes? 10000k aint exactly optimal

 

Nope. That's what came with the tank.

Do you think it's an algae spore in the tank? What effect will the blackout have on the fish and plants?

 

Green water is a bacterial bloom AFAIK. Let me see if I can find that article....

Blackout will harm your plants but your fish should be fine. Feed them as normal

*edit duh its an algal bloom. http://aquariumalgae.blogspot.com/2006/03/green-water.html

 

Sorry for asking a completely stupid question... If I do a blackout.... then the fish will enter a "sleep" phase for 3 days... they won't see the food... Or have I got blackout idea completely wrong?

 

Nope. I've done it a couple of times in my discus tank with algae outbreaks. And no, they won't be constantly sleeping, Circadian rythymn I think its called. They know when the sun is up or down even though there is no light over the tank.

Remember fish don't just see food, they also smell it

 

Ok, So what you recommend me to do, according to that link as well, is to completely cover the entire tank and make it literally 100% pitch black inside the tank!

Keep filters and heaters running. Feed (possibly less than normal) at normal times, but keep the tank in darkness for 3 full days. (4 according to the article).

I thought of removing the plants into a seperate tank, but then it dawned on me that I would more than likely re-introduce the algae when I put them back in! SO I will have to chance the "knock" the plants will go through.

Planning on a 40% water change on Friday/Saturday. Will remove any/all dead/dying plants, and cover tank.

Unless someone else comes up with any bright idea's?

 

If the water is going "yellow" is could also be wood leaching tannins into the water.

If your blackout doesn't work and the water is still yellow after wards, at the next water change remove your drift wood. If the water is clear after that, then it's the wood leaching tannins.

I would also suggest maybe upgrading the size of your filter. Optimal filtration is generally between 5 - 10 times your tank volume per hour... Up your filtration and add loads of filter floss.

Purigen is not a bad thing either. It might help to clear up the problem by removing whatever is causing the bloom. It might be chemical or biological.

 

I doubt it's the wood... I've had it in the tank for over a year... yes it does leech a bit... but the tannins is really only visibly after about 2 weeks (If I skip a WC

Here is where I always get confused! You say 5-10 times. But other people say 3-6 times. I've also read both options... so not sure which one to go for. I'll more than likely look at a canister filter now because that Jebo corner filter is flipping huge. I think I could get a smaller canister at a higher rating. I've even considered turning a small 1 foot into a sump... but the chances of flooding on a 1 foot is just too great! The filter floss acts as mechanical filtration right? My filter doesn't have any filter floss, but rather 2 sponges of varying degrees of "thickness". Would this suffice? Or should I try squeeze some floss in somewhere?

Didn't think of it that way. Just didn't want to deal with the symptom only, and not the cause.

 

Optimal filtration of a fresh water tank is 5 - 10 times per hour. Optimal filtration on a marine tank is 20 - 30 times an hour. See the difference...

The more filtration you have, the better. Within reason. Obviously you must not cause a whirl pool in your tank, but the use of a spray bar will effectively diffuse the output of the filter. I am a firm believer in mechanical and biological filtration. Use lots of floss, filter pads work for this too. I prefer ceramic rings because there is more space for bacterial growth. Bioballs are cool, but normal kitchen sponges have greater surface are.

I use purigen when there are problems, but it's good stuff. It helps remove rubbish from the water. Just don't use it all the time. Use it for a week every month.

Good luck boet. If you need some help, you have my number. Just shout.

 

Thanks Slagter...

I will get some Purigen again. My stock is so severely depleated and been re-generated so many times, that I tossed it out a while ago.

Tomorrow I'll do I 50% WC, and then do a 3 day blackout. Hope that sorts it all out.

 

Did you initially treat your tank with copper sulphate?

 

I can't recall what the innitial medication was. I don't recall it having Copper sulphate in... But it did kill of 90% of the plants, snails, and 100% of my filter.

 

Then it most likely had copper... Hectic...

 

Nope... just checked... it wasn't copper in the meds. It was Sodium Chlorite (NOT ChlorIDE... ITE!!!)

 

Strange

 

I got home from work at 16h30. I was planning on doing a 50% water change, and then begin a 3 day blackout. But driving home, I decided to rather take a slightly different route.

I've literally just finished cleanig my tank, so that was a 5 hour stint!!

I removed ALL my plants. Gave them a 3 minute diluted bleech bath to kill the algae, and then rinsed the plants in de-chlored water. I also gave all the plants a thorough trim, cutting all dead, brown, brown tipped of even leaves that looked like they were going to die. I then removed all the rocks, gave them a scrub too.

I took Slagter's advice and put some filter wool into the filter. The filter only came with the filter pads, but I have included the floss.

Whilst I was vacuuming the substrate, I actually started to notice what might have been the cause of my tank turning murkey green all the time! I have black substrate, and what I had never noticed before was a very fine layer of dark green "mulch-like" gunc across the entire surface of the tank bottom. Basically it was a thin layer of rotting plant matter. I had received some funky floating plants from a TASA member in December, with extremely fine leaves, and I think what happened was when I medicated for anchor worm, I destroyed this plant, which shed it's leaves all over the floor.

SO I think what might have been happening is a layer of decomposing plant matter was creating the necessary food for an algea bloom. (This is also why I did the bleech bath for the plants, as I wanted to get rid of the algae on the plants.)

What I found strange was that my Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates level didn't spike at all!

Needless to say, my tank had a 75% water change today. And I have also put in a second internal filter purely with purigen in. The main filter will continue to run as the biological and mechanical filter, and one a month I will put in the second filter to act as the chemical filtration. (Thanks for that advise Slagter).

And already after 15 minutes of running, I can already see a difference in the tank...

 

OK, it's 3 days after the major water change and introduction of purigen.

Tank is turning greenish again.

Time to do a 3-4 day blackout! (But the bl&&dy angels laid eggs again last night... so I will wait for these to disappear before I start the blackout!)

 

Blackout will have to wait!!

Eggs have turned into wrigglers!

 

OK. Wrigglers did not make it!

3 day blackout on Friday to Sunday assisted with 90% of the green haze.
On Sunday I purchased a UV steralizer that has pretty much cleared out the rest. (Thank's Laure on that advice).

I was scared at the price of getting a UV light, as I thought they were always attached to a filter, and were very pricey. I found quite a cool thing at a LPS on Sunday. The UV light goes directly into the water (Obviously in a sealed unit) with a sponge and airstone underneath. The bubbles then bubble through the UV section, drawing the water into the UV section, and my water is pretty much cleared up again. I cannot believe how clear the water is. (Been a while since I've seen it so clear, so looks pretty amazing).

Been advised to also turn the UV light off after I know everything is settled again. So in about a week's time it will be going off.

The UV light was R285.00 for the unit. Unfortunately the downside to it is that I cannot replace the globe, as it is a sealed unit... but apparently I can buy a replacement sealed unit at about half the cost. (Which I doubt will be available in SA, as the entire system is a Chinese import... and you know how these things go.. they import the main unit, but never the replacement cartridges.!)