Help with ugly green water

Hi

I have a 300lt tank with a 100lt sump, tank has been running for about 2 months now, a have filter wool, filter matt and bio balls in the sump, substrate is river sand and some beach sand and shells and cruched coral, all washed properly. tank gets some sunlight but i can not do anything about this, im going to try cover with some shade cloth but i can not move the tank cos dont have any other space for it.

so the tank started developing some brown alage on the glass and now the water IS VERY VERY GREEN AND MURKY.

i have been doing daily water changes and it clears the tnak up for a little bit but it just gets green again.

it gets so bad that you can barely even see the fish, none of the fish have died and none of them seem to be sick or anything like that, but the tank looks really terrible.

what can i do aboutt his green water.

thank you

 

With that sunlight..... Other that eliminating that i would recommend a UV sterilizer. This will kill any single cell algea.

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Just make sure you dont have execessive amounts of nutrients due to overfeeding.

 

Here's a question: What is inside a UV steriliser? Why can't a UV light fitted above the tank have the same effect?

 

A UV sterilizer is a tube with a light in it. The water runs at a relative slow flow threw it. This kills the single cell algea and becteria. Google it for a beter understanding.

 

Just did that after I posted, which brings me back to the second part of my question: Will fitting a UV light above your tank not have the same effect?

 

Having the light above the tank would have limited exposure to the problem.

 

Hmmm... Think I should get a UV sterilizer. Will it be beneficial to any tank?

 

Yes. Its not just to kill algea. The marine guys use it a lot and some canisters have it built-in. Many people think its not really nessasary in fresh water but it would contribute to ctystal clear water and would do no harm. Im thinking of getting one myself. My friend has one and it does not even look as if there is water in his tank so clear is it.

 

Find some weeping willow trees, they usually around parks, dams and rivers. Break of a few small branches off and place them in your tank , they will develop roots and suck out all the nutrients thereby restricting the algae.

 

I'll import a few from Hong Kong. Found that to be a lot cheaper than buying locally...

 

...and does it grow then?

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With this strong Rand yes. i'll somer buy one from you then.

 

Lekker. I can source complete JEBO 18W UV Sterilisers for around R 500.00, rated for 90-200GPH. Haro prease!

 

Hi Nadeem
I used a product called "Aqua Organic" the stage 2. This is normally used on ponds and it will eliminate your problem and boost your bacteria in your filtratration. Why not try this as its more natural and less expensive.
You need to do a 50% water change and then add this product as per instructions.

 

Hi
guys

Because of the flowrate, would you need more than one UV steriliser for about a 630 l tank ?

 

Once again,What is the reasoning behind using a UV sterilizer in an Aquarium?
A pond yes, that I can understand.

 

My bad, its not GPH, its just for tank size in gallons. i.e. 90 gallons = 340 liters and 200 gallons = 757 liters.

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My love for gadgets kinda drives me towards it... other than that, no reason... :-D

 

hey all, thank you for the input, spider, i think i am going to try the AQUA ORGANIC for now but am now deciding to rather sell the whole setup and do something smaller so i can put it somehwere where it does not catch sunlight.

 

@SHiBBY - First of all a UV sterilizer emits a very bright light than can be very detrimental to your own eyes and not to even mention the impact it could have on the fish. Secondly it is very important that the water flow through the UV sterilizer is slow otherwise the effect of removing algae particles would be insignificant as the water passes the tube too quickly. I would advise a parallel setup like they normally use on koi ponds.

 

Excellent, thanks Wimpie. That explains it. I guess in that case, parallel it is!

 

if you have and apply your quarantine tank I agree slojo.