Green Water

[jcgardner]

I have a green water problem. I have a 30g long tank that has been up since the end of June. 30 lbs of live rock, 40lbs of caribbean live sand, 2 clowns, yellow goby, lettuce slug, emerald crab, 4 hermit crabs, feather duster, 4 margarita snails, 2 turbo, 3 certh's, a few polyp's and two toadstoals. 2 filters, 2 korolia 2 powerheads, compact flourescent lighting. Lighting is on from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm

Param's have been perfect and balanced since cycle completed.

SP - 1.022
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
AK 200
PH 8.4
temp 76

The tank practically turned green overnight. I feed once a day fish eat majority of it in several minutes, I did put a piece of nori in the other day for the lettuce slug, but this is unreal. I did a 6 gal water change yesterday and it looked a little bit better, but this afternoon it is a disaster again. Please help, how big of a water change can I do at one time? I do not have a skimmer but I will be buying one shortley after this nightmare. I have noticed some green coraline algea(I am assuming because It is very difficult to remove, had to scrape it off the glass.) that showed up in the last week.

Tank went from this:

To this overnight:

Please help. Also all of the critters seem to be acting fine, they don't seem bothered by the green water at all.

 

[blue_eyes53813]

What do you have for filtration? How much water flow do you have? The water looks kinda stagnant. Running Carbon in a filter bag will help a lot.. What is your water change schedule before this problem... Also ask your petstore if you can rent/borrow a diatom filter... They work amazingly... Most LFS have them and will rent them out for a day or so.... Your water will be cleared up with in a few hours...

 

[cbrownfish]

You have an algae bloom in the water column. A skimmer would probably be pulling gunk like crazy. I would recommend increasing water changes......are you using RO/DI water? You can also decrease your lighting schedule until the bloom is under control.

 

[jcgardner]

I had a 50 g skilter/filter that I got from Foster & Smith that I was using, I changed it to two marineland 30 filters yesterday with the water change, because the other filter did not have carbon filter media capibale. I was doing weekley water changes of 4 gallons prior to this. The nearest pet store to me is 3 hours away, I get all of my stuff from Dr's Foster & Smith. And yes I have been using R/O water.

 

[blue_eyes53813]

I am not framiliar with either of those filters but Did this green water start after the change of the filters? If so it may be possible you removed to much of the beneficial bacteria with the 1st filter... WHat did the 50g skilter have in it for filtration? bio balls? filter floss? If you remove it all at once you remove the bacteria to fast.....

 

[Frankie]

You need to test your Po4 also. In the first picture I can see cyano growing on the sand.
I doubt this happened in one night but was an accumulated event. The pictures are one month apart perfectly.
The HOB filters your using are nitrate factories I bet and will not handle what your putting in there. I am sure the Nori contributed to this also.
You could also hook up a UV sterilizer for clarity reasons and run carbon as Vicki stated.
This is a maintenance issue also. Your not topping off. that tells me there are days in between your caring for this tank. You need to address your tank every day.
May I suggest putting aside what you have learned up to this point and reading this? Do the 101 class.
Saltwater Aquarium 101 - Getting Started

 

[jcgardner]

Thank you all for your advice and comments. The water was green before I pulled the filter, it is the reason I changed filter. The filter i was using prior only had floss and no room to run carbon, again reason for change. I add water every two days, the reason the current picture is lower is because I took out to much water yesterday, and my salt hasn't arrived yet. As I stated I have to order everything because the nearest store is 3 hours away. Salt should be here tomorrow and I will do another water change. I do test my aquarium every week and top off the water every two days. The only thing different I had done was add the Nori. Yes the cyano came up because I didn't have a big enough clean up crew I only had 4 snails, I have since added several more snails and the crabs. Thank you all. I have shut off the lights, I am going to order the skimmer tonight, and will do another water change when the salt gets here. Thanks again.

 

[Frankie]

Cool. Keep us updated.

 

[sambrinar]

Sent you a Pm Charise.... Come by and get those and Come get some salt too.... I wouldn't wait, I already have some

 

[BigJay]

wow . I have no more advice to add. Just had to say.. wow.:bugout:

 

[sambrinar]

Charise, where is the chaeto?? If you need to pull the fish out, bring them by too. It will be fine in my tank for a few days

 

[cbrownfish]

Yes the cyano came up because I didn't have a big enough clean up crew I only had 4 snails, I have since added several more snails and the crabs.

On a final note, don't minimize the cyano or the advice from Frankie. Cyano does not appear because the clean up crew is doing a poor job. Cyano and nuisance algae blooms are all tied to excess nutrients.....typically phosphates.

 

[jcgardner]

Brenda, aka sambrinar, had a good point I wonder if the nori had food coloring in it? If so would that cause this to happen.

 

[sambrinar]

Brenda, aka sambrinar, had a good point I wonder if the nori had food coloring in it? If so would that cause this to happen.

Sorry to interject Charise, but since I bought it and never used it (I guess I was gonna test it out on you ) It was sushi wrap, bought from Safeway. recommended by Dr. F and S. Keep in mind we live in the middle of nowhere, 3 hrs from LFS, we cant run out and get anything.. We have Literally Walmart....

 

[jcgardner]

The cheato is still in the tank just in between some rocks. I believe that my problem relies in the filter I was using. The fish seem fine, don't seem to be bothered by it at all. They are still just as active and everything. Please note that I am not dismissing anything anyone is saying, I asked for help and I will do the best I can do is suggest. Just some of it is hard to do very quickly because all we have is walmart, everything has to be ordered or spend 6 hours driving round trip to get it. Thanks again everyone.

 

[cbrownfish]

You could easily test the Nori for dye by swishing it in a glass of water. I don't expect that to be the culprit but it would be good to rule that out!

 

[jcgardner]

You could easily test the Nori for dye by swishing it in a glass of water. I don't expect that to be the culprit but it would be good to rule that out!

I tested the Nori in a cup of water and it started disolving into a bunch of little pieces with one stir. Started turning green and making the water smell bad, so I think we've found part of the problem. I had left the nori in the tank for several hours and it was almost completely gone, and it was only a 2x2 piece, I thought the slug had eaten it, but I think it just completely dissolved. I am sure that with no carbon in the other filter only floss, it just overloaded the system. Thanks to everyone. I am also going to cut back my feedings to every other day and hope I I can limit any future problems of this nature, along with ordering the skimmer.

Thanks again to everyone for your help and advice.
Charise

 

[Frankie]

Nori is just dried algae. So yeah, you introduce high nutrients when you use it. If and when I use nori I only use what the fish will eat in half an hour. Then I pull it out. This has nothing to so with dyes.

 

[yungreefer2410]

7:00 am to 8:00 pm is like 13 hours that could cause your problem too. most people that i know run them 8 hours. just my 2 cent though. i would hate not to have a lfs in my area but luckily i have three

 

[jcgardner]

Well lesson learned. Just unfortunate that I had to learn it the hardway. Thanks again everyone. Awesome as always.