[beastboi]

Hey guys I'm stump, I don't know what wrong with my water... It's so cloudy. I change my water every week about 25% It will clear up for a little then the next day it would be cloudy again. It doesn't seem like it's green water just cloudy. Here are some pictures and here are my specs. Any advice would help and I will try. Thanks!

Specs:
Ph- 6.0
Ammonia- 0 ppm
Nitrate- 0 ppm
Nitrite- 0 ppm
I've just test my water before I posted.

Tank:
26gal bow front
Corallife 2x65 watt (One is on for 10 hours Second one is on 8 hours a day)
Co2 1 bubble per second.
Fluval Canister 205

Fishes:
1 Diano, 1 betta fish, 2 frogs, Couple Neon Tetras, Couple Red Tetra.

If you guys need any other info just ask.

 

[davemonkey]

I'm thinking algae bloom due to too much light. You only need one of those bulbs on that aquarium for the majority of the time. If you want a high-light boost in the afternoon, aim for closer to 3 hours instead of 8.

Just my guess.

-Dave

 

[grim]

my tank looked like that for six months after i set it up had no clue what was going on then i woke up one morning and it was gone i suspect it was algae

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi beastboi,

I agree with the above, algae bloom. I also agree, one bulb should be enough for your tank, possibly with a midday "burst period" where you run both.I do not see where you mention using any ferts, typically if you are running over 2 watts per gallon you need to be dosing with ferts to minimize algae.

 

[beastboi]

hey seattle i'm am using ferts i got the pfertz kit and was dosing one pump from each bottle for about 2 days and stopped. When I was dosing the water was cloudy like that.

 

[mott]

For sure looks like an algae bloom.
Keep up on the ferts... you shouldn't have 0 nitrates you should be in the 10-20 range.

I don't know much about p-ferts, do the bottles contain n,p,k?

 

[beastboi]

hey mott i got the bundle set, it comes with micros [m], nitrogen [n],phosphorus [p], and potassium [k] I'm going to pump each bottle every other day to see if it helps.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi again beastboi,

You seem to have a good growth of plants (bioload) so I would follow the "normal" pferts schedule, whatever it is (sorry I use Seachem so I don't have a recommendation). If it was me, I would cut back substantially on the amount of light (probably run just one bulb for a week or two) and see if the problem improves. If the cloudiness diminishes and the plants continue to do well you will know you are on the right track. Hope these suggestions help.

 

[mott]

^^ what he said cut back on the lighting. Maybe try a "burst" for the second bank of two hours instead of eight.

 

[Bert H]

Green water - you have way too much lighting! 130W on 26 gal is totally overkill.

If this were my tank, I'd lose one of the 65W lights and have a photoperiod of no more than 10 hours, do a large water change and cleaning (gravel, filter, walls), then make sure my CO2 and ferts were adequately dosed. I am not familiar with the pferts line, but it's probably ok to follow their directions.

As far as CO2, 1 bubble per second doesn't mean anything. Bubbles come in different sizes, so you can't go by that. Get a drop checker, or at least, measure the pH differential between tank water and tank water that has sat out 24hours - if you do it this way you want a 1pH unit differential between the two. The tank water should be 1pH lower than the water after it has de-gassed for 24 hours.

 

[beastboi]

Okay guys from the last time I've posted I add a UV sterilizer to my tank and the water clear within a week or so. Then I took it out and about 2 weeks later algae boom is coming back. This is so frustrating.I dont want to use the UV sterilizer all the time, I understand it's only for the last resort, I need to find the main problem. This is what I did I limit one of the light to 3 hours and the other one runs for 10 hours so it has a afternoon burst of light. I think my problem is the way I’m dosing pfertz. I don’t know understand the N, P, K, and micros. I'm only doing 1 pump per day and I split up with macros and the micros which I'm suppose to right? My biggest question is how am I supposed to know if I’m dosing too much or to little? What tests can I do to figure it out? Thanks guys for helping.

 

[MatPat]

As Bert said, you definitely had/have a case of green water. In my experience, green water is caused by ammonia/ammonium getting released into the water column. It can also be caused by too much light for your CO2 levels...basically not enough CO2 for your light level. I can induce GW in my tank at will by uprooting a bunch of plants and not doing a water change. I can also induce it by stirring up the substrate and not doing a water change.

Clear up what you currently have with your UV and reduce your photoperiod to 8 hours with maybe a 2 hour noon burst and see if it helps. Check out the pfertz dosing recommendations. It appears you are way under dosing your tank given your light level and the fact that you use CO2. They recommend an initial dose of 3 squirts per 10g and then use 1 squirt per 10g every day. According to those recommendations, you should have dosed 9 squirts initially then 3 squirts every day. I've never used their products and can't say if this is for every type of fert (N, P, K, and M) but I would assume it is. Their system seems to take all of the guesswork out of dosing and should be good for people who don't understand how to dose.

I would follow their recommendations for a couple of weeks and see if the tank improves. While you are waiting for the tank results, you can do a bit more reading on micros and macros, ask some questions in the Fertilization Forum, and get a better idea of what each fert will do for the plants. There are plenty of friendly people around here to answer any questions you may have about fertilizers and what not

 

[wrkucera]

Hi,

Yes I do concur with the other replies on board. The lighting is insane! I have been in the planted tank realm for about a year and a half now, and with everything I've learned, Lighting is key. However too much as in my case as well, you will have this green water. Cut back, and I will suggest that over the next two weeks, only use one bulb. No "midday burst" nonsense. just 8-9 hours. You have too stick to this as much as your heart says no. listen please to all of our suggestions. cut back the light and give it an honest go. no more than 10 hours with the 65 watts!
hope this helps.

 

[brutus]

one of the pictures looks like a big window reflection maybe you getting sun in daytime also

 

[chagovatoloco]

I had a problem with too much light with the same 2x65w coralife light. I switched out one ballast and bulb for a 40w setup, the retro fit was easy and my light problem was solved. I under stand you want what you paid for with the hight light, and you can have it the setup just needs to be adjusted for your tank.

here is the ballast

http://www.coralreefsupply.com/index.php?aquarium=detail&detail=606

It will fit in the housing so you can hide it like it was never there

here is the bulb

http://www.aquacave.com/40w-power-compact-lampbrsquare-pin-by-current-usa-1077.html

The only tricky part is to drill out the 2nd clip for the light and reattach it with a self taping screw. I would give picks but I went to a bigger tank and put mine back to the full light again. If done right the light will look like the factory setup, hope this helps

 

[fshfanatic]

I had nasty green water like that once, nothing I did worked in getting rid of it until I hooked up a Vortex Diatom filter and let her rip. 24 hours later it was gone and never returned.

I believe as long as you are running that much light you will never get rid of it.