Water Clarity problems

[nuchumYussel]

Hi everyone! I have a 20 gallon freshwater tank. About three weeks ago
while doing a water change, I noticed that my filter, a penguin
bio-wheel125 was not working. So I took out my Chemi-Pure filter
medium bag and the bio-wheel started to spin again. I also replaced
the filter bag. But the next day, the water started to get a greyish
cloudiness. I was told to let the filter just do its thing. And the
cause was probably from wiping out too much bacteria. So I let it run,
and the water started to get green. Now, three weeks later, it is so
green, you can barley see across the tank, much less the actual fish
inhabitants. The tank has been crystal clear for 9 months. i also have
a 29 gallon freshwater tank, but that one is abosoloutly crystal
clear. Some people have suggested to me that this is an algae bloom.

AQUARIUM STATS:

Nitrites: 0
Ammonia: 0
Ph: 6.5'ish
Filtration System: Penguin Bio-Wheel 125
Food Type Used: Flakes, I feed twice aWater Changes: 25% once every
third week
Lighting: Lights are on for 10-12 hrs a day.
Plants: All plastic
Inhabataints: 4 Tiger Barbs; 4 Black Widdow Tetra; 2 Serpae Tetra; 1
Diamond-Scale Tetra; 1 Common Pleco; 1 Red Tail Black Shark; 1
Snakeskin Gourami
Heating: 50W
Tank is Fully cycled and Matured

If anyone has ideas as to what is going on (if it is an algae bloom)
or how to clear it up, plesae respond!

Thanks,
Evan

[lonerider]

"nuchumYussel" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi everyone! I have a 20 gallon freshwater tank. About three weeks ago
> while doing a water change, I noticed that my filter, a penguin
> bio-wheel125 was not working. So I took out my Chemi-Pure filter
> medium bag and the bio-wheel started to spin again. I also replaced
> the filter bag. But the next day, the water started to get a greyish
> cloudiness. I was told to let the filter just do its thing. And the
> cause was probably from wiping out too much bacteria. So I let it run,
> and the water started to get green. Now, three weeks later, it is so
> green, you can barley see across the tank, much less the actual fish
> inhabitants. The tank has been crystal clear for 9 months. i also have
> a 29 gallon freshwater tank, but that one is abosoloutly crystal
> clear. Some people have suggested to me that this is an algae bloom.
>
> AQUARIUM STATS:
>
> Nitrites: 0
> Ammonia: 0
> Ph: 6.5'ish
> Filtration System: Penguin Bio-Wheel 125
> Food Type Used: Flakes, I feed twice aWater Changes: 25% once every
> third week
> Lighting: Lights are on for 10-12 hrs a day.
> Plants: All plastic
> Inhabataints: 4 Tiger Barbs; 4 Black Widdow Tetra; 2 Serpae Tetra; 1
> Diamond-Scale Tetra; 1 Common Pleco; 1 Red Tail Black Shark; 1
> Snakeskin Gourami
> Heating: 50W
> Tank is Fully cycled and Matured
>
> If anyone has ideas as to what is going on (if it is an algae bloom)
> or how to clear it up, plesae respond!
>
> Thanks,
> Evan

Hi Evan,
I'm pretty new to this stuff but reading all i can and learning the hard
way sometimes. It is a suggested rule of thumb to change 25% of your water
once a week. This gets rid of waste and all the stuff algae thrive on. Maybe
more water changes will help and some live plants. The live plants eat up
all the stuff the algae needs to survive. I have a bunch of live plants and
occasionaly use my diatom filter to filter out algae. If you have a friend
with a diatom filter maybe you could borrow it for a day. A normal filter
just doesn't filter down to the micron size of algae. Sometimes algae if
left alone will gobble up all the nutrients available and starve then die.
Sounds like you have perfect conditions for the algae to grow,no plants,too
few water changes and maybe overfeeding.

Lonerider

[NetMax]

"nuchumYussel" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi everyone! I have a 20 gallon freshwater tank. About three weeks ago
> while doing a water change, I noticed that my filter, a penguin
> bio-wheel125 was not working. So I took out my Chemi-Pure filter
> medium bag and the bio-wheel started to spin again. I also replaced
> the filter bag. But the next day, the water started to get a greyish
> cloudiness. I was told to let the filter just do its thing. And the
> cause was probably from wiping out too much bacteria. So I let it run,
> and the water started to get green. Now, three weeks later, it is so
> green, you can barley see across the tank, much less the actual fish
> inhabitants. The tank has been crystal clear for 9 months. i also have
> a 29 gallon freshwater tank, but that one is abosoloutly crystal
> clear. Some people have suggested to me that this is an algae bloom.
>
> AQUARIUM STATS:
>
> Nitrites: 0
> Ammonia: 0
> Ph: 6.5'ish
> Filtration System: Penguin Bio-Wheel 125
> Food Type Used: Flakes, I feed twice aWater Changes: 25% once every
> third week
> Lighting: Lights are on for 10-12 hrs a day.
> Plants: All plastic
> Inhabataints: 4 Tiger Barbs; 4 Black Widdow Tetra; 2 Serpae Tetra; 1
> Diamond-Scale Tetra; 1 Common Pleco; 1 Red Tail Black Shark; 1
> Snakeskin Gourami
> Heating: 50W
> Tank is Fully cycled and Matured
>
> If anyone has ideas as to what is going on (if it is an algae bloom)
> or how to clear it up, plesae respond!
>
> Thanks,
> Evan

Your tank was running at a high fish load. Your filter problem nuked
your nitrifying bacteria, so you got a bacterial bloom (greyish).
Without the bacteria, the nutrients built up in the water feeding an
algae bloom (green water). Knowing what and why might help you. Fish
food is now driving your algae bloom. Research the web for possible
remedies. I've tried several with mixed results. Diatomite filtration
is a sure thing. Chemicals might work. Water changes don't seem to do
anything. Keeping the tank dark for several days sometimes work (but not
usually). Flocculants might work (with a fine floss in the filter to
catch the spores).

I tried using barley once, but my distribution method didn't work. I
pulled out the barley and pondered what to try next, but I got busy and
forgot about it (tank is on an automatic feeder, and it was just happy
guppies in there). Within a span of 3 days, the water went from solid
green (about 3" visibility) to crystal clear (I'd done nothing). I guess
it reached a growth/reproduction constraint and died off. If I had been
using something at the time it cleared, I'd now be swearing that it
worked like magic ;~)

NetMax