# green water after cleaning the filter....!



## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

hello,
my tank was balanced with a little bit of algae competition.

But suddenly after cleaning the filter, i left the old sponges and added new ones, the water bacame a littlle bit cloudy after a couple of days from filter cleaning.
Now the water turned to be green. 
Fishes are okay.
What have i done to deserve that!!
Any way to remove green water and get the water clear again?
My tank is planted, i dont want to loose the plants.
If u bought a product for algae will it remove the green algae water?
And should i buy a product for filter bacteria? If that means i lost them?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

You have angered the algae Gods! Woe is upon us! 

Green water is usually caused by an ammonia spike and high light. So you can do some 50% water changes and reduce the lighting duration or intensity for a little while until it clears up. 

I would steer clear of algae products since some of them can outright kill plants too. You could buy a UV filter if you want, it kills green water in a matter of a few hours, and breaks down other organics in the water leaving you with crystal clear water. The filter bacteria will be ok with time, its hard to keep anything truly bacteria free. Vortex diatom filters will also clear green water in a few hours and polish the water. There are other cures like using willow branches and straw but stick with the other suggestions first before making offerings to appease the powers in charge of algae blooms.


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## MochaLatte (Nov 17, 2011)

Green water is good if you have fry, but it's really kind of ugly lol. Do a total blackout for 3 days. Cover the tank and don't let any light in don't turn lights on. That should clear it up if not try water changes. Last resort would be a UV sterilizer. If I were you I would just buy the UV sterilizer eliminates all the headache.


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

i bought the UV sterilizer and its running since yesterday, im wondering how long it will take to clear up?
the unit i bought is U shape, 11Watt connect to the canister filter, with 700L/H flow and 220 L tank?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Ohh very fast. It should be milky white in a few hours and clear by around tomorrow.


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

it was deep green! Now it looks light green, i started to see some plants on the mid ground, but after the uv clear the water, im wondering about water quality. I heared that green water must be solved from water quality insted of uv unit, but im busy and cant do large water changes, so i choosed the uv solution.
After i cleaned the filter, a two days later the water started to get cloudy of milky white, then the algae bloom,
i dont think its duo to amonia spike, cuz i have discus fish, and they are sensitive, i didnt notice anything wrong on them or on other fishes.
Im wondering if it happend due to high phosphate ??
I always having GDA, and some hair algae, that tank is planted, the light is 10,000k i think it cause the algae problems,,
but why after filter cleaning!!


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

When you cleaned the filter out you lost a lot of filter bacteria that usually eat up waste products including ammonia. Since there were no filter bacteria around t.he green water algae could use the ammonia. Green water doesn't need a lot of ammonia to thrive. Certainly less than would harm your fish.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

+1 for Zapins comment; whenever I clean the pads in my canister or HOB filters I use water from the tank that the filter is on to rinse the pads. That way I am not killing off the beneficial bacteria as badly as I would if I used chlorinated sink water.


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## Daniil (Oct 30, 2009)

I had a same problem about a week ago with filter and green water, and it was not the first time.
The friend from a LFS recommended to use *PhosGuard* by Seachem. I follow the instructions on the can and on the second day water was 50% cleaner, today is the 4th day of treatment and the water is 90% clear.


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## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

I tried the willow branch method, as an aside- no results, whatsover. Which might indicate that my problem was not whatever willow absorbs but something else. 

UV sterilizer for life. No ich and no green water. Cleared it up in about 2 days.

Ballast died this past week. Coralife sent me a (second) free new one. Green water's back. But now I'm armed.

Quiver with fear, green water! The bell tolls for thee! Muwahahaha!


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## ProjectCode858 (Nov 29, 2011)

Best suggestion would be just constant RO water changes. Thats how I got rid of mines.


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## bsmith (Dec 13, 2006)

GW is a very hard thing to eliminate with out a UV sterilizer. I have read of ppl ridding their tank by doing black outs and WC's but I have no idea how that could have worked. 

My first experience with GW led me to do a 7 day black out. I went full on midnight. Took heavy beach towels and cover the tank 100%, didn't feed and didn't peek for 7 full days. When I took the towels off there was no green at all but the water was still hazy, like it looks when its getting ready to start up. I knew I was not rid of the issue and I was right because after two days of having the lights back on it was even greener than before! I read so many threads and other things. I couldn't do and didn't want to do another black out because that first 7 day about killed half the plants that were in the tank. 

At that point I had to get a UV sterilizer. Not knowing what i Needed I started searching. Quickly I figured out I didn't want an inline as I Have multiple tanks and you never know when you will need it on a different tank. So I posted a WTB thread in the market area of a planted tank site and ended up trading some CRS for an eBay HOB unit.

This was at least 4 yeas ago and I still have no idea how many watts the bulb is (im thinking 5-9) but I have used it many many times and still within 5 days of putting it in the tank my water is more clear then the water that comes from my tap! It is one of the best purchases/acquisitions I have ever made. 

So in short DON'T MESS WITH BLACK OUTS AND JUST GET A HOB UV STERILIZER AND GET IT OVER WITH!


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

bsmith said:


> So in short DON'T MESS WITH BLACK OUTS AND JUST GET A HOB UV STERILIZER AND GET IT OVER WITH!


I agree, blackouts never work for anything. When you starve the algae you are also starving the plants of light, so you are really just hurting the positive aspects of your tank. Furthermore, blackouts cause GW and weak plants to die and decay providing more ammonia for GW to use when the lights come back on.

Best to solve the water quality issue and/or get a UV light for fast results.


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

i purchased the UV unit and the water cleared in two days. more clearer than before..
it was amazing,
i tried the blackout before for a week, i lost almost all the plants, and the carpet plant that was forming a nice view glossostigma.

i think it was a phosphat problem, i want to decrease it,... how?
i have anubia as i have read its a phosphat consumer.
any other method to solve the water quality??


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## bsmith (Dec 13, 2006)

Zapins said:


> I agree, blackouts never work for anything. When you starve the algae you are also starving the plants of light, so you are really just hurting the positive aspects of your tank. Furthermore, blackouts cause GW and weak plants to die and decay providing more ammonia for GW to use when the lights come back on.
> 
> Best to solve the water quality issue and/or get a UV light for fast results.


You are correct sir!


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## bsmith (Dec 13, 2006)

kamel_007 said:


> i purchased the UV unit and the water cleared in two days. more clearer than before..
> it was amazing,
> i tried the blackout before for a week, i lost almost all the plants, and the carpet plant that was forming a nice view glossostigma.
> 
> ...


Happy to hear you go the UV and it worked well for you.

Now dont go messing things up by thinking that Phosphate was the cause of your GW, it was not. Actually there is no proof at all that ANY ferts in ANY levels but lower ones contribute to algae issues.

The cause of your GW, 100% was an ammonia spike. Even if you cannot pinpoint exactly where it came from, that is the source.


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

I don't believe I have ever cleaned my filter. Ever. That thick sludge in there is priceless, IMO.....more valuable than anything else in my tank because it is the juice that makes it all work....I clean the intakes from time to time, but that happens once per year.

UV sterilizers are a little miracle though, for keeping algae away....they are like an insurance policy. Just remember to clean the housing and change the bulb as recommended for it to be as effective! Problem is that after a while, your tank will have no algae issues, mainly because it has fully matured, and does not need the UV....so you tend to forget about the sterilizer is there. Until you fertizilize too much or have a power outage, or some other infrequent catastrophe....then BAM! Green water again!!


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## krazeeboy (Jul 27, 2009)

If you are on a budget and can't afford a uv sterilizer Black out method DOES work. I got a 55 g high light ei dosing tank. I've had green water so green like pea soup a couple times after kicking up dirt and moving plants around. 

My method has always been a complete 4 day blackout (make sure when you look in after covering it up it should be pitch black 0% visibility) followed by a large 50% or more water change. Could also be the combination of killing the algae though blackout and my chlorine rich water that finishes them off. After that the water is hazy for a day or two before it is crystal clear again. Either way this method has never failed me.


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## bsmith (Dec 13, 2006)

DonaldmBoyer said:


> I don't believe I have ever cleaned my filter. Ever. That thick sludge in there is priceless, IMO.....more valuable than anything else in my tank because it is the juice that makes it all work....I clean the intakes from time to time, but that happens once per year.
> 
> UV sterilizers are a little miracle though, for keeping algae away....they are like an insurance policy. Just remember to clean the housing and change the bulb as recommended for it to be as effective! Problem is that after a while, your tank will have no algae issues, mainly because it has fully matured, and does not need the UV....so you tend to forget about the sterilizer is there. *Until you fertizilize too much* or have a power outage, or some other infrequent catastrophe....then BAM! Green water again!!


What kind of filter do you have Donald? From your comments and my experience with trying to not clean the filter material, im thinking you have to have some sort of HOB or something as if you don't clean a canister the flow will drop to almost nothing if maintenance is not performed every once in a while.

Also, not trying to stir anything up but I think it has been proven that OVER fertilizing is not a cause of algae (unless you are dosing Ammonia as your N source) and actually the LACK of fertilizers is what causes algae issues.


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

bsmith said:


> Also, not trying to stir anything up but I think it has been proven that OVER fertilizing is not a cause of algae (unless you are dosing Ammonia as your N source) and actually the LACK of fertilizers is what causes algae issues.


can you explain please, how the lack of fertilizers can cause Algae issues?


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## ObiQuiet (Oct 9, 2009)

kamel_007 said:


> can you explain please, how the lack of fertilizers can cause Algae issues?


That's a very good and fundamental question. Think about it like this:
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Plants are relatively complex organisms and require a large set of nutrients.
If one or a few of the nutrients are missing, the plants don't use up much of the other nutrients either.

Algae, being simpler organisms, can grow using a smaller set of nutrients.

So, if a few nutrients that the plants need are missing, there will be more of the other nutrients for the algae to use.

Therefore, lack of fertilization in a planted tank can increase algae growth.
-------------

There's more to it, but that's how I understand the basics.


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

ObiQuiet said:


> That's a very good and fundamental question. Think about it like this:
> ------------
> Plants are relatively complex organisms and require a large set of nutrients.
> If one or a few of the nutrients are missing, the plants don't use up much of the other nutrients either.
> ...


Thanks very much...


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

now the water turned to be yellow! What that means? I'll perform water changes today. But want to know the reason for it.


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## tommyr (Feb 18, 2005)

I had green water for a while in my 5 gal. So bad you could hardly see the 1 cory cat and 1 Rasbora. Went out yesterday and bought "Algae Destroyer advanced". I did a 50% water change then added 5 drops to the tank. Several hours later the water was crystal clear and is the same today! It calls for 14 drops per 10 gallons but use a few drops less. Dose every 3 days if the problem persists. NOT for use with freshwater crustaceans so be warned.


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

thanks, i have performed water changes yesterday, and turned on the UV for a while, problem solved and water became crystal clear.


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