# Green water or Algae bloom ?



## Ygtcntrs (12 Nov 2016)

Hey There , 

As a new member and a new aquascaper , i began my story almost 40 days ago . My aquarium was in great clarity till i changed my water 8 days ago . The water turned into slightly milky , cloudy. I thought that it ll probably be better the next say cuz ın every water change it was gettin a little cloudy and becomming crystal clear in couple of hours . But it did not . Meanwhile i added 10 neons into my tank . Than it got worse. Now the water is kinda greenish. I could not understand whether green water issue or a bacterial bloom. Can you tell me your ideas of it and solutions? 
A beginner need help 

Tank info

96 liter 
10 neon
3 otocinculus
4 sae
3 amano shrimp

7 hours lighting. 
Co2 levels stable(green)
Carpet cuba
Rotala

The fish and herbs are ok .

Thanks For your help 

Best regards


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## Greenfinger2 (12 Nov 2016)

Hi Ygtcntrs, Sorry to hear about your algae bloom 

Look for green water in this link 

http://aquariumalgae.blogspot.co.uk/


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## Ygtcntrs (12 Nov 2016)

Thanks for the reply . Green water and algbloom are the same things? Or one leads to another ? As i Said newbie here


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## Greenfinger2 (12 Nov 2016)

Hi Yes its the same thing A bloom of algae. The black out method works wonders


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## Ygtcntrs (12 Nov 2016)

Greenfinger2 said:


> Hi Yes its the same thing A bloom of algae. The black out method works wonders




Thanks for the answer  lets try Than  but i wonder whether it harms my fish or plants in these 4 days ?


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## ahjoe0digi (12 Nov 2016)

Ygtcntrs said:


> Thanks for the reply . Green water and algbloom are the same things? Or one leads to another ? As i Said newbie here


Green water is a kind of algae bloom but algae bloom may not necessarily green water. Green water is green color unicellular algae suspended in water. There are many kind of algae including but not limited to:
Green water
Black beard algae
Cladophora 
Fuzz algae
Thread algae
Hair algae
Green spot algae
Green dust algae
Blue green algae(cyanobacteria,not true algae) 
Staghorn algae. 

All algae mentioned only identified according to outer appearance and may not belong to same family or species which means there may no definite solution for particular kind of algae. Example, staghorn algae may come in different size and color. 

Some algae I faced not even discussed on internet before. There is a tiny clump of dark color wool like algae entangled with Java moss in the picture below.I never able to identify it and there is no info available.








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## Greenfinger2 (12 Nov 2016)

Ygtcntrs said:


> Thanks for the answer  lets try Than  but i wonder whether it harms my fish or plants in these 4 days ?




Hi Y, Plants and fish will be safe for this period of time


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## Greenfinger2 (12 Nov 2016)

ahjoe0digi said:


> Green water is a kind of algae bloom but algae bloom may not necessarily green water. Green water is green color unicellular algae suspended in water. There are many kind of algae including but not limited to:
> Green water
> Black beard algae
> Cladophora
> ...



Hi A Sorry have you a better photo of this algae. Post it in the algae thread bet someone on here knows what it is


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## ahjoe0digi (12 Nov 2016)

Greenfinger2 said:


> Hi A Sorry have you a better photo of this algae. Post it in the algae thread bet someone on here knows what it is


Just remove them,  may be wait for a while and see if they grow back? 
Basically just dark grey color wool. Initially I thought is some kind of dirt until I noticed that it grew. 

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## ahjoe0digi (12 Nov 2016)

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## Greenfinger2 (12 Nov 2016)

ahjoe0digi said:


> Sent from my MX4 using Tapatalk



Hi A, Looks like there is a detritus build up within the moss fronds and all sorts of algae will take advantage of this. Could be lack of flow.

Post a new thread in Algae with the photos. Others will know more.


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## dw1305 (12 Nov 2016)

Hi all, 





Ygtcntrs said:


> Carpet cuba Rotala





Ygtcntrs said:


> Now the water is kinda greenish. I could not understand whether green water issue or a bacterial bloom. Can you tell me your ideas of it and solutions?


It is unicellular green algae, like the others have said. You need some floating plants.

cheers Darrel


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## alto (12 Nov 2016)

Greenfinger2 said:


> Hi Yes its the same thing A bloom of algae. The black out method works wonders


have you had success treating Green Water this way?
Mine resisted completely  ... but it was also on it's way to "pea soup" - at this stage I worried for the livestock (re oxygen loss) & invested in a diatom filter

Most Green Water doesn't get to the "pea soup" stage & can be treated with water changes or various mechanical means of removal (microfiltration, UV etc) or just wait it out 
I do large water changes from tap & we tend to have minor Green Water in the Spring (tap water is from somewhat shallow reservoirs that depend on annual rain fall & snow melt), my tanks get a bit hazy every spring & clear a few weeks later
You can also use flocculating agents (but need to take care with soft water as pH can drop suddenly) 

Your cuba carpet looks great in the photo


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## ahjoe0digi (13 Nov 2016)

Greenfinger2 said:


> Hi A, Looks like there is a detritus build up within the moss fronds and all sorts of algae will take advantage of this. Could be lack of flow.
> 
> Post a new thread in Algae with the photos. Others will know more.


Actually that detritus thing is the algae. Since I remove most of it only few millimeter left. It may regrow to a centimeter within 2/3 weeks time. 

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## Ygtcntrs (13 Nov 2016)

%25 water changed , Bacteria and potasium added as usual and covered with a blanket.4 days started lets see whether i can solve the problem or not  i will update


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## ahjoe0digi (13 Nov 2016)

Ygtcntrs said:


> %25 water changed , Bacteria and potasium added as usual and covered with a blanket.4 days started lets see whether i can solve the problem or not  i will update


Must be totally dark,  try not to peek.

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## Greenfinger2 (13 Nov 2016)

alto said:


> have you had success treating Green Water this way?
> Mine resisted completely  ... but it was also on it's way to "pea soup" - at this stage I worried for the livestock (re oxygen loss) & invested in a diatom filter
> 
> Most Green Water doesn't get to the "pea soup" stage & can be treated with water changes or various mechanical means of removal (microfiltration, UV etc) or just wait it out
> ...



Hi Alto, I have not had this problem so far.Friends have and the black out method worked well . Mind you it did not get to the stage of pea soup before starting. Fish and plants were safe with just the filter left on.It has worked for me in the past with other algae. 
Thinking of starting a black out on my 60cm It's a new set up and suffering a brown algae out brake Bad one  I Know it should go as fast as it comes. Its bugging me into a state of madness  its everywhere  Still Its all part of the learning curve No two tanks are ever the same


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## Ygtcntrs (19 Nov 2016)

After the Blackout it looked better , so now i should start 5 hıur lighting again? And water changes as usual by adding bacteria Feeder ?


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## Greenfinger2 (19 Nov 2016)

Hi Y Glad to hear that it worked.Yes go back usual water changes and lighting


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