# WHAT HAPPENED TO MY TANK!!?? (before and after pics)



## frozenbarb (Dec 16, 2006)

lol arent u on tropical fishforum too?


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## spypet (Sep 15, 2006)

my guess is the lack of fish and flake food may have starved the microbes and bacteria in your gravel so your tank has basically become un-cycled so it may have nitrites killing your plants instead of nitrates feeding them. assuming I'm correct, you should do a thorough gravel vacuum, add more fish and feed them food (just buy 10 feeder guppies, danios, or minnows for $1) while continuing to do weekly water changes. I would stop adding any of those fertilizers or algae killers at least until your tank recycles which could take several weeks. you may continue using your DIY Co2 just double-check to be sure the yeast&sugar solution is not somehow going up your tubing and into your tank. there are bacterial soups you can buy online that help boost your tank cycle; unfortunately most of the ones sold in LPS are ineffective.

you should tell us more about what filter you are using and what media is in it.
also if you have and/or use any test kits such as pH, NO2, NO3, PO4, etc.


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## ryeguy (Aug 18, 2006)

KISS, keep it simple stupid (no offense)... put away the ferts for now, and toss the algae remover.....get some zebra danios, platys or some other hearty fish...You need nitrates which come from fish waste..The picture you posted is green water...You need to get your tank cycled


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

You have almost 3 watts per gallon on that 25 gallon tank, and that is too much light to even try to operate without good fertilizing and good CO2 dosing. Also, you need to keep the lights on for only 8 hours a day or less, until you can get rid of any algae problems you have.

To kill off the green water do a 3 day total blackout of the tank, no light at all allowed in, no peeking. Then change about 75% of the water and change that much water again, to get rid of the dead algae. Now, if you are dosing the needed fertilizers and have the CO2 working, the algae should not return.

You need potassium nitrate and mono potassium phosphate to go along with the trace element mix you have. Dose about a quarter tsp of the nitrate and a sixteenth of a tsp of the phosphate every other day, alternating by dosing the trace mix in between. If you make or buy a cheap drop checker you can make sure you have enough CO2 in the water. Now, the green water should be nothing but a memory. Don't worry about cycling the tank - if you have over half of the substrate covered with growing plants, the plants will take care of any ammonia that shows up.


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## wetbizquit (Jul 9, 2006)

ok, so i dont want to end up spending any money, i was laid off at work  so i dont have cash to spend on this little adventure

i ended up turning off my light and filter, i moved my loach, i have no fish in the tank, the lights have been off for around 5 days, and today i will do a complete water change, about 85% water change, i will throw away all my plants but keep my driftwood. so i will do a complete clean out. and i will ad small hearty fish, as well as start my co2 back up with this original mix:

-sugar to the bottom inside line
-water to the top inside line, just luke warm
-1/8-1/4 teaspoon yeast (active dry yeast)
-1/4-1 teaspoon baking soda (optional)

and i will keep my original light going (my coralife 65 watt)

sound good ?


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

Green water is a tough algae to get rid of, but you can do it. Something that will really help is having lots of plants that soak up ammonia really fast. Luckily I have just such plants on hand and ready to be trimmed. PM me your address and I'll send you a good starter kit with lots of fast growers. Once you get everything under control you can swap them out for the plants that you really want. Keep up with your CO2, ditch the algae-destroyer chemical, and it'll shape up. We got your back


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## Roy Deki (Jan 13, 2004)

I believe Algae killers will kill plants as well.


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## wetbizquit (Jul 9, 2006)

ok well i just cleaned out my tank. i did a huge water change, got clean water, i cleaned out most my plants, most were dying, or dead. i kept a lot of java fern, and a amazon sword or two. i plan on getting a few little hearty fish today or tomorrow. i will get my co2 running right now.

but before i do, anyone have some simple recipes or should i just use the one i mentioned above?

thanks for all your help!


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

This might be helpful: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/p...hagen-co2-recipes.html?highlight=Hagen+refill


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## wetbizquit (Jul 9, 2006)

ok this might be a stupid qustion, actually it is. i have always filled sugar maybe close to 1/2 of a 1/4 of my hagen canister, i can't see a line in mine, i guess it wore off ( a friend borrowed it before me) and so where approximately is this line to fill my sugar to?

heh i know its kinda dumb, but i figure i best be accurate.


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## cbennett (Oct 20, 2005)

if you are using baker's yeast then you need to refill the yeast mixture about every 2 weeks to keep the CO2 at a good level. Also, the other plants you bought might not have been true aquatic plants - often stores like petco will not know a lot about aquatic plants and they sell plants that will just rot if totally underwater.  Riccia is a floating plant so you have to always keep it tied down or keep a heavy mesh on top of it to keep it from floating. Kind of a pain. Green Water comes from having ammonia (even tiny amounts) plus lots of light. With all the rotting plants you probably had plenty of ammonia to set off the GW. Hopefully, you've solved what was causing it and it won't come back. *fingers crossed* Since you have a small tank I would recommend adding a small amount of Excel to boost your CO2 levels. Maybe 1 mL a day. The small bottles of Excel are about $6.00 and should last a couple months.

Forgot to mention, i have some Hygrophila "sunset" and some dwarf sag that should do well in your tank. The hygo is especially good for sucking up excess nutrients. If you'd like some as a RAOK, send me a PM and I'll send it to you.


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## CarolF (Dec 6, 2006)

I have a new tank too and I not only had green water but an algea bloom to beat eh band. I had no nitrates or phosphorus or iron. I have eco but the eco wasn't releasing the anhy or enough of the goodies.

I added phosphorus after testing the water and iron and kept up my florish additions and lots of water changes and excel. As a quick fix I also dosed the tank with 2 mls of hydrogen perioxide for 4 hours then a major 80% water change. Getting better and 90% of the algea is gone. Slight caste of green to the water.

Algea killer does a number on plants


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## oblongshrimp (Jul 26, 2006)

wetbizquit said:


> so question, is it my co2 mixture? is it my co2? is it my lighting? i only have one clown loach, whom lives purely off of my plants and algea, i dont feed him flakes, could it be him? my filter? the liquids i'm dispensing in my tank? (just a sidenote, i have been doing water changes every week, or every other week, it takes about 4-8 days for the algea to come back) what do you peeps think could be the problem, lets see your expertness come out and solve my problem  i'm really close to just getting rid of everything and going with some simple fake silk plants, but that would be a waste of my money becuase i bought a lot of equipment!


um.....you may wanta be feeding your clownloach something instead of just letting it eat your plants.

Clown Loach (Chromobotia macracanthus) — Loaches Online


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## Shadow (Sep 19, 2006)

wetbizquit said:


> about a month later i ordered some riccia off of ebay, it came in a little zip lock bag, i added it, all it did was floated at the top, never stay rooted no matter what i tried. soon my tank exploded in green water algea, so thick i couldnt see anything, also i noticed little white worm things all over my tank, my clown loach soon took care of them.


First off Riccia is a moss and it Floats that's what it does [I have alot of this, duckweed and frogbit]. Makes my tank look green XD then I added a "sunny" spot for my direct high light plants. I love this moss looks great and provides great shade for my indirect light plant needs

The little worms could be from over feeding?? Probrobly not but maybe from high Nitrates?


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## wetbizquit (Jul 9, 2006)

ok well i didnt end up starting my co2 back up yet. a very nice lady is sending me tons of plants, so i will use those and start my co2 back up.... i got a few fish, 4 neon jumbos. and the light is only on 7 hours a day right now. i have only a few plants. hopefully no algea. 

should i take my coralife 65 watt off and put just a 15 watt bulb on top instead, until i get my plants?

and i'm not sure how many plants i'm getting, so i will hold off on getting any more for now. thanks for the offer, can i take you up on that in a few weeks?

if i dont have plants to soak up the co2 wont it just cause algea? thats why i'm having it not running as of right now.


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## joejoeg (Jan 11, 2007)

depends what type of plants are left as per how long/ what light in on the tank. if its java moss you dont need the corallife , just the 15 watt would do.

the little worms are called planaria, i couldint find a picture. they are harmless to fish , but stangly can come from overfeeding , and seeing as you not feeding at all , which you should be because clown loaches dont eat plants, i dought thats where they are comming from , but my best guess to where they comming from would be bad water quality.


to rid my tank of GW which i get often in my 45 gallon angeltank ( i dont turn off the lights  im lazy) i turn off the light for 3-5 days and do a 50% water change to remove the dead algae (my tanks bare bottom , you wouldint believe how much of the dead algae forms a pile on the bottom) the best way to combat algae is to add more plants, i had hair algae gallor and a wise fellow told me to buy many plants. boom, the problem was over ( during that time i also stopped my ferts until i had no algae)


good luck i hope this helps

jordan:thumbsup:


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## wetbizquit (Jul 9, 2006)

ok thanks to jen i now have a bunch of plants set up. i still haven't hooked up my co2. i have 4 fish, neon jumbos. should i hook up my co2, or wait for nitrates to build up?

what is your opinion, also should i maybe add some liquid ferts, i noticed one of my plants is turning a little brown on some of the leaves. 

i still have my coralife 65 going, and thank you jordan for your help. my green water is gone, and hopefully it will stay that way

thanks for all your help


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## wood (Nov 15, 2006)

wetbizquit said:


> along with a regular filter( i have a 30 gallon top fin filter i got from petsmart years ago. pretty old)


Get a new filter. Buy an Aquaclear 50. I would bet that the poor filtration and poor water circulation isn't helping. Maybe the riccia completely dispersed outtake of the hang-on, spreading it along the water surface, and basically eliminating any water movement below the surface.


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

You may have already said this, so forgive me if I repeat, but do you have your lights on a timer? Run them for about 10 hours a day, give or take. 

Get that CO2 up and running ASAP! It's your best defense against algae!

Personally I let my CO2 run for about a week on a new tank before adding ferts (Excel excluded - I add that from day 1). The CO2 and high light on your tank will increase the demand for ferts, so after about a week when the plants have started to root and grow a bit, you'll be all set to add ferts without fear of the algae taking over. 

As per wood's suggestion, Aquaclears are good filters for planted, but they have the problem of splashing a bit when the water evaporates and that can outgas your CO2. I personally prefer internal filters like the internal line that Fluval put out, canisters (I'm a fan of Eheim), or just a good old powerhead + sponge (doubles as a CO2 reactor too!). These options tend not to outgas your CO2 quite as much, which is why I like 'em. 

Good luck!


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## weaselnoze (Dec 22, 2006)

really you dont feed the loach? he's prob eating algae at last resort!


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