Algae or bacteria in water column?

[cpirnie3]

Hey all,

First - I've done some searches and couldn't find a great answer, so here goes:

I've got a 29 gallon tank with 1 angel, 6 congo tetras, 3 cory cats, and 1 male bristlenose pleco that has been up and running for about 2 years with little to no issues. It's got adequate filtration and I've been used a 10 hour photo period for years again without issue.

A couple months ago, I added some marimo balls from Petsmart. Since I added the moss balls, I've had seriously murky green water that develops in about a week. Here is what I have done: First of all, I took out all the moss balls. Secondly, I've increased my water change regiment. I even did two 150% water changes two days in a row and still, the green comes back. The last time I did a water change, I removed the fish and cleaned out the sand w/ a hose and rinsed it clean. I also rinsed out the filter media w/ tank water. I've decreased my photo period.

I haven't done a water change in two weeks out of frustration, so needless to say, the water is so murky that I can't even see the back of the tank. I'm at the point where I think i need to completely break down the tank, sterilize and start again, but that sucks!

So, any advice?

Thank you everyone,

[cichlid1409]

thats algae. excess nutrients are getting used by this microalgae. control your nutrients (food, fert, waste, water changes or by adding chemical media) and you can control the blooms. a UV filter will kill mirco algae as well if you want to take that route. lighting can be a compounding factor along with nutrients but if nutrients are under control lighting should not be a problem.

[eklikewhoa]

I'm gonna say it might be the opposite, bacteria bloom.

Those marimo balls need to be rung out like a wet cloth, they house a ton of bad juju and could have spiked your water params. Also, I'm not sure where lumberton is but around my parts the tap water is coming out nasty, chloramines out the yinyang so the large water changes could have added to the problem.

[cichlid1409]

stickin with algae. says it takes a week to get murky green. bacteria is usually alot faster than that and not green from my experience.

[eklikewhoa]

could be, I don't read the whole post, just title and skim through them and saw you posted Mike so I played devils advocate.

[cichlid1409]

I knew it ) you raised some good points though. but if the balls do have alot of excess nutrients (good tip btw) i think it still points to algae feeding on them. and although a massive change in water change regime could cause a bloom without proper bio filtration, this started happening before the WC change.

[76dragon]

Maybe the tank is going through a cycle again cause all the water changes

[eklikewhoa]

It seems from the post the water has gotten worse.

Green water is green water, cloudy water is bacteria bloom, a combination of the two would be picture worthy.

[cpirnie3]

First, thanks so much Cichlid, Dragon, and EK.

Cichlid - I think you're right. It does seem like algae - I thought I could get rid of it by keeping the nutrients down in the tank with massive water changes. I never thought that could be an issue in itself. I guess I will just try to watch the feeding and try to keep the filter pads rinsed out.

EK - the water is cloudy too. Who knows - maybe there has been some bacteria issues too. Picture worthy? You bet it is. I've attached a picture I'm titling "My Shame"

DSCF2024.jpg

Thanks again guys. I appreciate the help! Hopefully it will clear up soon.

[eklikewhoa]

I'll bow out and give this one to cichlid1409, that looks like greenwater.