My fishtank is green!!!!?

Question

i just dont know whta to do. and i cant clean it cause i have 4 algae eaters and i dont want them 2 die!! what can i do?? ive tried everything and ive spent like 50 bucks and nothing have worked!!!! in desperit!!!

Answer 1

Ok, relax it's not that bad!! :)  The green coloring of your water is tiny pieces of green algae floating,suspended in your water.  How did it get there?  It will appears when the conditions are right.

Those conditions are - enough light, and nutrients.

So, you need to limit those nutrients the algae are feeding on.  That means making sure to limit the amount of light the tank gets.  First by decreasing the amount of time the light on top of the tank is on, and secondly by making sure there isn't any direct sunlight coming in through a window that is hitting the tank.  Direct sunlight can cause green tank water to happen quite quickly.

The other piece of the puzzle is making sure you aren't accidentally over feeding your fish.  If there is extra food left over after 5 minutes following feeding them, that food will break down and create more Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate - Nitrates are a key component in feeding plants.  If you have enough Nitrates and light, you'll create an Algae Bloom (which is what it sounds like you have)

Taking everything out and washing everything will solve the problem, but it won't necessarily keep it from happening again.  I'd suggest identifying what is causing your Algae bloom and address it and see that clears up your tank in 2-3 weeks.  (ps. if you DO wash everything, never use soap!!! as you run the risk of potentially leaving a little soap reside on the items you washed, this can cause future fish deaths when you set up your tank again)

In addition, doing a couple of 10-20% water changes with properly conditioned water each week can help in clearing up your water quickly.

In response to if your algae eaters will die; no they won't.  Most algae eats, if not all - are omnivorous.  They will eat both vegetation or meat, and will enjoy flake food as much as the next fish.

Answer 2

algae grows by a source of light. dont have light on it all day or you will create this problem.  Dont do anything to the algae it cleans the ammonia from the pee from the fish...(yes fish pee in water) and see if this helps

good luck

Answer 3

if a 100% water change is really nesasery the algae eaters will be fine because they dont just eat algae

you are supposed to feed them algae food tablets  

Answer 4

If it is suspended algae (the water looks like pea soup) then you will do a partial (about 25 to 30% water change with dechlorinated water of the same temp). Turn off the light and cover the tank for three or four days (keep it dark so that the algae does not get any light). Cut down on  feeding the fish (too much food will produce food for the algae).  

Answer 5

take 25% of the water out now and put in fresh.

Turn off all lights on the tank.

Algae sucks up a lot of the oxygen in the water, so if you have air pumps and bubblers, put them on.

Then get something like this:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.d...

or

http://www.petsmart.com/graphics/product...

Answer 6

take sum water, put the algae eaters in the water, clean the tank... and put everythin back in.

Answer 7

If it is algae then just cut the light that hits the tank.

Algae is produced by light - so turn off the light to the tank and keep it away from open windows where it can get sunlight.

What type of algae eaters do you have? What size tank do you have? If you have like 4 plecostomus in a 10 gallon - they may eventually die anyway. It is inch of adult fish per gallon.