Very green water

[Benicia Bendele]

I am just starting out with 2 - 1000 gallon tanks and 2 - 75" x 8" grow beds.  We got our fish Thursday and have not yet put the rafts in the grow bed.  Our water is now green.  Is it because the sun hits the water in the grow beds and do I need to worry about that?  The rafts are arriving today so I am hoping shading the water will fix the problem.  Does anyone know?

[Hydroponics Curacao]

It depends on how green it is. Algae takes all the oxygen out of the water. Your plants and fishes can die. I think you should clean it and shade the water. 

[TCLynx]

Just make sure you have plenty of aeration so that the fish don't die overnight (when it's dark the algae will use up dissolved oxygen same as fish do.)

 

How many fish do you have and what sort of filtration do you have?  2, 75 inch by 8 inch grow beds doesn't seem like nearly enough grow bed to support two 1000 gallon tanks.  Heck, even if those grow beds are 75 feet by 8 feet I'm not certain that two grow beds is enough.

[Benicia Bendele]

 

We are using the system from the University of Virgin Islands.  We have a clarifier, 2 filter tanks, a degasser, sump and mineralize.  Sorry the grow beds are 75 feet x 8 feet. We do not have vegetables yet.  We did cover the grow beds last night with the blue boards.  We currently have 1300 .5 gram tilapia. We just got them last Thursday.  We do have 10 - 6 inch air stones in each tank.  Thanks for any advice.  

TCLynx said:

Just make sure you have plenty of aeration so that the fish don't die overnight (when it's dark the algae will use up dissolved oxygen same as fish do.)

 

How many fish do you have and what sort of filtration do you have?  2, 75 inch by 8 inch grow beds doesn't seem like nearly enough grow bed to support two 1000 gallon tanks.  Heck, even if those grow beds are 75 feet by 8 feet I'm not certain that two grow beds is enough.

[TCLynx]

Shading the water should take care of your problem.

 

If it was just green growing on the surfaces in the beds, you should be fine.  If you were getting like pea soup water, you might want to keep a close eye on dissolved oxygen levels and ammonia levels since an algae die off and crash can put you in a danger zone for both of those but about all you can do is make sure there is ample aeration to the fish tank and hope it passes fairly quickly.  Check your filters and pipe/pump grates regularly for the next week or so to make sure they are not clogged with dead algae slime balls and that sort of thing.

[Benicia Bendele]

Will do, thanks so much!

TCLynx said:

Shading the water should take care of your problem.

 

If it was just green growing on the surfaces in the beds, you should be fine.  If you were getting like pea soup water, you might want to keep a close eye on dissolved oxygen levels and ammonia levels since an algae die off and crash can put you in a danger zone for both of those but about all you can do is make sure there is ample aeration to the fish tank and hope it passes fairly quickly.  Check your filters and pipe/pump grates regularly for the next week or so to make sure they are not clogged with dead algae slime balls and that sort of thing.

[Brenda S. Anderson]

No worries Benecia.  As long as it is single celled algae and not string, you will be fine.  Keeping the water covered and the fish tanks as will will keep the algae at bay.  See you in class!

[Tim Orth]

I have used dried barley bails in my pond to get rid of free floating algae (green water) . It worked very well and I have seen no bad effect on my plants or my fish.

[FormulaX]

Green water is algae, obviously.  If the water is a soupy-brothy green, your tanks are getting too much direct sunlight.  Try moving the water faster throughout the system, or replacing at least 10% of the water every other day until it gets better.

It is definately from the sun, they only problem you could run into is if it gets so bad, that the oxygen from the water is depleted and the fish suffocate.  

Add an airstone if you dont already have one jsut in case

[Wil Miles]

Hi Benicia i used a cheap walmart pool filter for above ground pool the filters are $5.00 each and washable last atleast a month each and you will only need it til water clears then the system should catch up with you. i had same problem build pond sat in sun while cycling and fininsh building andd was full green in two weeks took 4 days to clear  and now i just remove the filter and use the pump to keep water circulating.You can find them cheap on craigslist also thats where i got mine 1100 gallon above ground pool with pump for $40 ,hope this helps

[Chip Pilkington]

Here's one more suggestion - get a good sized pleco in there. I have one in all of my systems, the biggest is now approaching 10 inches and does amazing work. It's hard to keep all of the light out, but with a busy pleco, you don't need to. They won't harn other fish, large or small and they don't require any additional care.

[TCLynx]

I thought pleco's ate surface algae off the tank walls and stuff, not so much the free floating stuff.

[Chip Pilkington]

My recommendation for plecos was primarily for surface algae, as it also occurs with any amount of sunlight. I think they are a great addition to the tank. Sorry, I did not mean to suggest them as a cure for green water.