green water in fish tank

Question
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Followup To
Question -
tank has been set up for about a year and there are 2 swordtails, 2 gouramis, a tetra and an algae eater in a 10 gallon tank. cleaned out about 2 weeks ago and the water has turned a very cloudy green. why?
Answer -
Hi Lisa;

How much water was removed when you cleaned it? I removed about 7 gal
Was it especially dirty?       Yes,the water was pretty dirty.
How often do you usually clean it? Chris,that was the 2 time we cleaned it.
Was the filter changed at the same time? Yes,we put in a new filter at time of cleaning.
What kind of filter? I believe it's a whisper 5-10 gallon filter.

Let me know as soon as you can.....

Chris Robbins

Answer
Hi Lisa;

If the tank has only been cleaned twice in a year with no other water changes and the filter was also changed too, I would suspect it is off balance biologically. That much water replaced after such a long time is a shock to the system. Make a partial water change of 25% at least once a week and wait for it to straighten itself out again.

The healthiest cleaning schedule for your fish is to replace 25% of the water while vacuuming the gravel every week to two weeks. Clean the filter a few days before or after a change but not at the same time. It's too much of a disturbance. Avoid replacing the filter media, and just rinse it in a container of tank water to preserve the beneficial bacteria that lives in it and keeps the tank balanced. Your aquarium system is a living organism in itself with tiny miscroscopic critters in there to keep processing waste. It's amazing how much work something you can't see can actually do!

Followups Welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

Come on over and join us on the freshwater fish forum at About.com to get even more information too;
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/questionsanswers/a/naavigateforum.htm

My member name is ChrisR62. See You There!