violet goby and friends with green water

Question
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I was given a 3+ year old 15" violet goby, a 12" pleco, and a 15" pleco that had been living in a 30 gal freshwater aquarium, yes, I really said 30 gallons. I have put them in an 85 gallon aquarium with 2 little (about 4-5") plecos, about 15-20 fancy guppies of varying ages, 10 ghost catfish, 4 (2 spotted, 2 albino) corry cats, and about 100+ daphnia in a little breeder net. I feed a live-bearer food, tropical flake food, algae wafers, live brine shrimp, live ghost shrimp, live daphnia, frozen blood worms, frozen glass worms, and frozen beef hearts. Not all at once, but I try to give them some variety. I had them all living happily together for about 6 months when my tank turned green. One person told me to stop water changes because they would make it bloom, I tried that for a month, it didn't work so I'm back to 20% water changes every two weeks. Someone else told me to get clams so I got 3 and put 2 in this tank and 1 in another tank. The one in the other tank is doing great, but both of these died within a week. Then I read that I was supposed to leave the lights off a lot. I did that and my water started to turn brown, but I was warned to start giving the green water some light, because if it all died it would be toxic. I have added some plants (another suggestion), and I am leaving the lights on for 2 hours 3 times a day. The green water seems to have stayed exactly the same except when it started to turn brown. I don't know what to do or not to do anymore. Any suggestions or ideas?



P.S. - I have read that my violet goby is brackish water, but I'm not sure if I should move him, he's been in freshwater his who life and is VERY healthy!

Answer
Becky,\
first if the fish are healthy, then continue what you have been doing, never mind what anyone says.
second, decreasing the light will work but you have to do it over time, start shortening the cycle 1/2 hr every two days..when you get to the right duration you will know, the green will begin to dissappear.
If you are going to plant your tank, then plant it with LOTS of plants, not just a few.
However, with the plecos etc plants may not do so well but it would be worth a try.
You may want to use Anubias and other hardy tuff skinned plants.
watch the food in the tank, do your reg. water changes 10% or 5gals ONCE a week.
Let me know how this works out, if there is still a problem then we will have to employ a different tactic.