green.

Question
hi Iv had my tank for about three months now i have a 140 gallon tank and every thing is perfect testing wise for the exception of my ammonia is a little high. but here is my problem my tank was really cloudy for about a week and I threw some phos-zorb in a pouch in my hang in the back filter, the next morning it was really good. and heres what went wrong my parents threw sea shells in my tank with out my permission. and it clouded my tank really bad. so i did a 20 gallon water change and bought a protein skimmer and a mag float it cleans my algae on the glass  (bad mistake). now my water is neon green because the algae that came out of my glass is in the water now. its been glowing green for three days now. and so then i did another 20 gallon water change so iv done a 40 gallon water change in less than a week. every one is telling me different things. what should i do please help.

Answer
Hello andy,

Im not totally sure what is going on, but i do have a question/comment.  Most of the 'seashells' that are sold at tourist shops or shell shops are NOT to be used in aquariums.  they are and or were coated with toxic materals and chemicals and paints, if they were 'decorated'.

As for what is going on,, hmmm...

You are saying a few things that have me confused...  You say or indicate the shells, then you indicate algae on teh glass and think cleaning teh algae is bad/mistake... etc...  cleaning hte glass is not bad...

Can you tell me a bit more about your tank... You say it is three months old.  What all is in your tank?  What type of lighting? What are the test results of the tests you performed?did you rinse the phos-zorb prior to putting it into your tank?  you are supposed to...

Depending on what you got going on in your tank, i would not worry too much... and hopefully you dont have much in your tank as it is only three months old.  

I would put some pad/or foam in the baffles and just wait a week, and then replace the pads again.  this should remove whatever is floating in your water column...

I would test again after the week, and if necessary, do a water change, necessary means your nitrates or ammonia is elevated..

good luck and let me know what is up with the questions/comments i asked..


bill