Yellow water in my 30gal..

[rbredding]

Ammonia is undetectable
Nitrates are less than 10
Nitrites are less than 10
PH is between 7.8 and 8.1 (closer to 7.8 by the coloring)
SG is around 1.025

Two clowns, midas blenny, blue damsel, two cleaner shrimp and a fire shrimp

I've got a 24" normal output 10K T8 in the stock light fixture (runs approximately 10 hours a day with no sunlight exposure under typical conditions)

I did a 6-7 gallon water change lastnight and tonight my water was yellowish again


what is it? an algae bloom?
will another 20% WC and no lights tomorrow fix the problem..

I'm going out of town saturday through next wednesday..

 

[weaglereefer]

Could be algae given that you have a nitrite reading. A fully cycled tank should read 00ppm for Ammonia and Nitrite. But an algal bloom is usually a whitish cloud, not yellow (could potentially appear yellow from the lighting). Do you have the means to run carbon? If it's not algae and just discoloration, the carbon should clear it up.

 

[jennm]

Do you run carbon?

If not - try that. It will remove organics that can tend to tint the water.

Jenn

 

[dakota9]

Carbon will clear it for the long haul, but try Seachem Clarity to clear it instantly with the help of filter cloth or sock

 

[skriz]

My tank did that before it turned solid green. Have fun while you're out of town

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[dakota9]

Wow!

How many water changes does one need to skip to look like that?

Are you pulling our collective leg and that's actually a giant phyto farm?

 

[skriz]

That was my unintentional 800g phyto farm!

Ozone cleared it up within a couple of days; my corals experienced tremendous growth during the green era though

 

[gametrackers]

Go green i think everyone should do it! Ok, a little over board. Sorry. Next time i won't caps lock it.

 

[rbredding]

I've got carbon in my filter as well as the skimmer I just added last night (the yellow tint has been building over the last week)

The only change in equipment over the last several weeks was switching from a single powerhead (around 500 gph) to a couple Koralia 1's... but I wouldn't think that an increase in flow would have any ill effects...

I haven't been able to get the nitrates or nitrites to 0... the tank is about a year old (I've had it since August and up until this, it's been spotless)

 

[jennm]

Purigen works well also.

No, more flow wouldn't cause it.

Jenn

 

[rbredding]

Skriz;400897 wrote: My tank did that before it turned solid green. Have fun while you're out of town

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I ALWAYS HAVE FUN..... (in other words, I ain't skeerd!)

 

[oldschool52]

If you have one or could borrow one for a few days put an UV on the tank for a few days. I only use a UV when I get a bloom but it has always seemed to clear thinks up for me.

 

[tokejr]

Rbredding;400947 wrote: I've got carbon in my filter as well as the skimmer I just added last night (the yellow tint has been building over the last week)

The only change in equipment over the last several weeks was switching from a single powerhead (around 500 gph) to a couple Koralia 1's... but I wouldn't think that an increase in flow would have any ill effects...

I haven't been able to get the nitrates or nitrites to 0... the tank is about a year old (I've had it since August and up until this, it's been spotless)

Are you using "pre-packaged" carbon, inserts for your filter? If so, that's a little small to help with this situation. Get a small nylon bag and a box of activated charcoal at your local LFS, fill it, and put it somewhere in your filtration.

As water ages, with lights and foods, it will begin to yellow a bit. The only way to clear it back up is with activated charcoal (carbon).

Here's another hint for you....check your calcium levels. I know that when my water begins to "yellow" my calcium needs a boost.

 

[lilrobb]

In all seriousness Raj,
what happened to your tank?
Skimmer off for two months?

 

[skriz]

LilRobb;400980 wrote: In all seriousness Raj,
what happened to your tank?
Skimmer off for two months?

I had a phyto outbreak. One day the water was clear, the next a little hazy, the third it was green. It happened that quickly too!

Ozone killed it in 24 hours. Within a few days the water was so clear, you would think there was anything there.
This was my first "crash". It took me about a month or so to buy to ozone generator; during that time I lost a lot of fish (I couldn't see them & I suspect they could see food? I had a school of 15 yellow tangs at the time; they were glorious!

Anyway, I tried carbon, but it didn't scratch the surface. It didn't really stand a chance with the water volume. I went cheap & bought some crappy carbon (since I needed a ton) from a sponsor. It disentegrated within minutes & turned the water green-black. That sucked big time. I decided I would stick with Seachem matrix carbon from now on. I did violate this & ordered some brs carbon during the. First pb I set up.

The skimmer was pulling gunk all day long. Even black gunk with the carbon fiasco. I guess the carbon was my second "crash".

Anyhoo, that's the story of the green monster

 

[tokejr]

oldschool52;400965 wrote: If you have one or could borrow one for a few days put an UV on the tank for a few days. I only use a UV when I get a bloom but it has always seemed to clear thinks up for me.

Yellow water isn't an algae bloom (that would be green) it's just your water aging.

However, if you do deploy a temporary UV, remember to run the outlet of the UV though some floss (we use a HOB with floss only) to remove what the UV is killing. If you don't, you're just putting dead materials back in the tank to feed cyano and/or algae.

 

[rbredding]

tokejr;400969 wrote: Are you using "pre-packaged" carbon, inserts for your filter? If so, that's a little small to help with this situation. Get a small nylon bag and a box of activated charcoal at your local LFS, fill it, and put it somewhere in your filtration.
As water ages, with lights and foods, it will begin to yellow a bit. The only way to clear it back up is with activated charcoal (carbon).
Here's another hint for you....check your calcium levels. I know that when my water begins to "yellow" my calcium needs a boost.

I've got the small pre packaged carbon in my filter, but I've also got loose carbon in the Red Sea Prizm skimmer that I just added... I switched the lamps back to the 20K that came on the unit lastnight also...

I'll give y'all an update tonight when I get home..

tokejr;400996 wrote: Yellow water isn't an algae bloom (that would be green) it's just your water aging.

I changed 20% of the water out on Wednesday evening (after that it was crystal clear) less than 24 hrs later, it was yellowing again (although not as yellow as it was on Wed)