General Care Discussion :: Algal Bloom?

[kikicool]

Hi there!! I ahve a quick question... for the past two months, my tank has been terribly algae ridden. Not the walls, just the water. The water is so green, that I can't see through it--and I just changed the water last week!

About two montsh ago when I did a regular water change, the tank got green about three days later. And got greener and greener. I cleaned the filter, I did a partial water change... nuthin. After the last water change, I bought new bio-media, cleaned everything totally thoroughly and it is STILL happening! Now, I know that having the tank near a window can cause this. Mine IS near a window, but definitely NOT in the ling of light. Also, it's BEEN in the same spot for almost a year now and this has not happened.

Any ideas on what might cause this? There have been no lighting changes at all! THanks!

[SpotsMama]

Usually an algal bloom is associated with excess nutrients in the water. Could be your turtles have grown and are producing more waste than the filter can handle, could be there's left over food in the tank.

Refresh my memory - what size tank do you have and what kind of filter?

[marisa]

Any heat changes? What's the water temp?

If your turtle is growing and producing more waste, the greater amount of nutrients (esp. phosphorus) in the water will contribute to algae forming. Try doing more frequent partial water changes.

[kikicool]

Ah, I see. They HAVE been growing, I think. I have a aquaclear 110 in a 55 gallon tank (I know, my tank should be a bit larger, but again, we're moving in 1 month to a house we're currently building... so there's no place for a larger tank, as the house isn't done yet, and THIS house is coverd in boxes.). It does the job okay, but like you said, maybe it's extra waste. About a month ago I was concerned about white spots on the shell and that turned out to be growing, shedding scutes.

The temp is about 76. I try to keep it at 75, but sometimes it goes up to 76-77. It's warm in here, but then, it always has been...

Marisa, I had been doing a 25% partial water change every week... should I be doing them more often? Or, alternatively, a larger percent? I bought this "algae destroyer advanced" by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. It's okay for freshwaster aquariums and mentions live plants and fish... think it's okay for turts?? Anyone know?

[Tenodera]

Well turtles are more tolerant than fish so it MIGHT be okay...

[kikicool]

Thanks. I left a message for the company. Hopefully someone will get back to me tomorrow. I'll keep you posted!

[DavidY]

I think someone else posted on here a while back and said they used the algae preventive stuff with no ill effects and that it worked great. I try to shy away from that kind of stuff, but if I were battling a chronic problem like you're having, I'd consider using it too, at least until the problem is gone.

Also, if you have nutrients in your tap water (especially nitrates or phosphates) it will accumulate over time in your turtle's tank. Even with regular partial water changes, it could still grow to very high levels over time (even years). That may be why it is suddenly becoming a problem even though you haven't changed much during the past year.

If you haven't done so recently, you could try a 100% water change. Just make sure the filter doesn't dry out as you want to keep the bacterial culture alive. And if your tap water is really bad, you could try using distilled water to make up for evaporation. That's when nutrients start to really concentrate in the tank water. As water evaporates, only pure water is removed while the nutrients are left in the tank. Thus you now have the same amount of nutrients as before but in a smaller volume of water = higher concentration. As you add tap water to make up for the evaporated water, you now have the same amount of nutrients as before PLUS the new nutrients from the new tap water = higher nutrient level than before evaporation. That's how it accumulates over time. Even with partial water changes, if you're doing 25% a week, but you've added 30% more nutrients from evaporation topoff and feedings, your nutrient levels will still continue to increase by 5% every week. There's probably a lot more factors involved but that gives you a general idea of what could be taking place in your tank water.

[marisa]

When the water gets green like that, I'd do more frequent partial water changes (every two-three days, about 10-15%) and see if that helps. Can't help with the Algae Destroyer Plus, but wouldn't see why it wouldn't be OK for turtles if it's OK for fish. The company should give you a definitive answer.

[kikicool]

Thanks, all. DavidY, I was just reading up on the effects of evaporation. NEVER thought of that, and my water evaporates a lot. I add a pitcher or two a day.

Also, on my water testing kit... my water hardness is pretty high. Perhaps I should invest in some sort of water softener? Or distilled water.... just can't imagine lugging 55 gallons of it back into this room!

[DavidY]

Well, for my saltwater reef setup I have a 35 gal/day reverse osmosis/deionization water filtration system since corals are very sensitive to nutrient levels as well as other elements that might come through tap water. If you have a good saltwater aquarium store near you, you can actually by RO water for like 50 cents a gallon if you bring your own water bottles in. The thing you would need it for the most would be to top off evaporation. Especially since it sounds like you're going through about 1/2 gallon a day.

You can get a decent RO filter for a little over $100. But the replacement membranes are like $70 and they need to be replaced every 1000 to 2000 gallons of product water. There are also sediment and carbon prefilters in it that need to be changed every 6 months, so that's another $20. And for every gallon of filtered water that you produce, there's usually around 5 gallons of waste water going down the drain (depending on how bad/hard your tap water is). So if you also have a water meter on your house, it can get expensive. You may be better off doing 95% water changes every month.

[kikicool]

Also, thanks Marisa--I will try more frequent changes, less water. I'll keep you posted!

[DavidY]

I think if you're dealing with heavier nutrient tap water you will be better off doing a few large water changes rather than several small water changes. Try to imagine it as if the water had a colored tint to it. Performing more water changes with less water would slow down the saturation of the tint, but it would still continue to accumulate. Larger water changes even if performed less often will prevent the tint from ever reaching high levels since each water change will bring the tank water back down to close to the same level as the tap water.

[windowskiller987]

I use Tetra Pond Water Clarifier in my tanks. I keep my tank on my back porch in Florida, & this stuff takes the algae right out of the water. Here's a link to the product, I bought mine at Pet Supermarket.

http://www.tetra-fish.com/catalog/product.aspx?id=132

[kikicool]

Interesting, windowskiller: does this actually turn stuff into a big ball that can be removed? I'm curious, that's how the description sounded. If it is works in Florida sun, it MUST work here!

[RunninWideOpen]

I've got the golden / brown algae beginning to grow on the walls of my 55gal. Is that pretty much the same deal as kiki's? Need to do more partial water changes, etc.....